Our First Birthing Class

So last night husband and I had quite the adventure.  We had our first Bradley Method birthing class.  Yuppers, we are one step closer to being birthing experts.  Or so we think.  Or I think.

So what is the Bradley Method?  Well, it's a Husband or Partner-Coached natural childbirth method.  As you can see from the title.  :-)  We mainly picked this class because since I am giving birth at a birth center and not a hospital, an epidural is not an option.  I felt like if I really wanted to give birth without medication I should probably learn some sort of technique to manage my pain.  Plus, I wanted a more in-depth birthing class so that I could be properly prepared to give birth.  And to be honest, without a class Hubs and I would probably show up with no idea what we were doing.  Not that there is anything wrong with that, women have been giving birth for years and seem to have managed just fine, but I like to know what I'm getting myself into.

I was a little hesitant about taking such an intense birthing class and a little worried about how seriously hubs and I would take it, but my friend recommended the class and the instructor so we signed ourselves up.  Or I signed us up.  Let's be honest here - hubs is not 100% into the class.  There are plenty of other birthing classes out there, but this one seemed the best fit for us (or me).

I have to admit, the instructor is a bit on the hippy side and so are some of the other couples.  Although I'm choosing a birth center and a non-medicated birth - I am kind of the opposite of a hippy.  Or at least I think I am.  As other people in the class were talking about flax seed and quinoa (which I have eaten and like), Ivan and I were burping up our Wendy's 1/4 pounder (me) and Spicy Chicken Sandwich (hubs).  And I got a dirty look from some people when I mentioned Tostitoes as a great food for meeting my salt intake.  Whatever.

I must admit the next ten weeks are going to be interesting.  First, the class is all about participation.  This is great for me because I love sharing my opinion and am not shy about it.  However, Ivan is another story.  He is super shy to begin with and then since he doesn't speak English all that well he is impossibly shy when it comes to speaking English in front of people he doesn't know.  So, he refused to participate in any of the activities.  For example, one of the big components of the Bradley Method is communication between partners - so the instructor handed out cards with statements on them and we had to finish the sentence.  Mine was "The thing that scares me the most about having a baby is..." and I said "paying for daycare."  He said something like "The thing that has bothered me the most about this pregnancy is..." but he refused to finish the sentence.  First, he feels really uncomfortable since he has no idea what anyone is talking about and second, he hates participating in activities.  So, I'm sure everyone thinks we are party-poopers and wonder why we signed up for the class when we don't even participate.

I'm hoping it gets a little better because hubs gets angry when people try to force him into participating.  Luckily the instructor was fine and didn't push it.  I also think hubs is kinda bored because he has to sit there for 2.5 hours and listen and he probably understands about 10% of what is being said.  Oh well, I knew that he wouldn't understand but it's not like there were Bradley Method classes in Spanish.  Plus, I am super interested so I listen to everything and then give him a brief synapses on the car ride home.


And I'd also like to point out that the fact that hubs agreed to go to child birthing class is a HUGE deal.  Where he is from men don't even experience labor with their wives - only women are in the labor room (kind of like the U.S. a few decades ago).  Men are 100% absent from the whole pregnancy/labor/taking care of child process, so this is all new to him.  And I think he's handling it quite well!

Hopefully we survive the next nine weeks of class!