Prepared Birthing Class...Week 2

Nick and I had Class #2 on last night.  It is definitely still as interesting as ever.  I have to say that there is no way I could effectively teach this class.  There are too many times that you have to talk about penetration, thrusting, and penises on top of all the labor and pregnancy stuff.  It takes every ounce of self control not to just lose it in the middle of the class.  I know I should be adult about it but it's just funny.  Especially when you are hearing a 60+ year old woman talk about thrusting and sexual positions.  And she does it all without missing a beat.  


What did we "learn" this week:

30 week bump update

Only 5% of babies are born on the actual due date.  The majority are born somewhere between weeks 38 and 42.  


There are 4 phases to labor and the average 1st pregnancy labor lasts anywhere from 12-16 hours (oh, joy).  
She went into detail about the phases, I'm not going to becuase it really isn't necessary but needless to say Phase 1 last the longest (this is the actual contraction/water break phase).  


Mim also said that you don't have to go to the hospital until your contractions are 5 min. a part for 1 hour (unless your water has broke already in which case you should go to the hospital right away).  Honestly, when my contractions are 5 minutes a part, I am NOT waiting an hour to go to the hospital.  I definitely want to make sure this baby arrives at the hospital; not at my house.  


The last hour was dedicated to different positions of labor and relaxation techniques.  Essentially, the best relaxation technique was having Nick massage my back (will be using this in the future).  All of the others seem a bit weird and I didn't feel like they did anything at all.  I guess we will see once I go into labor.  

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)