01 June 2010
This evening Jennifer and I attended our first class of “Birthing from Within.”
I wasn’t sure if I’d like this class. I mean, I’m all for getting away from corporatized, bureaucratic crap, but I’m not quite as free-lovin’ hippie as some. Anyway, I’m happy to report the class went well. At first I was a little put off because they had us just sit down and begin drawing. I’m not a drawer; and I don’t use drawing as a hobby or an outlet for anything. Also, I hate the feel of charcoal crayons (or whatever they’re called) on my fingers. More importantly, I had just arrived, and it usually takes me a few minutes to feel comfortable in a new situation, so I didn’t feel like expressing my innermost feelings artistically immediately upon arrival.
Besides that, though, I enjoyed the class. Jennifer and I attended a birthing class prior to Owen’s birth. That class was 99% useless. For one thing, the curriculum was set up to operate under the assumption that the parents were total idiots, baffled by even how they got pregnant. For example, we had to watch a 20 minute video on the importance of good health during pregnancy, which included tips like: don’t get drunk, don’t eat junk food all day, and don’t smoke. We had to sit at long tables, like a typical classroom, which wasn’t at all conducive to a birthing class, and the instructor taught us bizarre breathing techniques, like: breath in deep once, then out twice, then four shallow breaths, then pat your head while rubbing your tummy while exhaling out of your mouth and inhaling through your ears. I couldn’t follow it. We had to go to that class two days in a row, and both days were 8 hours long. It was terrible.
But this time, we sat on pillows in a circle, and there seemed to be a general assumption that we all were competent enough to already know things about pregnancy and birth. There were only three couples, and two instructors, so not a big crowd.
Anyway, Jennifer wrote more about the experience here, so just read that. We’ll be attending this class each Tuesday this month, so stay tuned…
02 June 2010
So, time for an update on how I’m doing with some projects this summer…
I mentioned my desire to read the Little House collection of books, and to finish up Lies Across America. Well, I’ve read two of the nine Little House books already, and I’m about halfway through the third book. I haven’t made much headway on Lies, but I plan to bring it with me on our vacation this coming weekend. This evening, though, as I was reading, I realized I probably don’t have to race to finish a bunch of books before the baby arrives. After all, I know I’ll still have time to read after he/she is born and, besides, what does it matter if it takes me five years to finish my list of books?
On the subject of filmlets: I’m making progress, but not as much as I’d like. Today at work I spent about an hour working on one video, but it’s still not done. This evening I imported some more footage and I hope to begin working on that tomorrow during my lunch break. I’ve gotta ramp up the time I spend on these things.
Wood projects: I haven’t touched those sundials I was working on last winter. They’re still just lying around, wondering when I’m gonna finish them. In regards the cradle, I think it’s good to go. It’s just sitting in the garage drying and de-fuming. I’ll check on it in the next couple days and see if it looks good. If it does, then it’s just a matter of waiting a few weeks until all the fumes are gone.
In other news today: my wife visited her parents’ house today and returned with outfits for the baby, compliments of her mom and aunt. Funny thing: it’s all girl stuff. Well, some of the outfits could be termed “gender neutral,” but everything else is clearly for a little lady. I guess everyone thinks we’re having a girl. My opinion on that: for the first ten minutes of her life, a girl would be easier, because we’d have an easier time naming her. After that, though, I have no idea what to do.
We forwent the hospital classes in favor of some hippie classes too (although maybe not as hippie as what you’ve signed up for). While I will say that, on the whole, they were invaluable, they were also filled with lots of crap. We didn’t have to draw anything, but for one class the instructor brought in some lady who had us make the sounds of musical instruments. Personally, I would have rather watched the 20-minute health video.
I generally opt in favor of tangible, measurable input as well, but I guess with the hospital class, it was all so dumbed-down. I mean, it is undoubtedly valuable to know that red means “stop,” but if I was to attend a refresher course on driving, I would find such a fact to be a waste of time. Same thing with the hospital class: I already knew that smoking, drinking, and the tilt-a-whirl were bad for our fetus. I also knew the baby would be born @ around 9 months and that it would come out of the pregnant partner’s nether regions. So…that class was a waste.
The musical instrument thing sounds like a waste, too, unless, perhaps, it coulda been applied to some other area (like, “recall how relaxed you were while beating that drum – keep that in mind during contractions”).
I think that maybe if I took a refresher course on driving, most of what was presented would be things I already know. I also think that “red means stop” would be known by most people taking the class. If someone took the class, passed, and did not know that “red means stop”, I would say that the class failed.
On the other hand, if I walked into the class and the instructor told us all to close our eyes and visualize driving our favorite car down our favorite road at our favorite time of day or whatever, I’d call it a waste.
Further, I probably wouldn’t be happy with the course if the instructor told the class that the reason red was chosen as the color for “stop” was because it is unlucky.
The classes we took were a mixed bag, but as I said before, they were invaluable. I’d recommend them to anyone.
I guess I went in to that first birthing class under the assumption that certain things were a given. For example, I assumed everyone already knew it was a bad idea to smoke when pregnant. Had they not covered that little tidbit, and someone left the class still thinking it was okay to smoke, I don’t think I would’ve blamed the class, I would’ve blamed the student’s own stupidity.
Still, I see what you mean: there’s definitely gonna be some stuff presented that you already know if, for no other reason, than to ensure everyone is at the same ‘level.’
I thought red was chosen because it stands out so much.
Heheh, I was originally going to write, “…red was chosen as the color for ‘stop’ [] because it is on the top of the rainbow,” but then I realized that, in a round about way, this could be seen as true. I went with “unlucky” as a callback to something that was presented in the classes we went to. The instructor’s main comments for why you might not want an amniotomy was because a child born with its amniotic sac in tact is considered lucky in some cultures.
Wow, “lucky in some cultures?” So, not even our own culture? Because, at least that might have some merit.