Bradley Class 5

Last night I went to our Bradley class solo, as Morgan is back in California for work. It will be his last work trip for some time, at least until a month after the birth and I am really secretly hoping for April. He is of course following it up with a trip to the Sierras for the weekend, where God willing there will be some snow for him to work out a little of his ski itch.

Back to Bradley. It was the best class yet! At least the most informative as we actually started talking about labor and what we (mom and coach) will need to do up until transition. Not the best class for Morgan to miss - but Laura, our instructor, gave us a DVD for him to watch and I took serious notes - which were of course typed up and emailed to him earlier today - with all the most important parts in bold.

As I am not a scientific person, much of what we learned yesterday that was most interesting to me was about "effacement" - I am now certain that the uterus is the most amazing organ in the body. Muscle literally moves from the front where it is protecting the baby to the back of the uterus to give your more strength to the baby out. Amazing. Wow. Body is amazing. This information, as well as a very visual images of my cervix dilating to 10 cm (about the size of a grocery store bagel) are going to help me tremendously in labor. While I am not a scientific person, I am very visual and I know focusing on images of what is happening inside me will help me get through the contractions.

We also learned about the 3-2-1 rule, which suggests that unless we have an accelerated progression, we wait until the contractions are 3 minutes apart, lasting at least 1 minute for at least 2 hours before going to the hospital. I think this will be key to my stamina - to stay at home as long as possible. While I was initially disappointed with the fact that we are not going to be in a birthing center, the close proximity to the hospital (10 minutes tops) does allow us a lot of freedom in this regard. Fantastic.

My confidence that we are going to be able to birth Thriller is growing by the day - and more importantly by the class. I am certain that by the time its TIME we will be able to be an educated, effective team in the delivery room. And baring any major unforeseen complications - I am certain with can bring this child into the world without drugs.