Birthing Class #2

Labor and Pain Management.

Things I learned:
~You actually produce more urine at night which is why women have to get up so frequently. During the day your kidneys are so squished they can't produce what they normally do, but when you are sleeping they make up for it.  Luckily I have only had to get up in the middle of the night twice. Otherwise the majority of the nights I sleep straight through.

~You should have someone dedicated as your personal massage guru that is at your every beckon call all through out labor. OK they did not actually say that but pretty much every comfort measure involved some sort of foot massage, back massage, neck massage. So Kelly start building up those muscles because I remember how awesome your back massages are, and don't forget the time after you ran PPP that I was there for you;)

~Apparently the nurse thinks that an ice chip is a proper reward after each contraction. Yes, she did actually say for the support person to give the mother an ice chip after each contraction as a little reward. Uh no. That is not an acceptable reward. I wanted to ask if we could bring our own supply of otter pops or fudge-cicles as a more appropriate reward, but i had already asked too many questions and was embarrassing Andrew. I am also thinking we might hit DQ once the contractions start so I can have a blizzard before the hospital cuts off my food supply:)

~They showed a video of different women going through labor and the positions that might help. They also demonstrated that making low groaning noises is instinctual and helpful, because if they are low that means you are breathing deeply. Needless to say that watching half dressed women rocking back and forth on a birthing ball while groaning made Andrew a wee bit uncomfortable. Wait until he sees next weeks video. The one on delivery.