Oh, That's What A Kegel Exercise Is...

Tuesday night was the first of four childbirth classes over the next four weeks. We went over to the hospital at 6pm and into the new ward for labor & delivery that was completed recently. It looks pretty nice- we had a tour of it after the class- and the rooms are huge! It looks so much better than the old rooms which were incredibly small. Now we just have to make sure our baby is born here- with our luck we'd have it on the way to Topeka in the back of our car. If only a trip to Topeka would bring on labor...I'd be heading out tonight!

Anyway, our first class consisted of talking about the basics of pregnancy, discomforts of pregnancy, breathing and relaxation exercises and the tour of the labor and delivery ward. It was pretty interesting. We're supposed to go in more detail as the classes progress. We're taking the class with good friends from our church who are due this fall, so that makes it more fun. One of the relaxation exercises we had to do was to create a calming place in your mind - unfortunately my imagination is to wild to stay in a calm soothing place in my mind. The teacher read this 10 minute reading to help you find this calm soothing place - by the time she said we could have anyone in that place in our mind with us, I had the anesthesiologist there administering my epidural. I've pretty much made up my mind that unless the baby comes super fast (and really, what are the chances of that with my first baby?) or some type of medical issue arises, I'm getting that epidural. As long as it takes properly, I'm sure all of us will be happy with that decision.

I am 35 1/2 weeks at this point and completely miserable and uncomfortable. =) Some days are better than others, but I pretty much feel like a dying beetle unable to flip myself over with arms and legs flailing in the air...or a beached whale. I know I'm average as far as how big I am and how much I've gained, but man alive - if my stomach gets any bigger, it will explode. I haven't felt the baby drop yet, although it amazes me that he will drop much lower than he is now. I do look forward to the dropping though...that means I should be able to breathe!

Chris and I are slowly getting all the things we need for the baby. Today we picked up the baby's crib which Chris will be putting together tonight. I'm excited to get it up so the room will look a little more like a nursery.

My parents are coming on Monday and we are really excited! I can't wait until they get here! My mom plans to stay until the baby comes (my dad would love to stay, but is unable to because of work). Luckily my mom works from home on a church webpage business, so she can bring it with her and stay as long as we need. She's going to help me get organized and ready for the baby. Chris is looking forward to handing over the cat litter duty once she gets here. =)

Well, I think that's it for now...I'm going to try to convince Chris to start setting up the crib! We'll write more later!