I'm 31 weeks pregnant, which is about 7 months along, so at our last prenatal exam I asked when we should be signing up for birthing classes and our doctor gave me a list of dates for the classes. It was literally only a few days before the only class we could attend began, so we tried calling them to sign up. No one responded until the day before the class started, and we barely got in!
Class started at the hospital on Wednesday, April 27th and ran from 7pm-9pm and it will do so for the next 6 weeks. I was really looking forward to starting these classes only because I knew it would give me a better idea of what labor and delivery is like and hopefully ease my fears about it. The first hour and a half of class was fairly predictable as our instructor mostly talked about all the different stages of labor and what normally happens with an uncomplicated delivery. Then we watched a video of a live birth during which Mike gripped my leg in alarm. Clearly, he's nervous about that. There were about 10 couples there, most of whom looked around our age, or maybe a bit younger in their 20's. A couple of them, however, looked like they could be about 13, and one pregnant teenage girl was there with her mom and had no male partner. So, for the duration of the class, the instructor had to constantly correct herself in referring to the husbands/boyfriends as the "birthing coach" or "labor partner" instead of "dad". That was a little annoying, since it really felt like she was distancing him from me who she called "mom".
I enjoyed the information given, even if I had read about it before, but the part I was most surprised about occurred during the last 15 minutes of class. We were given a tour of the labor & delivery floor. I was surprised to discover how nervous it made me to see where I would potentially be giving birth. We toured a birthing suite that was currently not in use and learned about what would go on there from the moment you check in until the birth of your baby. It was a fairly spacious room with plenty of bench seating for guests, if you wish to have them. Most of the suites offer jacuzzi tubs for laboring, but only one has one all to it's self. The others have to share (first come, first served). I was a little put off by that because ever since I learned from my doctor that the hospital birthing rooms had tubs, I had been looking forward to having the option of laboring in one. I plan to avoid medication as much as possible, and any kind of natural pain relief and relaxant such as a jacuzzi tub are extremely welcome and desired!
Having learned that, the instructor told us that one of our things to do this week was to pre-register for a suite and fill out paperwork at hospital admitting. When we pre-register, we were told if we want the bigger birthing suite with the private jacuzzi, we should ask for it. Even though they can't guarantee we'll get it, we have a much better chance at it. This being a small town, I can't imagine how many women will go into labor at the same exact time, but after seeing all the pregnant women around my due date in my class, it certainly isn't impossible!
After the tour of the birthing suite, we were taken around the corner to the next hall in the postpartum ward where we will be moved once the baby is born. The postpartum rooms are SMALL! There's only enough room for a twin bed, a little rolling crib and a really uncomfortable looking fold-out chair for "labor partner" to sleep on! Then we were told that we'd be expected to stay usually 2 days, or more if you end up having a c-section. It did ease my mind to learn that it is the hospital policy that your baby stay with you the whole time and does not go to a nursery unless there is something wrong and it needs special care.
All in all, I was glad to have gotten the tour and learned what to expect, however it did make me start to feel nervous about it all. I wonder how my experience will be, and if I will even make it to a birthing suite at all. I keep fearing that since I'm so focused on having a natural birth, I'm totally overlooking the possibility of having something go wrong and ending up with surgery at the total other end of the spectrum of natural just like my sister did. I try to remind myself of that possibility now and again, but it's scary. I know that prior to getting pregnant, I had accepted the idea that if I ever got pregnant with any kind of fertility treatments, I'd pretty much be guaranteed a c-section delivery, due to the complications of multiple birth. But now that I've actually gotten pregnant on my own, without treatment, and we know it's a single baby, I happily fell back to my old wishes for a natural birth. If I could, I know I would prefer having a midwife deliver my baby at a birthing center, but our town doesn't have such things. There are midwives, but the fact that I feel uncomfortable in my own home really ruins the whole home birth idea for me. I do feel lucky that the hospital has such an updated maternity floor, giving women the option of laboring in comfort rather than being strapped to the bed the entire time. That puts my mind at ease.
