Prepared?

I'm not sure if one can ever be prepared for giving birth, but in an effort to be a little less unprepared we went to an all day "Prepared Childbirth" class last Sunday.
Description:
This comprehensive childbirth class covers all aspects of pregnancy, labor, birth and postpartum including: the anatomy and physiology of late pregnancy, the labor and birth process, signs and stages of labor, options for coping and pain management, common complications and promoting positive communication with your care-giver. We will help prepare you for all aspects of birth from knowing when to leave for the hospital or birth center to taking care of yourself after birth. This class provides some information on natural coping methods such as relaxation, breathing and massage (although not as much as the natural childbirth class), as well as information about pain medication and epidural anesthesia. All participants will receive a detailed information packet and view a birthing video. We encourage participation by your partner or support person. You should call to register for this class in your 4th or 5th month of pregnancy and it should be taken around the 7th or 8th month of pregnancy.

Having very few weekends left to sleep as late as we want before the little guy makes his debut, there are very few things to get us up early and we hoped it would be worth it.

It was a pretty good class and I'm glad to have gone, but probably not worth the nearly $200 price. There were 4 other couples, all first timers, and all of us except one having boys (I swear it's the new craze!)

I love Anatomy and Physiology thanks to an awesome teacher I had in high school and that part of the class made me want to go back to school. The body really does some amazing things!

Luckily there were no annoying people in class and the instructor was pretty entertaining. We learned some good techniques to try to help labor along before the doctors would intervene. I'm trying to not set my mind on any one way to do it, though my fear of needles has me hoping it won't be too painful (yeah right, I know). I hate needles, but one in your spine makes my back hurt just thinking of it.

I was thinking of maybe becoming a member of this Isis Maternity, the company that partners with a lot of Boston hospitals to provide these services, but since they wouldn't give me the 10% discount on the class even though someone on the phone had told me that would apply if you signed up for membership close to the class (we signed up on Friday), it was really no longer cost effective. I still may check out their "Mom and Baby Yoga" class during maternity leave since my coworker dates a woman who wrote a book about how beneficial it is in helping both mom and baby sleep and feel better. Could be interesting. They also have a class to lose that "Mummy Tummy" but I think I'll just go back to the gym.

All in all, still not feeling prepared, but feeling a little better about childbirth.
=)