MetaChat - Last night we saw "the" video

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22 May 2008

Last night we saw "the" video →[More:]We had our first "Preparing for Childbirth" class last night. We've had other classes, on breastfeeding, what will happen in OB after the birth, but this is the big one. It was neat to learn about the different stages of labor, and to practice breathing (though I'm sure in the moment we'll forget all that and just be like "Are you breathing?" "YES DAMMIT." "Good."

And, then we saw the video. I was ok with most of it, amazed at how the baby just flopped around when it finally came out.

But.

They DID NOT have to show us the placenta being delivered. I don't plan on watching for it, and would be happy never seeing it.

But I did. Eeesh.

We're about four weeks from due day now, so I guess any time is a possibility, and we'll finally get to meet little Sophie Rayne. Wow wow wow wow wow!

And I imagine you all look forward to that as well, so I can leave off with the pregnancy posts and get back to nonsense and talking about beer . . .

post by: tr33hggr at: 10:44 | 17 comments

You're a braver person than I. I don't think I could stomach watching. Even fake blood makes me quesy.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 22 May | 10:58

Hahaha, placentas are awesome. I used to teach a lab where we got a newly delivered placenta (usually 1-3 hours old) from the hospital and I dissected it for the students. It's one of the grosser looking organs.

We start our childbirth classes in a month or so. I've heard varying reports from my friends with regard to how much they actually retained, so it will be interesting...

posted by gaspode 22 May | 11:18

Are childbirth classes required? Is it something you have to do to be allowed to give birth? I picture a nurse at the door to the delivery room, checking report cards...

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 22 May | 11:29

We froze our placenta, then when our kid was 3, she helped us plant it in the garden. . .

posted by danf 22 May | 11:51

Are childbirth classes required? Is it something you have to do to be allowed to give birth? I picture a nurse at the door to the delivery room, checking report cards...

Nah. They'd like you to go, but they're not going to turn your insurance copay away.

Good luck, everyone!

posted by lysdexic 22 May | 11:52

Ha - danf, I have been saying I wanted the placenta to plant with a tree in honor of Sophie, but after seeing the video I'm not so sure . . .

posted by tr33hggr 22 May | 12:24

Meanwhile, it seems like only yesterday you were posting that you guys were pregnant! How time flies.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 22 May | 12:56

I loved our prepared-childbirth classes. They ran for six weeks. It was such a fun time and I remember it fondly. None of it applied (well maybe the breast feeding and care-taking) I had two C-sections. Have fun. These are good times.

posted by LoriFLA 22 May | 13:25

Are childbirth classes required?
I don't remember the childbirth classes being required, but both hospitals I delivered at required you attend a class on anesthesia and get a paper signed to prove it. No ticky, no druggies.

I remember giggling so hard during childbirth class, that we feared we'd be asked to leave. By the time they handed mr. rossi a stuffed replica of a boob so he could practice extracting an inverted nipple, it was difficult to tell which one of us was Beavis and which was Butthead.

posted by jrossi4r 22 May | 13:40

Heh, we are going to a pretty crunchy-granola type childbirth class, so I envision much immaturity on my part. Still my preference for my bias against ob-gyns and their "machine that goes ping" mentality about the whole deal.

posted by gaspode 22 May | 13:46

gaspode, is the placenta really considered an "organ"?

posted by amro 22 May | 15:42

Nipples get inverted? How and why? And how are they re-verted?

This thread is very educational.

posted by mudpuppie 22 May | 15:52

I think so, amro. *shrug* I've always heard it referred to as such. Now I have to think about how "organ" is defined. Sigh.

posted by gaspode 22 May | 16:02

Nipples get inverted? How and why? And how are they re-verted?

Yes. Some people are born with inverted nipples. Here is something to read, mudpuppie.

posted by LoriFLA 22 May | 18:08

I took a first aid class in college. They showed an emergency childbirth film in which the placenta looked like a piece of liver in a plastic bag.

Gaspode, are you having the baby at home or the hospital? I saw the film Ricki Lake produced about midwives and what struck me is that the babies who were waterbirthed didn't cry. The midwife who was the main focus made it clear that she had pitocin handy and would act promptly if there was an emergency she couldn't handle. A friend who had her two kids at St. Lukes/Roosevelt with a midwife and doula said there was a jacuzzi available in the room but she couldn't tolerate it. YMMV

posted by brujita 23 May | 01:26

The best thing about the placenta

posted by The Pusher Robot 23 May | 02:36

In hospital, brujita. One of the many negotiation points that mr. gaspode and I went through with this whole thing (he is freaked out by the fact that I insisted on a midwife rather than an ob-gyn being such a conventional medicine man himself, so being in a hospital calms him down). We won't go in until the last minute though.

posted by gaspode 23 May | 09:33

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