20 weeks + 6 days

5:15 am. Another sleepless night. The good thing is that I was so behind with my Valencia class grading that I needed this time to catch up. Now, my online class is all caught up and my grading is done- still need to post it to the students but at least it's done.

I just realized that I never wrote about the birthing class last week. Last week, I enjoyed the class because we discussed the mechanics of labor/birth. The instructor had a pelvis model and a cabbage patch-like baby doll (about a 7 pounder) that she used to show us the journey the baby makes. This combined with the women's anatomy cross-section poster helped me visualize exactly what will happen on the big day. I learned why I will feel "pressure on my butt" (baby's head pushes on the rectum).
Anyhow, the big lesson of the night for me was what to pack for the hospital. Most hospitals will not allow women to eat or drink during labor (which explains why women are exhausted by the time they have to push). Therefore, we have to pack a cooler with our own snacks and drinks to sneak into the room- Nick's job!
As the instructor spoke about the birthing process, she kept using marathon training phrases. I realized that I should pack just like I would for a long race. My labor survival kit will look something like this:
1. 6 or 12-pack of vanilla-flavored Ensure
2. 2-3 bags of Cliff shot blocks (gummy bear like squares used to give you a carb boost during a race)
3. 6-pack of water and/or gatorade

These are the only things that I eat during a race because they do not upset my stomach. Hospitals don't let women in labor eat because they are afraid it will make them throw up (this is the short version of a long story/history of why women can't eat or drink during labor). I am hoping that my Ensure/Cliff shots combo works the same during labor as it does during a race so I don't throw up.

I believe that the instructor, Nick and I got into a discussion as to how similar marathon running and labor really are. I think the instructor tried to tell me that it wasn't the same somehow. I won't know for a few months but all I know now is that comparing labor to a marathon makes me feel confident and fear-less about going into labor and that's the whole point of the class.

Yesterday's class was more on birthing "plans" and how to request preferences for labor. I don't anticipate a problem with my Dr. on any of my preferences given that I don't think I'm being unreasonable. Some of the recommended birthing preferences for labor are:

-Dim lighting, peace and quiet, music of choice
-Vaginal exams kept to a minimum - I'll discuss this w/the Doc to define what "minimum" will be
-Maintain mobility (be hooked up to a "wireless" monitor so I can walk around rather than be stuck on the bed)
-Allowed to drink/eat- I'm sneaking food/drinks in anyway so it doesn't matter if he agrees or not
-Saline lock rather than an IV
-Do not offer me pain medication. I will tell you if I need it.
-Choice of position
-Prolonged length, if progress is being made- give time to the baby to descend on its own rather than intervene if there's no emergency
-No episiotomy (prefer to tear rather than be cut)

Once the baby is born then there are other requests that can be made:

-baby to be placed on my stomach w/warm blankets for 1st hour with skin to skin contact to stabilize baby's temperature
-delay the cord cutting until it stops pulsating
-partner to cut the cord
-delay eye medication
-breast-feeding only

Honestly, I don't really have a strong feeling for most of the baby-care requests outside of delaying the cord cutting and having Nick cut it. Other than that, I'm open to the hospital protocol. The instructor said the hospital takes the baby right away because they are trained to look for "anything wrong" with the baby. I, myself, am trained to think that way too so I don't have a problem with the nurses doing whatever their routine check-ups are before handing baby "G" to us. Plus, I'd prefer if the baby is all cleaned up when I hold him- I know this sounds terrible. I would be shunned if I said this at birthing class!

Oh, forgot to mention the funny part of yesterday's class. We were asked to think of our birthing preferences from the baby's perspective. This is not my thing- I don't do visualizations or pretend stuff well. Of course, the all lovey-dubby mom-to-be goes first and goes on and on about love and warmth and all other adjectives that I tuned her out for. Then it's my turn. As Nick said while we were driving home-he knows me so well- "shit, how's Steph going to follow that?". I gave a bullet answer: a healthy process. I meant if I was a baby being born I wouldn't want to be drugged, poked or prodded if I didn't need to be. Anyhow, I wonder if the lovey-dubby couple judges us and thinks we'll be bad parents for not being as "loving" as they are.

P.S. I don't proofread my posts when I post at 5am. Please forgive any jumping around, grammatical mistakes or rambling. Sometimes I just want to vent.