The Story on Morning Glory

This weekend was amazingly busy. A few months ago, I sat down and perused the prego classes offered at the hospitals and signed up for a few. We took Child Care Basics a few weeks ago, which was pretty good! Learned a lot of practical stuff...car seat installation, baby CPR, how much Jack should sleep and feed...good stuff. Jeff actually really liked the class, which is good...since I still had to drag him to two more classes...

This weekend we had Childbirth and Breastfeeding...the two big, scary classes . A few months ago, taking two classes in one weekend seemed like it would be no big deal! I mean, what's a few hours in a classroom? I can do that!

So the journey started on Saturday morning...first of all, on a sort of tangent, but a tangent that will matter in a minute, our house is about 60 years old. The electrical box was the original and seriously needed updating. We got a few bids from electricians, ranging from $11,000 to $1,300...and guess which one we chose! And even at that price, I feel like the new box should now be a part of the general house tour. Anything that expensive should be showcased, not just tucked away in a closet! I might have to put a frame around it...anyways, Saturday was the day for the new electrical box to be installed. So, the electrician said he'd like to get started at 7...excuse me, what time on a Saturday morning would you like to start? Eek! So, needless to say, the day started early, and even though he didn't quite make it over until 7:30 (should have guessed), I was showered, dressed, and packed up for my upcoming baby shower that afternoon by 7am.

So, we got out of the house by 7:45 and headed to Paris Coffee Shop down on Magnolia (where they make the most amazing french toast...so amazing it almost made up for getting up so early on a Saturday morning) for breakfast then headed straight to the hospital for our Childbirth class.

Our instructor was interesting...we took the class at Baylor, just because it was the class that worked out for us timing-wise, but we're delivering at Harris. To start off with, she was clearly annoyed when she found that out (I mean, she asked for a show of hands for who wasn't delivering at Baylor) and made a side comment along the lines of "I'm sure they have a great labor and delivery floor at Harris, too..." She was a little hard core...the first thing we did when we got to the class was to go around the room and tell your name, due date, and share something negative about pregnancy that you're experiencing right now. Way to start off the class on a high note! It ended up essentially being a way for her to show her knowledge..."oh, you're dealing with _______, well what you need to do is __________." Okay....she was a little scary, not one you'd want to mess with. She clearly took her job seriously. She even made us take a protein quiz, to make sure we all knew none of us were getting enough protein...thanks for the birthing tip.

Anyway, you probably have a pretty good idea of what we're in for in this class...lots of videos. All kinds of videos. And all videos that make you wonder, "Who would say it's ok to tape this and then put it on a video for millions of people to see?" And that's not just a question you'd want to ask one woman...there were quite a few women that I could pose that question to. Jeff was a trooper, and although the class wasn't quite as practical for him as the last one, honestly, it was pretty good for me to see...in some kinda of strange scary way.

They passed around all kinds of labor/birthing equipment...an epidural needle was one of the most interesting ones. I've heard it's a large needle, and that's no lie. It will be like shoving a stick of bamboo in my back. Fun. But I'm guessing at that point in the labor, the idea to stabbing me in the back with this mammoth of a needle will seem like the least of my worries.

They also passed around the forceps and the vacuum that they sometimes use to have to assist in the birth. The forceps look like a medieval torture device, and the vacuum looks like a suction cup. I'm expecting the "vacuum" to be like the Hoover in my closet. Turn it on, stick the hose on the baby's head, and out it pops! It wasn't it, in fact, it looked quite harmless. But the instructor actually said the forceps are safer than the vacuums...I'll just say, they don't look like it, but I don't choose to doubt the scary woman.

Because of my spectacular shower, we left the class a little early, right after the Lamaze and Bradly breathing methods...some people in the class took this part of the class pretty seriously...closed eyes, really breathing the whole "he, he, he, who" thing...Jeff and I were trying to stifle our laughs and of course, he was just being silly the whole time! Our professor like instructor didn't appreciate it too much, but what else would you do, looking around the room at 10 other couples, on the floor with pillows, leaning back and pretending to be in pain! I get the gist of it. I'll probably regret not paying more attention in 5 weeks, but one way or another, this little boy's coming out! Lamaze breathing or not!

Sunday, we had our Breastfeeding class. The instructor was the same one we'd had for the Child Care Basics class and we liked her, so it was nice to see a non-Nazi face at the front of the room! She is funny, and although, again you have to wonder, "Who would say it's ok to tape this to share with millions," she made it entertaining and a little less awkward than it could have been. There were even a few inappropriate jokes that she let slip out!

One of the funniest things, she had a fake, stuffed boob. Like a stuffed animal, but it was a boob! It's kinda hard not to giggle about that. She's throwing the boob around, having the baby doll pretend to nurse on it...kinda funny. Especially for the boys in the class. Let me say, there were many an elbow thrown into the side of husbands during this class. It's like they all turned into 8th grade boys as soon as that first video came on!

So, I learned a lot about breastfeeding, that there's actually more to it than just putting the baby in front of your breast and hoping he can do his thing and make it work. Again, not so practical for Jeff, but good for me to see. And to know it could be hard and somewhat uncomfortable in the beginning.

And it's actually a good thing they make the husbands come to these classes! Now he knows what it all means, and that over all, none of this is easy, and when I'm complaining, it's normal.

Needless to say, after all of this new crazy information, I had a little freak out on Sunday night...how in the heck am I supposed to do all of this! I mean, going to both classes in one weekend was tough enough, not to mention, that pretty soon, all in one day, I'm going to be giving birth and then breastfeeding! Oh my goodness! What have I gotten myself into. How am I supposed to do all of this!! Plus resemble a normal person!

It's a good thing that when I really sit and think and don't freak out, I know that it's natural, it will happen, and all of this is just what the Lord has made my body for. How in the world would I do it with out that trust that no matter what...no matter how hard labor is, no matter what tool they have to use to pull Jack out, no matter if he latches on right or not, that I'm not doing this alone. Jeff is wonderful, reminding me that I'm not alone, he's there, ready to do anything other than offer a boob, and my eyes need to be on the Lord anyways. Where they should be always, but are more often that not, they're not.

I know full well that the Lord will change me in this process and I am glad of it. Make me less selfish, make me more patient, make me more loving, more able to forget about the clutter of my house (yes, regardless of what my house looks like, I do sometimes worry about the clutter of my house)...I'm sure I'll resist the change, be frustrated and even resentful. But I love that the Lord will draw me closer to HIm in all of this. I just pray that I will be mold-able.