i just realized i stopped writing about my classes after session #2.
well, sessions #3 and #4 were labor-related as well. she covered interventions and postpartum. while it was informative enough, i came out of those classes feeling rather discouraged. she definitely made it seem like NO ONE gets their ideal birth.
we did do one exercise, which i thought was very ... eye opening. she had about a dozen cards with things written on them like "IV", "epidural", "natural birth", "healthy baby", etc. and on the other side of the cards was the opposite ("no IV", "no epidural", "C-section", "not healthy baby", etc). and it was about what we were willing to give up first one by one - and of course everyone's final result that they kept was "healthy baby". it was frustrating to have to give up things you really wanted/did not want and gave a real sense of what is important here. a good lesson learned for the dads too, though jesse already knew of all my goals.
class #5 was about breastfeeding. i think this was one of the better classes. we just went over the different types of latches, feeding cues, etc.
class #6 was about baby care. dads got to do some hands-on swaddling. when the instructor asked about how many people were familiar with newborns, only one raised her hand. so i was rather surprised that she didn't have "diaper changing" on her list of topics to cover. so as much as i felt like an idiot, i had to ask, because I HAVE NO IDEA how to change a diaper. well, no, i know the basics - take off old diaper, wipe clean, replace with new diaper. but what's the vaseline for? what's the powder for (though it's not recommended and we're not planning on using it)? anyways, after i asked, she went into detail and covered these things, which was nice.
so overall, i guess the classes were helpful. if nothing else, jesse learned good massage techniques, which i will forever be thankful for. i just wish there was more stuff covered that wasn't in the "From Here to Maternity" book that i could've just read about.
well, sessions #3 and #4 were labor-related as well. she covered interventions and postpartum. while it was informative enough, i came out of those classes feeling rather discouraged. she definitely made it seem like NO ONE gets their ideal birth.
we did do one exercise, which i thought was very ... eye opening. she had about a dozen cards with things written on them like "IV", "epidural", "natural birth", "healthy baby", etc. and on the other side of the cards was the opposite ("no IV", "no epidural", "C-section", "not healthy baby", etc). and it was about what we were willing to give up first one by one - and of course everyone's final result that they kept was "healthy baby". it was frustrating to have to give up things you really wanted/did not want and gave a real sense of what is important here. a good lesson learned for the dads too, though jesse already knew of all my goals.
class #5 was about breastfeeding. i think this was one of the better classes. we just went over the different types of latches, feeding cues, etc.
class #6 was about baby care. dads got to do some hands-on swaddling. when the instructor asked about how many people were familiar with newborns, only one raised her hand. so i was rather surprised that she didn't have "diaper changing" on her list of topics to cover. so as much as i felt like an idiot, i had to ask, because I HAVE NO IDEA how to change a diaper. well, no, i know the basics - take off old diaper, wipe clean, replace with new diaper. but what's the vaseline for? what's the powder for (though it's not recommended and we're not planning on using it)? anyways, after i asked, she went into detail and covered these things, which was nice.
so overall, i guess the classes were helpful. if nothing else, jesse learned good massage techniques, which i will forever be thankful for. i just wish there was more stuff covered that wasn't in the "From Here to Maternity" book that i could've just read about.
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