Prenatal Classes

We've started our prenatal classes through the hospital that I will deliver at.  They have a series of classes that you can pick and choose from, so we've selected those that we think will help us most. So far, we've had:

Hospital Tour

Here we got to tour the hospital, including the nursery, labor and delivery rooms, and postpartum rooms. The rooms are pretty nice and spacious, which will be nice!  In the labor and delivery room there is a bed/cot in the corner for Dan to get to sleep on (which will be particularly nice if I got my younger sister's genes).  I think his favorite part of those rooms, however, were the spotlights for the OB.  They are situated in the ceiling, and controlled by a Star Wars looking almost light saberish wand.  Dan thinks they are going to let him play with it during delivery. I'm hoping he is focused on other things at that point. :-)

Breastfeeding

This was a class full of women, except for Dan and one other guy.  He'll say I made him come, but in reality he is just the best husband in the world.  Through all of these classes, I have felt very blessed to have him by my side.  Many of the women are alone, and even in the cases where the men do come, some of them are pretty cold and borderline unsupportive - you can tell they were forced to be there and they weren't real happy about it.  So I'm very thankful for Dan, and I'm glad he is who I get to go through all of this with!

Infant Care

This was the last class we went to, where you learn all about bringing baby home...how to take their temperature, give them baths, care for their umbilical cords, swaddle, etc.  I felt pretty fortunate to have as many nieces and nephews as I do, and that I've learned quite a bit by watching my sisters with them (not to mention my overnight babysitting for the Buxman boys when Gage was about 6 months old!).  

Here are some pictures from our Infant Care class this week!  Dan volunteered to be the support person who got to learn in front of everyone.  One of the many reasons I love this man, he's never afraid to make a fool of himself in front of other people (actually, he did pretty darn good!)

Dan demonstrating the cradle hold

Learning how to give the baby a sponge bath - cleaning out her eyes

Telling me to zip it - and demonstrating how to change a diaper

He was praised by our teacher for knowing to grasp both legs to do this (way to go Gunnar, Katie, and Heidi...Uncle Dan's been watching!)

Demonstrating the football hold after he swaddled the baby

We have two more classes coming up - a labor/delivery class that lasts most of the day on Sunday, and a CPR class the first week in May.  Today I was lecturing to my students about how youth sport coaches usually don't have any training, and so they don't know that screaming at a kid is not the most effective way of managing behavior.  And I thought parenting is pretty similar...we don't really get an instruction manual other than God's Word and these few classes that we're able to take.  I just pray that we will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's guidance - and raise this baby girl up knowing Him - and if we mess up on a diaper change or two, we'll probably survive! :-)