Birth Classes

Thank you all so much for your thoughts on maternity photos from yesterday's post!  It gave me a lot to think about.  I'll let you know what we decide!

I wrote awhile ago about our wish for a natural birth and our reasoning for choosing to go this route.  Click on the link if you're newer to the blog and want to know about what went into our decision.

Because of this decision, we were debating what birthing class was right for us.  I looked into several, including the basic birthing classes offered at our hospital.  I was skeptical of taking the one at the hospital.  I was worried it would be more medically oriented than I'd want and would make me more anxious than leave me feeling optimistic and informed. 

The birthing method I've been most intrigued by is Hypnobirthing.  The fabulous Melissa wrote about their decision to go natural, and why she chose hypnobirthing.  I was inspired to look into it more.  Check out her post about hypnobirthing - she does a better job explaining it and her decision to go natural is pretty much exactly where we are with things.  You can read about her little girl's birth story by clicking here.

I bought a book about hypnobirthing awhile ago, and little by little we've been reading it to get a sense of what it's about and to figure out if it's the right method for us.  The more I've read about it, the more excited I've been to continue with this birth plan.  The whole goal of this birth plan is to eliminate the fear about birth with the belief that the fear often tenses up the body and creates pain.  With eliminating the fear, we can allow our bodies to progress how they're supposed to, and it can lessen or even eliminate the pain that women are so often (and understandably) afraid of.

Part of the plan is to learn to put anxieties about things in our life aside, to let go of the stress in our lives.  I think this is a fantastic thing for me to focus on, and what an amazing time to do it, before our baby enters our lives.  I have a lot of drama in my life that I need to let go of - I need to take away these stresses in my life.  If I'm going to be the mother I want to be, I have to get rid of all of it.  This means letting go of some friends in my life, that the friendships are really on life support.  It's not that I don't care about them or wish them the best, it's that we are both busy in our lives and have grown apart - we have different priorities and are at different stages in our lives.  I'm no longer bitter or upset about it - I'm learning to let go.  The people I do have in my life are amazing and I have a phenomenal support system.  And I want to focus my time on these amazing people. 

Because of some of the drama in my life, I know learning to set it aside will take more practice than I might be able to accomplish at home.  I looked into not only doing this birth plan, but taking a birthing class through this plan.  I found one that is about 40 minutes from our house.  It runs for 2 hours every week for 5 weeks.  It's expensive - but honestly, if it can help me focus and find a calm and happy place to make this delivery everything I'm hoping it will be, then it's 100% worth it to me.  I've read such amazing things about how people are in a better place after having gone through this plan.  I'm all for it!

So that's class #1 that we're taking.  We start in May and it goes for 5 weeks.  I can't wait!  And I will certainly keep you updated on it.

Class #2 is a baby preparation class through our hospital.  It'll cover how to care for baby, bathe and feed baby, change diapers (this is more for the hubs than me I think), and even will teach us techniques for if baby is choking, and infant CPR. 

Class #3 is a breastfeeding class.  I always thought that breastfeeding just happens naturally without any problems.  But since I've been pregnant, I've read and heard about people having trouble and how frustrating it can be.  I am hoping this class will teach us some ways to adjust positions and whatnot in case I have trouble, and also will put me in touch with a lactation consultant in case we face any bumps in the road.

I think that wraps up all the classes we are planning on taking as of right now.  And I think that's plenty!