While we have a few minor format/pedogical complaints about the childbirth class yesterday, on the whole, it was good.

The instructor was a Labor & Delivery Nurse at the hospital where we’re having our baby, and she has been doing that for 14 years and teaching this kind of class for 10. She mostly used the terms "Mom" and "Coach," and none of the other couples in the class seemed to have much of a reaction to us being there. As I would expect, they seemed pretty focused on their own experience, concerns, questions, fears, etc.

The "real life birth experience" video was more current than a lot you hear about, and while the birth moms all seemed to be managing their pain ok, the actual babies looked more yucky than I expected. Post-video, we have new reasons to hope that the baby will NOT be born early.

For me, the most useful part of the class was on the pregnant woman’s anatomy. Now I understand why my heartburn and other GI processes seem to be so much worse than they’ve been. My stomach really is trying to escape from my uterus by way of my throat, and my poor intestines have been flattened along my back.

It looks like this actually gets better 2 or 3 weeks before delivery, when the baby "drops" and starts squishing the heck out of my bladder instead. But frankly, I’m looking forward to it. I’d rather be able to eat and have to pee every 10 minutes than not be able to eat without heartburn — and right now, EVERYTHING gives me heartburn — but be able to hold it for an hour or two.

I did think there would be more info about pros and cons of different decisions around the birth — epidural, natural, etc. On that, all I really learned is that it takes ~half an hour from when you ask for the epidural until the pain goes away, and that ~80% of the birth moms at this hospital have them.

The other really useful thing we learned was that I’m not limited to ice chips once we arrive at the hospital. I can’t *eat* but I can have clear liquids and popcicles if we bring them. And it’s probably a good idea to eat during early labor, before coming to the hospital, since the whole process will probably last 18-36 hours and include at least 2 hours of intense physical work towards the end.

Speaking of eating: Fruit & Veg Count, 12/17: Large strawberry smoothie, 1/2 cup butternut squash. Mmmmm. Squash.