Classes

Matt and I have been taking preparing for childbirth classes up at the hospital for the last 3 Thursdays. It has definitely been informative, but I feel a little more anxious now than I did before the class. Not because we saw women give birth, though that did make my stomach turn (it's not beautiful until the mom is holding the baby!!), but because it made me feel unprepared for when it's my time. I know it's still really early, but I have no idea what to do when I go into labor. Trust me, I am going to have a list of questions to take to the doctor Friday. I will say that the videos did confirm my desire to have an epidural. I'm sure I could do it without medicine, but if it's available, why not use it?? Props to those of you who did it without any pain relief, but I don't think Robbie is going to grow up wondering why I didn't want to feel everything. The videos also made me excited about Robbie's birth day. I can't wait to hold him for the first time. Sorry if you come to see him and I don't give him up! I also made it perfectly clear to Matt that the nurse will hand Robbie to me first. I'm doing all of the work, he can wait a little while longer to hold him...if I ever let him! :) The best thing that happened this week was the way Robbie had himself positioned. We could definitely tell it was a leg or an arm we were feeling (it was a long bone), which is the first time we could tell a body part. It happened at the end of the class, so we were one of the last couples to leave because we were having fun feeling him.

Monday Matt took a daddy to be class. He (and the 2 other guys with him) learned the basics of diapering, swaddling and bathing. They also learned about bonding with the baby and other ways to be supportive while the baby is pretty much relying on mom for the first few months. Matt enjoyed the class and said a few times "what they taught us..."

Today we took an infant CPR and first aid class. It was more about CPR and choking than first aid. We all got our own baby Manikin to practice CPR on and then they had 2 toddler Manikins that we passed around since it's a little different to give CPR to a toddler. We also practiced the back slaps on the babies if they are choking and even did the Heimlich maneuver on each other. There is a different technique to do the Heimlich on a pregnant woman because you don't want the baby popping out with whatever is choking the mom! The first aid portion consisted of watching a 45 minute video, which wasn't really helpful and by then the chairs were very uncomfortable, but when the video was over we were done.

This week we will do the tour of the hospital. I'm looking forward to seeing the room and hearing everything they will tell us about the big day. If we are lucky we'll hear them playing Brahms' Lullaby, which they play whenever a baby is born. (Isn't that so sweet??)

Finally, the principal said Friday that they are a hair breadth away from the new science teacher signing a contract. That is definitely good news. I told Matt that I would feel bad if they didn't have a teacher by October 1st but I'm just ready to be done. And I can finally truthfully say that I only have 2 weeks left!

Single Digits!!!

Today I am 31 weeks into this pregnancy, which means I only have 9 weeks left. Technically I could go 11 more weeks because my doctor's office will let me go 2 weeks after the due date, but I'm REALLY hoping that won't happen!! These weeks have gone by very quickly. Both Matt and I have said that we thought November was a long time away when we first found out and now it's just around the corner. November is a big birthday month for my family and it's fun to add another name to the calendar.

I went to the library Friday to pick up a couple of books and went over to the baby section and picked up a few books on baby development. Today one of the girls in Sunday school was talking about videos that she got from the library about labor and delivery which helped her feel more prepared for hers, so of course I came home and put a bunch on hold. (A lot of the videos are at the main library downtown, but I was just reading online about how the downtown library is a common hangout for homeless people and that just does not make me want to go down there.) Hopefully the videos will make their way to the library branch much closer to us soon!

We have also done 2 out of 3 preparing for childbirth classes. We have learned a lot already. This week they are going to talk about postpartum and bringing home baby. Then next week we do the hospital tour and preregister for the delivery.

And if you haven't heard I only have 3 weeks of work left! I told my principal last week that Matt and I decided that October 1st would be my last day. He said that the person they wanted to hire is now available (whatever that means) and he wants to get the new teacher in soon. I'm hoping that means he'll be hired this week and teaching next week. I really don't have much (if any) say in what goes on, though, but it is nice to know that my teaching days are limited. Plus this Friday is a half day and next Friday I'm taking off for the Eikelands' visit. If you are counting (and I am!), that means only 13 1/2 teaching days left!!