Rolling along

Tuesday’s midwife appointment was totally uneventful, which is terrific. We met with a different midwife this time and she’s fantastic. Very warm and caring, but focused and quite knowledgeable. She answered all of our questions in detail and treated us like informed individuals. And she never batted an eye when I introduced Strawberry as my wife and included her fully in the appointment. Couldn’t ask for better, really. I think we are both hoping she’s in attendance for our birth.

Last night’s Bradley class was mercifully devoid of any big slip-ups. We did, however get very detailed information in the form of a video and workbook pages about the stages of labor. Now, being the motivated and educated people that we are, we have already done a fair amount of reading and research on our own into this subject. But this video was FAR more detailed and graphic than anything we’d read or seen before. It uses computer animation to show what’s happening internally and it’s very well done. And we saw a placenta being birthed. I admit that was a bit of a shock to me, it’s huge and bloody. I’d seen illustrations and photographs before, but it was still a surprise.

In addition to the info from the book and video, the instructor shared personal observations from her work as a doula and from her experiences as a mother of 2. And then we did more relaxation and guided meditation stuff. I found it to be quite an excellent class.

OK, one tiny funny anecdote. The Bradley class is held in the instructor’s home and her husband and sons are usually home during class. So far, they’ve left us and her alone while we are “in session” but last night her eldest (9 years old) interrupted meekly to ask if she would come upstairs and cuddle him when class was over. It was very sweet!