Why We Took a Birthing Class

Lamaze. Birthing class. Whatever you want to call it, Paul and I took it.

Truth is, I was hesitant. Childbirth's a natural thing, right? In fact, a former coworker recently visited the office with her one-month-old and said she made it through without a class. Surely I could, too, I thought.

And I could, I'm sure. But ever the organizer, the uber-preparer, I didn't want to. So I got a recommendation for a teacher from my doctor, and Paul and I found ourselves in her home for four hours split over two classes.

I wonder if I couldn't have completed most of the class on YouTube -- particularly the birthing video (something I was absolutely not looking forward to watching, but wasn't so bad after all) and another video on breastfeeding.

And I wonder how much of the breathing exercises I'll be using since I plan to have an epidural. But as much as I like to prepare, I also like to worry. And I'm worried that I won't get the meds in time or they won't be strong enough (I'll admit that I'm a big wimp when it comes to pain), so breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth is probably a fine thing for me to practice.

Overall, however, the best thing about the class was simply being able to ask questions. Sure, I have books and the Internet to help me out, but maybe I'm old-fashioned. It was nice to get knowledgeable answers from someone experienced and able to lay down the good, the bad and the ugly. I'm glad we took it.

Classes, classes, classes: So far we've finished the baptism class and the birthing classes, and the only class we have left to go is an infant CPR class tomorrow night. And then the real test comes in about two weeks.