god bless you tube

One of the big questions we currently face as parents-to-be is whether or not to take childbirth preparation classes. The hospital where we'll deliver offers them at about $200 for a weekend of classes, covering breastfeeding, labor and delivery prep, and caring for an infant. To be honest, when we asked the doctor on our first visit, she said that she thought there were plenty of other things parents-to-be could probably use the $200 for and that everything we'd really need to know they would tell us. Really, she said, they were good if you felt totally unprepared, but otherwise it was fine to skip. Plus, I can't breastfeed since my reduction 11 years ago, so that portion of the class won't matter, and frankly I don't need another experience sitting in a room having people tell me that breastfed children are smarter/cuter/calmer/healthier than formula-fed babies, particularly since there's nothing I can do about it. Also, I'm no pro, but I think I've got a good grasp on how to change a diaper and hold a baby. And Jay does, too. The only thing left would be the discussion about labor and delivery, which I figure a). is a completely natural biological process that will be attended to by professionals and b). if it doesn't go how I imagine, will be over before I know it and will not traumatize me forever. I think I'm perfectly capable of screaming "epidural NOW!" or consenting with a nod to a c-section. I don't really need a lesson in creating a birth plan. Maybe I'm naive but I plan to just go with the flow. However, I have heard they show birth videos, which fascinates me since I'm sure my occasional episode of "A Baby Story" doesn't paint the most accurate or realistic picture of what REALLY goes on. But is this worth $200? -- not so much.

It is, however, worth a quick scan on You Tube for childbirth videos, which is just what we did last night. We had a wonderful baby-centered day registering a Babies R Us and when we got back from dinner at Andy and Amanda's, we thought we'd take a quick peek and what we might find on childbirth. After a good laugh at Bill Cosby's childbirth skit, we found the goldmine.

I wish I could set the scene better, but there was no sound and no visual expect a baby's head crowning about a foot from the video camera. The woman was clearly pushing for a while, and every time she pushed you could see a bit more of the head come out, but then when she relaxed, it practically sucked back in. We were mesmerized. I had no idea that the head could just be hanging out there, almost out, for so long! And at one point, the doctor grabbed the woman's hand and had her reach down and touch the top of the baby's head, at which point I think Jay had enough. But we kept watching, and once the head popped out, the rest went pretty quickly and pretty much as I expected.

You'd think that would be enough but, no, we kept looking, watching a water birth (no thanks) and a standing/squatting birth (not so much). Finally I was tuckered out, but I think a few videos of c-sections and maybe of an epidural being administered and I'll be all set. My mantra this whole pregnancy has been that women have been doing this for centuries, without $200 childbirth classes. Maybe I'll stick to getting a few books and a few more You Tube videos and take my chances.

Registering was fun, we had been to Babies R Us twice before and had picked out most things we thought we might need. We registered at Target a while back for our bedding, which we'd picked out weeks ago. For everything else we had a good system going and we banged it out pretty quick. Later that evening people were amazed we didn't argue while we were registering, which we didn't at all but apparently most couples do. More reinforcement that we're a good team.

We're gearing up today (read: sitting on the couch watching the Celtics game) for a busy week. I have 2 big events Wednesday and Thursday and my Dad and Brie are coming in Thursday night for the weekend. I'm getting Friday off as a comp day and Jay's off too so we're looking forward to a nice long weekend. We'll check in again then.

The belly continues to grow, making it progressively harder to get a good night's sleep and shave my legs without incident. Ah, the sacrifices of motherhood. Just kidding -- I know nothing of sacrifices yet, but I can't wait to.