Breathe

We went to the first of two Labor Pain Management classes at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley on Tuesday night. Some people might think this is a bit early for all that, but it will help us decide what do in terms of the birth plan, and that in itself will inform what kind of birthing class we go to. You need to know different stuff if you're doing a natural birth versus one with an epidural.

After a fraught drive over in which I was grumpy about the traffic, followed by a rushed and unpleasant burrito, the class started. The instructor was great - she'd been an OB nurse for 30-something years and clearly had seen and done it all. We learned about the phases of labor and breathing exercises to cope with each. I'm sure we'll go over it all again in the real birthing class, but it was nice to start thinking about. Our real area of interest is with next week's class in which an anaesthesiologist will talk about medication options. For example, not many people know that there are FIVE types of epidural! Crazy...