Hi Baby O. :)
We're at Haymarket Cafe right now. Daddy is getting something to eat downstairs but I'm not hungry so am upstairs waiting for him. Mommie just woke up from a 3 hour nap! I was so tired little O. I don't think you were because you were moving around during the whole nap...maybe you were trying to get me to wake up and feed you. Sorry sweetie, Mommie loves naps.
This morning we went to our first Hypnobirthing class. It's a class to teach parents how to relax during the labor and to see it as a natural process. It was really nice. There were 8 couples in total, including your Daddy & I. Two of the couples were same sex couples which was very nice. When we came in we had to put on nametags and every couple went around the room telling us a little bit about themselves.
There was one couple before us and they said that they hadn't bought any books and were not trying to go crazy and learn everything about childbirth. They were cool and relaxed and collected about the whole thing. The Mommie said she was just taking the class because she didn't want to be that crazy woman screaming down the maternity ward. The Daddy, calm and collected, said he was just trying to go with the flow.
Then up next was your Daddy. I knew he was going to put me on blast by the way he looked over at me and smirked. Daddy said, well unlike you (looking over at the nice, normal, sane couple next to us), my partner is reading EVERYTHING, has every book and is online 7 hours a day (yes, he said 7 hours a day) reading about childbirth. Everyone laughed and I bowed my head a little bit. I couldn't believe we were sitting next to the complete opposite couple. So I said, yea I'm reading a lot and I'd like to learn how to center myself and that we were seeing Hampshire Ob/Gyn midwives but were thinking of changing blah blah blah. I was done speaking and was eagerly waiting for the intructor to go to the next couple but your Daddy decided to chime in one last time, "oh, and we have a doula." The instructor didn't hear Daddy so he said it again, we have a doula. We have a midwife and a doula. First couple must have thought we were really crazy now. The couple to our left who hadn't spoken yet said wait, if you have a midwife do you need a doula too? Luckily the instructor said having a doula was always good because she/he can support both partners. We were finally off the hook and the instructor moved on to the other couples. There was a mix between those reading everything and those who thought it was as one Daddy described childbirth, "A puzzle. We just need to problem solve the puzzle." I will need a lot of hypnosis to get to that point.
After all of our wonderful sharing, the instructor told us more about labor in general and then we tried relaxation techniques. The partners of the Mommies got to get massages first so your Daddy sat on the floor while I gave him a massage and he did breath work. After that Mommies got to go and we got massages from our partners. It was great! I felt so relaxed afterwards. It was really nice to give your Daddy a massage, it really made me think about how much I love him and how great of a support he is to me always. It was also really nice to be around so many other pregnant women and to hear their stories. I don't feel so crazy anymore! We have two more classes after this and I think it will really help.
After class we took a tour of the Childbirth Center at Cooley Dickinson Hospital where you will probably be born. It was really nice. At Cooley, Mommies stay in one room for labor and delivery and then go to another room for postpartum recovery. If the baby is healthy, the baby gets to stay with the parents for most of the time. Each room has a jacuzzi tub that I can labor in but can't deliver in. They don't offer water births at this hospital so I have been thinking of changing to Holyoke Medical Center that does offer water births. We have an appointment with the Holyoke Midwives on Friday so we'll see. We'd have to change practices which would be kind of a hassle at this point since we're so far along but will be worth it if I want to have the option of a water birth.
After that your Daddy and I went to have breakfast at Marge's Kitchen and then to look at gyms in the area. We looked at the YMCA (which offers free childcare for 2 months and over), Northampton Athletic Club (childcare $4/child per session) and then Universal Health & Fitness (no childcare). We think we're going to go with the YMCA since it's the cheapest and since it offers childcare so your Daddy and I can go to the gym together. It also has an indoor basketball court that your Daddy can use and a heated pool so Mommie can take water aerobic classes (we sound really old, right?).
Your Daddy is done eating now so we're going to start planning our trip to New Mexico so we'll talk to you later sweetie.
Love you!
-Mommie
(22 weeks, 5 days)
