Birth Class

31 Weeks and the weather is still warm!

We recently had the opportunity to take a birth class at Cayuga Medical Center, where I plan to give birth, at the beginning of October. I was perturbed by the mid-wife at Ithaca OBGYN that insisted they would only teach us how to be patients at the hospital and maintained that we take her class at the OBGYN office. We decided to take a class in the place that we would eventually end up in a few months. This was an excellent choice. We got to see the rooms, try out the different bed positions, practice driving in and parking (well, Jim did this part :-) and now we have general muscle memory about the process and the surroundings. I particularly appreciated the epidural demonstration that Nurse Jocelyn did for us. She explained that it can be shocking for a woman in labor to go from being a free bird to being connected to an  IV, the line for the epidural, a blood pressure monitor and a heart monitor for both mom and baby. Jim and I volunteered to do the demonstration and it was quite startling. I am in no way anti-medical intervention, but going from none to so much was jarring even in a practice round. It is good to have a more clear picture of what that looks like.

Overall the new wing at Cayuga Med is gorgeous. It may sound weird, but I am looking forward to labor and delivery. Never in my life have I felt more feminine or proud to be a woman and I haven't even given birth yet.