We got signed up for our classes. It’s kind of fun that it lines up with actual back-to-school time. One of the things I really like about working in an academic environment is that my year follows the pattern I learned early in life. It’s nice that this falls into the same rhythm.
We’d looked into a number of options for birth education, but our best option was driving an hour there and back once a week for 12 weeks. That didn’t sound fun or doable. The course offered a lot of good information, but philosophically not all the aspects line up with my ideas of what I want.
The option that was most accessible was the one offered through the hospital. Which is OK. We’ll get to see the surroundings, maybe pre-register, get what my doc referred to as the “peanut butter and jelly approach.” In addition, we’ve got some books and other resources to inform and educate us. Mostly what I hear is that whatever you learn will fly out of your head in the moment, so as long as you can recognize the stages of labor, you’re doing pretty well.
I also signed us up for Confident Parenting. Admittedly, this one is a bit more for Ray than for me. I’ve had quite a bit of tiny baby experience, so this will be a refresher in care of wee ones. And will keep down the number of frantic calls to the nurse’s hotline at 2am. In reality, I don’t think I’ll be that kind of mom anyway. I tend to be level headed in a crisis. But I don’t know how different it will be when it’s my kid.
The one I’m looking forward to most is the Breastfeeding Class. Mostly because I know several women who’ve had no problems, others who have had problems that make me quake in my boots, lots who have opted to move to formula earlier than they may have otherwise because of some issue or another. I have in my mind some goals I’d like to achieve, some timelines I’d like to follow. But I won’t know until I have the child in my arms if what I imagine will be feasable or realistic.
It seems like everything is like that lately. I can imagine all I want to what it will be like and I have some ideas that may be close to reality, but I’ve got no idea. I’m an ignoramous when it comes to this. Yes, I’ve actually held and changed and cared for little children, but never 24 hours a day, never when I’m the Mommy. I’ll continue to read and learn and try to gather up whatever additional informaiton I have time for, but I’ll also enjoy my blissful ignorance of exactly HOW hard this is going to be.
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Oh…update on the name. We’re now thinking Chuck, middle name Norris. Totally Bad-Ass. Will be invinceable. Only problem….MIGHT be a bully. We’ll enroll him in ballet to counterbalance that.
