Shane and I attended a 2 day childbirth class at our hospital this weekend. I enjoyed the class probably a little more than Shane did but I was just happy to be out of the house. The class covered different topics like, the stages of labor, medication choices and side effects, breathing and relaxation techniques, caring for yourself postpartum and feeding and caring for your newborn. Most of the information was useful although I think I already knew a lot of it.  We were encouraged to type up a birth plan to give to our doctor however I don’t really have one. Well it’s not that I don’t have one but I am not going into this with a strict idea of how it should go. I would like to labor naturally as long as I can and then I will happily accept an epidural..the end. I don’t think I need to write that up, do you? Nothing goes according to plan, at least not during this pregnancy so I will just go with the flow the best I can. We went over  the typical hee-hee-hooo breathing technique and some meditation/relaxation lessons. I found it to be a little hokey but I am not against it by any means. I am sure for women who want that drug free birth experience these coping strategies probably help a lot. I don’t think I know how to “breathe” the right way and I can’t stay focused. When the instructor had us lie down and listen to a relaxation story I was into it for a few minutes but then my back started to hurt and she lost me.  So that shows you how well it worked for me. If I can’t stay focused without  the painful contractions then I don’t think I will do so well during painful labor. I say give me the drugs! It’s like going to the dentist, I wouldn’t dream of saying “doc, I am going to opt out on the Novocain today and go drug free on this filling, I will just breathe through the drilling”. Ha ha ha, yeah right!

We did get to tour the hospital,  well sort of. We were able to see a labor and delivery room but the postpartum rooms were all full. Damn Supermoon! We found out that every morning before couples are discharged they offer a newborn care class. I think that is great since the one I signed Shane and I up for is on April 15th and I just don’t know if we will make it til  then.

During today’s class I started to feel a little uncomfortable and noticed contractions coming every 15 minutes or so but once I took my lunch time pill I felt better. A few hours later at home they started up again. It’s now 6pm and I am still having them. They do seem fairly regular but I am not terribly eager to run to the hospital just yet. I am going to eat dinner take my 6:45 pill and see how I  feel.

I did some research on why doctors normally stop the Nifedipine at 34 weeks. From what I found it looks like the drug starts to lose its effect after 34 weeks and then the risks out weigh the benefits. Maybe it’s starting to lose it’s affect on me already.