Last night was our second prepared childbirth class. We learned about: the 2nd and 3rd stages of labour (delivery of the baby, delivery of the placenta), different positions that a baby could be in during birth, c-sections, drugs that could be administered during L&D (labour & delivery), different monitoring techniques for the baby and the mom during L&D, and the mechanics of how a baby moves through the birth canal (we got to practise using a toy doll and a plastic pelvis!). We saw a short movie about labour (basically different birthing positions, techniques, administration of drugs, c-section), and then went to tour the hospital.

One of the couples in our class (who were due April 14) were already in the hospital and had given birth by c-section a few days earlier!

The hospital tour made me feel more at ease than I expected. The hospital itself is smallish and they are in the process of renovating sections of it so it will presumably look more updated and may be larger. The L&D section is on the 2nd floor and you keep the same room from the time you're admitted (unless you've arrived far too early) to just after giving birth. This was reassuring, so I wouldn't have to be moved around a lot. The room we toured was relatively large and looked quite nice. Throughout the week, I'd been bummed out because the hospital has traditional horizontal beds with stirrups for the birth. Since I would like to try and have as much of a drug-free birth for William as possible, I was hoping to be able to move around and try different positions (esp. vertical) as much as possible. I did not want to be confined to a bed with my legs in stirrups. In any case, the hospital visit and what the nurse said assuaged my worries somewhat. As long as I don't get an epidural, I should be able to move around freely for most of the time.

After the L&D floor, we moved up to the 3rd floor which is postpartum. There we were able to see a few babies in the nursery. Two had been born within the past 3 hours, and Darryl was particularly taken by a little baby girl who was very pink and crying. He really enjoyed looking at her and imagined holding her (holding William, I guess). He is still talking about those babies today! :-) Because of the couple who was in our class, we got to see a postpartum recovery room. All the rooms apparently are private, though they are rather smallish and do not allow for cots for spouses.

All in all, it was a good class and a good hospital visit. Darryl & I are looking forward to this!!!