Fascinating!!!

Today we went to our very first child-birthing class and we got to see two videos about what to expect during birth. I'm here to tell you that if it were mandatory that all couples had to see these videos as a prerequisite to marriage, the human race would cease to exist. WHOA! As I looked at the videos I swear there was nothing positive happening in them. The women looked like they were in a whole lotta pain and the men just looked clueless.

However I did learn a lot today. Mostly about how to help put E at ease during birth. But here are somethings that I didn't know.

1. How many people out there thought that it was a major problem if the umbilical cord wraps around the baby's neck during child birth?

2. How many people thought that the placenta or "after birth" was just a small amount of material that's discharged once the baby is born?

Well folks I'm hear to tell you that I didn't know the answers to either of those questions until after I attended the class today.

Kudos to you if you did know the answers (You're probably a Mom or in the medical field). If you didn't know the answers, like me, you'll be surprised to know the following:

1. It's not so much that the umbilical cord around the baby's neck isn't problematic, but not for the reason you think. Babies don't breathe until they're out of the womb so the cord around the baby's neck at the delivery is not cutting off air to the baby's new lungs...yet. The issue really comes in during birth because the baby is still getting all of his/her nutrients and oxygen from the cord. So something as simple as the baby squeezing the cord could cut of the flow. Here's something else I learned. Once the baby comes out a gel forms in the umbilical cord which basically hardened the cord and impedes the flow of food between Baby and Momma. This process jump starts the lungs into taking their first breath. Who knew.

2. The video also showed the birth and then it showed the "After Birth". For those of you who don't know, the "After Birth" is all the stuff that helped keep the baby alive and growing while inside the womb. The "After Birth" looked like a frigging' liver or something! It was huge! Our instructor kept telling me about a shiny side and a dull side as well as about the amniotic sac. It all just looked plain old nasty to me.

As I said before I did learn a lot today about what to expect. Mostly about breathing and massage and what signs to look for to tell when Baby White is officially coming. Between you and me I find it hard to believe that some breathing techniques are going to be able to take your mind off of the fact that something really big (Baby White) is getting ready to go through something really small (E's cervix). That's kinda like saying that if I were to pass a kidney stone then breathing would help me get through the pain. I doubt it. However, a lot of people swear by the technique so we're going to give it a whirl.

As of today, E and I have been so focused on getting ready for the baby that we haven't spent much time thinking about what to do once Baby White hits the scene. A switch definitely flipped today. We're now in full blow baby-prep time. I may even go out an buy a bunch of diapers this weekend just to help get ready.

I've attached a picture of the hospital where E and I are giving birth. They just went through a major renovation, but I thought the space looked pretty cool. We'll be up on the 6th floor. I hope you enjoy the photo.