Week 24 & Day 2: Happy V-Day & First Baby Birthing Class

I am going to shout out...HAPPY V-DAY!!!!  We finally hit this milestone and I cannot be more proud of my little baby girl to reach this milestone.  She is a true tiny rock star who made it here without giving me any complications so far and I cannot stop telling her how proud I am.  We still have many more weeks to go, but thumbs up for the steady progress.

We had our first baby class at Christ Hospital this past Saturday.  The class is called "Lamaze One Day Course".  It usually runs for 6 weeks, but we decided to take an one day course so that we can save some gas money (40 min from our place).  It was nice to see several expectant parents when we entered into the class.  When we introduced ourselves, I noticed that my due date was the latest, so some ladies' bumps were big!  The knowledgeable instructor covered pre & post labor process in the morning ending with 3 birthing videos....that's right...videos right before lunch time!!!  My DH couldn't watch the 2nd one when the actual delivery was happening.  I am glad he didn't because I don't think he could've eaten lunch afterwords! 

We knew some of the stuff already since both of us have been reading books and doing research, but we did learn some new things.  We didn't know....

•  If we knew exactly when a baby was conceived, the due date would be close to 38 weeks.  If we didn't know, they would calculate from the last period date and the due date will be at 40 weeks from there.  I've heard that I would go close to my due date for the first pregnancy, but the instructor said the opposite.  Recently, 2 of my friends went 1-2 weeks early for their first ones.  Hmmmm...I know exactly when my baby was conceived, so I am wondering if I go in earlier.   
• "Does your baby sleep when you sleep and is actively awake and moving while you are awake?"  When she asked this question, me and one other girl was the only ones who raised hands.  Everyone else said, babies kick in the middle of the night and wake them up.  She said, this will most likely be the sleeping pattern after the baby is born.  My baby girl is generally quiet while I am sleeping, so I have never been awaken by her...at least not yet!  It will be awesome if this is true.
• No eating before L&D.  For some reason, I thought I was supposed to eat a lot before L&D to build up my stamina, but she said the opposite.  Less food in the stomach is better because I might vomit food from drugs, so she recommended to have fluid based food such as soup, Popsicle, etc...       

The afternoon session was great.  She went through various Lamaze breathing techniques.  She also taught guys how to give us several massages during contraction.  Everyone had to bring 2 pillows and a blanket, so we were on the floor learning those techniques.  She played relaxing Spa type music in the background and the 20 minutes massage session was incredible!!              

Then she took us on a tour of the L&D facility.  We went inside of the delivery room.  It was actually nicer and less scarier than I thought.  I became little emotional thinking that my baby girl will be delivered in one of these rooms.  The room had a big mirror on the ceiling which is an optional to use.  Personally, I would like to use it to see when my baby comes out.  For some reason, I am not grossed out about it since it's my body and baby, but my DH said "No way".  Yeah, I am afraid that he might pass out, so he had better not look at the mirror when she makes her debut!!  We then looked at a room where we stay for a day or two after the baby is born.  It has a flat screen TV, CD player, chairs and a love seat which becomes a bed, so it looked really nice!  I remembered that my MIL told me that she had to share a room with 4 ladies post delivery when she had her first son.  Crazy thing is....they were all smoking and breast feeding their new born babies!!!  Can you imagine that?  Holy crap, I am glad our baby will be born in a better environment!!!!