Thoughts on Birth Class

Last week was rather nutty so I never wrote down my thoughts on the birth class.  Now another week has gone by with yet another class.  Time to jot down some things:

1. It was definitely not as awkward and embarrassing as I was anticipating.  There were seven other couples besides us, most of which seemed just as newbie as we are.  I felt silly for being the smallest person there with the most distant due date, but who knows if the hospital is going to have another class before July?  This is Broken Bow, after all.
2. It's exciting to see and have someone else reiterate all of the material that we have already been reading.  No, it's not a Bradley class, but I was surprised by the similarity of many of the exercises, breathing techniques, and labor positions.  
3. For being hyper-sensitive to gross things, I'm finding the animated clips of physical changes, and the live videos of labor and birth to be fascinating and exciting.  God designed our bodies to do incredible things.  (Yes, we watched the dreaded "live birth" video last night.  It was so fun.)
4. All of that said, it is somewhat discouraging to notice how terrible everyone looks while they are in labor.  Seriously?  We all have to look that bad?  Even the husbands look terrible.
5. I have a really fabulous husband, you know.  Even though he was super hungry and super tired last night, he participated fully in every practice scenario and every exercise and really aimed to do things just right (while still maintaining a sense of humor).  I am so grateful to have someone who cares so much about this whole process and throws himself wholeheartedly into learning about it with me.
6. I have discovered the latest greatest distraction for labor: a wounded fly.  I was sitting there, practicing breathing while Steve was squeezing the stink out of my shoulders (a pretend contraction?), and as I was attempting to think wondrously relaxing thoughts about Monterey, a wounded fly began to gimp across the floor in front of me.  Where was he going?  What was he doing?  Why was he wounded?  It was great.
7. Probably my biggest concern about everything (even though I am well aware of the fact that I have months to get used to the idea) is being in pain and having people bumbling around looking at me and trying to do things and talking to me.  When I'm sick, I pretty much want to be left alone.  If there is a problem, then I'll talk.  Being talked to by nurses and doctors is the worst.  I guess it's just going to be part of the growing experience, right?

In conclusion, it's all going well.  Part of me wants July to hurry up, while another part is desperately glad that we don't have to put all of this into action for a few months.

Okay, time to clean the house.