The 9 hour class

Yesterday we had our 9 hour class at the hospital. While I wouldn't call sitting in a classroom for 9 hours fun, I will say that the class was informative and worth the time. We learned about everything from the stages to labor, when to go to the hospital, where to go once we get there, and what the process will be like. Overall, there was a lot of good information.

To start, we began by learning about the 3 stages of labor and how labor is seldom if ever like it is in the movies. We also learned some breathing techniques and some ways to help alleviate pain during the labor. Then the videos started.... Surprisingly, the videos weren't nearly as graphic as I was expecting which was a good thing. The last thing we needed was to have Toni having a panic attack and me unconscious on the floor. :) Speaking of which, I'm convinced that I was the only honest man in the room. At one point, the instructor asked if any of the men were worried that they would pass out during the delivery and I was the only one who raised their hand. All of the macho, manly-men sure were listening attentively though while the instructor talked about things that men should do to avoid passing out so I think they were all full of it. :) Interestingly, the main reason men pass out is because throughout the lengthy labor process, men usually forget to eat or drink because they are so concerned about their wife's well being. With some labors lasting over 20 hours, they just run out of fuel. We'll see what happens....

After lunch, we took our tour of the hospital. We were shown where we could sign in and told that we could sign in ahead of time if we'd like. We got to see the labor and delivery rooms which I can describe in 1 word - SWEET! All the rooms at Northcentral Baptist are private and extremely nice. The rooms were roomy and had everything from a flat panel TV with a DVD player to a private full bathroom. Very nice... The post-partum room was the next stop on the trip (and will be where Toni is taken after delivery to recover) and those rooms were just as nice, only a bit smaller. Next, we went to see the nursery and got to watch through the glass at the new babies. Overall, the hospital tour we very nice and I think it helped to have the tour and put our minds at ease. One very nice feature that they have is that to go from one area to another, you have to click an intercom and be buzzed in. They told us that when a baby is born, the baby, mother and father all get wrist straps to identify to hospital staff and to themselves that they have the right baby. The thing that really impressed me though was their safeguard for the babies - a security device is attached to the baby so that if someone tries to take a baby out of the maternity ward, the entire hospital is placed on lock down and alarms go off throughout the hospital. It definitely helped put my mind at ease.

After the tour, we watched a couple more videos about C-sections and post-partum and the class concluded. Overall, we both left feeling a lot more comfortable about the process and the class helped answer a lot of questions and ease a lot of fears. While it was incredibly long and uncomfortable to be sitting in a class for that long, it was worth it in the end.

So far, here's the guesses for Caitlin's due date. As always, if you'd like to guess, just submit your guess in the comments for this post. The doctors have said that her due date is 7/26 but here's the guesses we have so far:

Toni and Sarah - 7/4
Mike - 7/7
Me - 7/10
Cuqui - 7/18