Stalking the Stacks with Library Lil
*Stalking the Stacks with Library Lil* |
2002-12-13 I was all set to write an entry about how I really hated childbirth classes. I mean my experience up until yesterday was that we went, we sat and listened to some woman tell us scary stories. I left out of my last entry that people were telling me scary birth stories because for the most part the ones that are telling me that are people I neither know nor really care about. I mean I’ve heard 2 vanishing twin stories, one twin death stories, one stillborn story and one spina bifida story. And every time I think, yes, 20 years ago when your sister-in-law had a vanishing twin I’m sure that was difficult. But I never associate those things happening to me.Then I met Amy. To be honest Amy, our childbirth instructor wasn’t the worst, the special class we had on multiples was worse, and I’ve blocked out that woman’s name entirely. On the first week of childbirth class Amy regaled us with horror story after horror story of what can go wrong. Doesn’t sound scary? Ok then, every other story Amy punctuated with, that actually happened to a woman here in a class I taught last year. Ok, this makes it a little different. This isn’t a friend or a third cousin or an urban legend, this is someone LIKE ME who was sitting in this class thinking everything was ok except this little bitty symptom that turned out causing her to have 12 weeks of hospitalized bed rest. The multiple lady was worse. For one thing, all her stories were about pre-term labor which is my biggest risk factor and fear. For another, it was a smaller class--only 5 other couples. This meant she got personal. She quizzed me on why I was still working 40 hours a week. She told me and another woman that we were probably having braxton-hicks contractions and not feeling them. She told REALLY scary stories about people in her class who were a) leaking amniotic fluid and didn’t know it and b) having contractions and didn’t realize it. I became paranoid. All of a sudden I couldn’t keep my hands off my belly—and all because the multiple lady said sometimes your hands can feel contractions that your body can’t. All of a sudden I was convinced I was leaking amniotic fluid every time I went to the restroom. I almost called my dr to see if I could move Monday’s appointment up to Wednesday. I was a mess. Worst of all it made me dread Thursday’s regular class with Amy. Amy isn’t a nurse so I couldn’t go running to her screaming about how she needed to tell me exactly how I could tell if I was having contractions or if she could give me an ultrasound. I thought about skipping. Turns out so did husband but mainly he just knew how wearing this week had been to me. The description for he class said it focused on relaxation. We thought it was important. I told husband, we should go, but if Amy tells one scary story I’m out the door. Turns out I worried for nothing. Class was mediocre. No scary stories, good information about the difference between stages of labor, super uncomfortable chairs and my favorite part, getting on the floor and practicing relaxing. I relax so well. Indeed I feel asleep during the relax your whole body session and husband had to wake me up for the breathing part. Still I’m glad multiple class is over.
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