doula meeting #2...

We had another meeting with our doula, Kelley, Thursday night and it was mostly to go over our birth plan, to practice some pushing techniques and to just make sure we're all on the same page.

The pushing techniques we ended up practicing on our bed since we have one of those (fantastic) sleep number beds that raises your head/feet up.  We set it up basically like the hospital bed would be and then went through some different positions and Kelley and Jeff worked together to help me through the pushing phase.  It was weird, I gotta be honest, but I feel better about that part of the labor/delivery after having done that.  I think we're going to be a great team.  :)

Kelley left us a short DVD to watch and asked me to just pay attention to how the women in the DVD worked through their labor.  It was pretty interesting.  And frightening.  And helpful.  :)

I have to say that if we weren't going into this thing with Kelley by our side, there would be A LOT more fear than there is right now.  And there's a pretty fair amount of fear as it is.

We covered our birth plan with Kelley and for the most part, I pretty much knew what I wanted.  Kelley agreed with most all of it.  There were a couple of things I was unsure of (terms, etc.) and talking through them with Kelley helped me to work through those concerns and firm up our plan.

At this point, we haven't planned another meeting but since we see Kelley often and are keeping her in the loop with all of my doctor's appts, I don't foresee needing another meeting with her.

Unless she wants to see if we've been practicing our "stuff" like we're supposed to.  :)

doula meeting #1...

We met with our doula, Kelley, last night, for the first official meeting.  And had a lot of fun.  It helps when your doula is also a good friend of yours.  :)

She basically went over some of the stuff that we'd learned in our childbirth class, expounding on certain things and revising others based on her experience.  I felt more comfortable revisiting things I had a question about with her, rather than in a class setting.  She talked about the stages of labor  generally, but also as it pertains to her and what she's here to do for/with us.

She told me to be sure that both Jeff and I were wearing comfy clothes that we "could move in"...yes, we did some laboring techniques last night so that Jeff could see the role that she would assume for me, as well as the role that she expected him to play during labor and delivery.  It was GREAT for me!  :)  Kelley told Jeff that the main thing was to keep me just as relaxed as I could possibly be in that situation (that is, the situation of giving birth to our first child).

She went through some exercises on the ball and with a scarf type thing that serves to relieve pressure if used in the right way.  It was pretty interesting some of things she showed us and though I'm not having a lot of trouble with back pain, etc. at this point, I can see how a lot of these things she showed us will really help if/when I do have trouble with that.

We laughed a lot and learned a lot so it was a great experience for all of us, I think.  We have some paperwork to fill out and some exercises, etc. to practice for the next month and then we'll have another meeting at the end of the month to review.  We may possibly have one more meeting, if we just feel like we need one more before the little one decides to make his entrance.

childbirth education class #4...

We had our fourth and final Prepared Childbirth class last night.  We talked more about labor and delivery, specifically what happens if a c-section is needed.  Though I'm not a fan of needing a c-section -- I don't know who is really (unless they had serious complications in previous births or something like that) -- but I know that if one is needed, it will only be because it will be in my best interest & that of my child.

With that being said, having a c-section seems like a cake walk compared to a vaginal birth!  Now, I know there are more issues with recovery in the case of a c-section, a longer stay in the hospital, etc.  But the work is done mostly by the hospital staff with a c-section, according to what we learned.  Surgery is surgery, however, and the emotional issues that go along with a c-section HAVE to factor in, I'm sure.

Once we wrapped up the eduction portion, we got to take a tour of the hospital, those areas that we would be utilizing in the labor & delivery of our child.  It was pretty interesting seeing all the different places, and I got lost pretty fast but there are plenty of folks around to direct you where you need to go.  :)  What I liked about the hospital is that it doesn't feel so much like a hospital.  They've done a good job of making the rooms feel more like bedrooms, despite the little bit of medical equipment, etc. that's necessary.

The labor & delivery rooms (vs. the recovery/postpartum rooms) were kind of scary, though.  Only because Jackie flipped on the "delivery lights" (2 huge spotlights!),  took apart the bed and brought out the stirrups and such and I think it just kind of hit me right.then. that I would be going through "all this" in 2 months time.  It, um...well, it kind of...it was a healthy dose of reality.  We'll just say that.

The recovery/postpartum rooms on the mother & baby floor I've seen before after visiting some friends in the hospital after giving birth.  They're pretty nice.  Once we get to that point, it will be better.  I think.  :)

Jeff and I are really glad that we signed up for this class.  Jackie was an excellent teacher and I think we learned some really valuable things through this class.  We have 2 more classes to attend this month, one on breastfeeding and one on baby care.  After those, we'll be pros, right??

childbirth education class #3...

Our 3rd childbirth education class was last night and it was just as informative as the other 2 have been.  We talked about a lot of different things last night revolving around a vaginal birth (I can hear the sound of some of you closing out of your web browser right...about...now.).

For those who are still with me, we talked about a couple of different breathing techniques: the slow, deep breaths -- in through the nose, out through the mouth -- that we use to "breathe through a contraction", and the short, shallow breaths -- like "panting" -- that we use to keep from pushing when we feel the urge before it's time.

As an exercise, Jackie gave us each a clothespin, daddies included, to put on our ear to assimilate the pain of a contraction, though, she warned us it's NOTHING like contraction pain.  10-4.  We only wish that's as bad as it was gonna get...

Anyway, Jackie would tell us that a contraction was starting and we'd clip the clothespin to our ear and then breathe those slow, deep breaths while she timed it for a minute.  Then we we'd take the clothespin off our ear because the contraction was over.  We did that a couple of times.  Piece of cake.  :)

We also talked about different exercises/positions that would be helpful once we got into labor contractions.  She mentioned that the ab ball was a wonderful tool to take the pressure off the lower back.  Also, to apply counter-pressure during a contraction around the hips was always helpful.  She said our husbands/coaches/whoever could do that by pressing in with hands on either side of our hips or by tying a sheet or piece of fabric around our hips and "cinching" it during a contraction.  Interesting.

But not as interesting as this little nugget of wisdom: she calls it the "labor dance" -- I called it the "middle school dance" in my notes.  :)  You know how you used to dance with a boy in middle school?  You basically had your hands resting on his shoulders and he had his hands resting on your waist (unless he was a good dancer and then he would pull you in close -- never dropping his hands inappropriately, mind you -- and you'd be able to just snuggle in...uh, but I never did that kind of dancing in middle school, nosirree.  I promise, Momma. :)

Aaaaanyways, this, in essence, is the "labor dance".  Jackie says the swaying motion, coupled with the gentle pressure that your husband/coach/whoever applies to your hips during a contraction is very helpful.  

And massages.  Yes, please. 

Jackie had us give our husbands a short massage last night to give them an idea of how WE would want to be massaged, etc. and then they turned around and did the same to us.  Kinda.  Gonna have to coach Jeff on that one a little bit.  :)  He gets in a hurry and goes too fast and the faster he goes, the more pressure he applies.  Okay, babe, not...so...don't be...so...OKAY, JUST STOP.  STOP.  Thanks for trying.  :)

After this fun, Jackie went into more detail about what happens postpartum after the delivery, including cleaning & stimulating the baby while having skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding within the first hour, giving the baby a bath after about an hour and a half, if we choose, etc.  It was all very informative.

Next week will be our last class in this Prepared Childbirth series.  We'll talk about c-section deliveries, some other miscellaneous things and then we'll take a tour of the hospital facility.  We're both looking forward to that.  Incidentally, we have to walk by the newborn nursery every week to get to our classroom so we know where that is.  And we always stop to admire the brand new babies -- so sweet.  :)

childbirth education class #1...

Jeff and I went to our first childbirth education class last night, Prepared Childbirth.  This was the first of a 4-week series of one-hour classes at the lovely (no, really) Women's & Children's Hospital of New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

Our friend -- and phenomenal (so I've heard :) labor & delivery nurse -- Jackie is teaching the class and she did great!  I wondered how she felt about 1) teaching her SS teacher and 2) talking about such things as vaginas & discharge in front of him.  She said it was a little awkward, of course, but she's a professional so she did what she needed to do and told us what we needed to know.

It was a FULL hour's worth of information she threw at us so before we knew it, it was 8:30pm and time to go.  We talked about some of the basic terms involved with childbirth (anatomy, birthing terms, etc.), the different stages of labor, what to look for/note if this or that should happen, etc.  She gave us a book with the information so we had that to take our own notes in if we chose to.

I enjoyed the class and at this point, don't have anything to fear yet.  She was very upfront with how hard this childbirth thing is and how it is painful, but even with that, I'm not panicking.  Yet.

We still have 3 classes to go, so there's still time to scare me out of my wits.

There were about 15 folks in the class -- only one who was there by herself.  I was proud of the soon-to-be daddies that came with their mommies (including mine :) -- there were 5 of those.  One of the girls brought her mom since her husband had to work, and another girl brought her sister-in-law since her husband was also working.  Incidentally, her SIL made a good point: "This is an excellent class to take to KEEP you from getting pregnant!"  :)