Birthing Class - Night #2

Here is a recap of last night...

5:40 p.m.

I get home and started pulling dinner together.

5:45 p.m.

Michael gets home and we start making plates and sit down to eat.

6:15 p.m.

Packing a snack for class, Michael is changing, and we are rushing out the door.

6:28 p.m.

Pull up to hospital - realize that the pillows and blanket are still on the living room floor...

Decision made for Michael to drop me off and run back to pick them up.

6:31 p.m.

I skate into class - last one in - but people are still chatting, so I try to be inconspicuous.

I get our name tags - knock the stacks of handouts across the floor.

In picking them up, drop all the ones I had been carrying.

At this point, they are under chairs and people are up to help me.

So much for sneaking in.

So I finally get things cleaned up and find a chair.

The instructor is asking everyone to tell the class something that they did for the baby this week. We did nothing. Mike has been working nights and we were out of town all weekend. Great... I am trying to come up with something - anything....

The couples before me talk about washing the babies clothes, getting shelving up in the room and how they are so relieved that the nursery is finally done. Should I lie? No one will know, right?

The couple right beside me mentions that they went to the doctor.

Oh Right! I went to the doctor this week too! Pheww...

Well, the mom goes on updating us on her appointment. Baby is head down and they are +1 station. There is a collective gasp. From last week I know that this is progression towards labor - and we aren't supposed to be in labor yet.

Me: "Oh NO! I am sorry!"

I say this right before everyone else is smiles and starts congratulating them. Obviously! (to those who read their homework), this is early progression and a great thing. I should have read those papers a little closer.

So now it my turn... I am blushing to my toes over my last comment...

Me: "I had a doctor's appointment last week - and - I went."

For the record - I have not missed an appointment - but I was stalling because I didn't know what to say next. It does make me look like going to my appointments are note worthy events... doesn't it?

Instructor: "How were your measurements? Was the baby vertex?" I think she realizes graciously that I am stuck.

Me: "Well, I had the glucose test that day and was feeling so bad - that by the time the doctor was checking those things, I was ready to get out of there."

Quiet

Me: "The glucose test was fine. The doctor measured my belly and said it was good, and the urine test was fine. I didn't ask about the baby... I mean the direction of the baby - the baby is fine - everything else looked fine... so I think we are good."

Everyone seemed to wait to see if I was going to keep yammering on and then smiled because I was done.

Instructor: "That is great, just great! Bob and Sally - what about you, what did you do this week?"

Michael came in a few minutes later, so he got to miss my yammering. The rest of the class went great. We both love getting to spend the time together focused on Deedle. We started learning the breathing techniques last night. There were many moments where I just couldn't believe we were here, together, preparing for our little one.

When we were working on the relaxation and breathing, it really felt like we were the only people in the room.

We had been talking about making the birth day just us two. Last night - that feeling of us being the only ones in the world - and then feeling a Deedle kick - made the decision a firm one. Even though I know there are going to be some disappointed family members, I really think that doing this alone is the best choice for us. There will be plenty of time for family introductions, but the labor and the first hour together will be ours alone.