Birthing Class 1

Last night we attended our very first Bradley Method birthing class. I was a little unsure about what to expect because I have several friends who have gone in different cities and have heard everything from 'totally amazing' to 'totally granola but still worth it'. First off, our instructor Colleen was really great and totally normal! That may be an odd statement to make but we do live in a city that has some fairly granola vibes so you just never know when you go to a natural class on anything. But she was great. And not that I'm knocking granola because I like some granola stuff in small quantities. SMALL quantities. Because I also like other very un-granola things. Lots of them!

Now that we have that clear, let's move on.

Our first class was basically an introduction about the class and instructor, meeting everyone else in the class and then we hit the nitty gritty talk about exercise. I think Luke snorted out loud when she talked about exercising EVERY SINGLE DAY. Because I don't really do that. I mean, in a formal sense. I putter and move and probably walk up and down my stairs about 100 times a day but never all in a row and never enough to really claim any cardiac benefit. That just doesn't sound very fun. At least to me, anyway. I know SOME people who think exercise is really fun and do it all the time. There is help. www.awakeandarise.com. Check it out.

We also talked about labor/delivery specific preparation exercises. Luke threw out a few lewd comments during this part of the class that I pray nobody else heard. It was funny but not really funny if you don't know us. It would just be wrong if you didn't know us. Can we at least wait until week 3 before people actually maybe get to know us a bit better? And our dear instructor had to mention that with the "squatting" exercise, our birth partners need to remind us to do them whenever we have to pick something up. So of course, Luke was ordering me to squat to put on my shoes (how would they get on my feet???) and then when I grabbed my purse off the floor later that night. Gentle reminders please. Not orders. Thank-you very much. I don't do well with orders.

So that was our first class. From what I know about the Bradley Method, which encourages natural delivery, I know that this girl here is probably NOT what I will look like during the delivery of our sweet little boy...

But hey, it does look a little staged. But I also hope I don't look like a screaming banshee, ripping out my husbands hair and declaring my utter dislike for all that he did to me. I think I'll be somewhere in the middle. Or maybe I won't. Who can really know these things?

But when it's all over, I know for sure we'll have a lovely set of these...

to kiss and kiss and kiss some more! Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE baby feet? Well, now you know!

Just call me squatter, till next time!