Tonight we had our first child/parent/birthing pre-class. We came prepared, if that means arriving with a roast beef sandwich, water and the reflex to avert my eyes should any babies coming out of you-know-where decide to pop up in the film strip they were showing. We did things like answer true or false questions (btw, it's FALSE that drinking beer brings on labor) and watched a computer generated film about pregnancy. Was I the only one freaking out about how big the baby is going to get in there? Also, the part about the baby being covered with fine hair was also a little nuts, considering that he/she will EAT the hair when it decides to fall off. (I also heard murmurings about how the placenta falls out, much like a LIVER.) More questions ensued, especially from a young woman who wanted to know there and then when it would be known if she could have a c-section.
The baby kicked me the whole time we were there and all of a sudden things began to feel more and more real to me. I mean, yes, I'm 24 weeks pregnant -- I look it, I feel it, etc. etc. But picture yourself in a hospital classroom surrounded by preggos of all sizes, with a film on about birthin' babies and it starts to get very Rod Serling. But just as I leaned over to Doug to tell him how happy I am that we're doing this and how excited I am to be having this baby girl - (who will no doubt come screaming out of me) -- the dreaded baby head from you-know-where popped up on the screen. It kinda broke the moment as I'm pretty sure that I was the only one in the room who shielded her face and yelled "ewww."
The baby kicked me the whole time we were there and all of a sudden things began to feel more and more real to me. I mean, yes, I'm 24 weeks pregnant -- I look it, I feel it, etc. etc. But picture yourself in a hospital classroom surrounded by preggos of all sizes, with a film on about birthin' babies and it starts to get very Rod Serling. But just as I leaned over to Doug to tell him how happy I am that we're doing this and how excited I am to be having this baby girl - (who will no doubt come screaming out of me) -- the dreaded baby head from you-know-where popped up on the screen. It kinda broke the moment as I'm pretty sure that I was the only one in the room who shielded her face and yelled "ewww."