Bradley Method birthing class is supposed to be very natural, very "team" oriented with the team being mommy and spouse (although sometimes it's a doula or friend or whatever that is the coach in place of the spouse)... which is exactly what I wanted - I wanted me and J to be a team in this, I wanted us to be able to say that we both involved in bringing this child into this world... basically I didn't want the only real contribution to be sperm and then the child get handed to J, I think that he should have to be involved with the actual birth in some way besides a spectator. I'm not downing anything that he has or hasn't done to this point, just stressing my feelings... I didn't make this child alone, I shouldn't be alone in the experience of bringing this child out of the womb.
Anyways - so first meeting was supposed to be a combination of class 1 and 2 which is Exercise and Nutrition, since I'm gestational diabetic nevermind that I've been doing my yoga for months now, this seemed like an unbelievable waste of time. The instructor explained the exercises, we did the exercises... then went into relaxation mode - which is prego mommas laying on a mat, on our side with a pillow between our knees that allows the hip/knee/ankle joints to all be level, then coach's rub and soothe us into relaxation... it's nice but doesn't need to be 1/4 of the class in my opinion.
2nd meeting went about like the first but we had a video of a woman in labor to start with, then went over our study guide questions. This class was supposed to be "Pregnancy", basically an overview of the body and how it protects and provides for growing baby along with the changes that occur - by this stage in the game if we aren't all aware of that, it's SAD!!! I'm sorry but with all the technology available to us, you have no excuses if you haven't looked up at least the basics of this sort of thing by now!!! Crap... most of this stuff I learned in either elementary, middle school or very least junior/high school!
So what did I do, I composed a letter to my instructor after hearing my husband vent the exact same.. ummm.. we'll call them worries as I had about the class. My letter expressed my concern with more or less wasting my time, wasting my husband's time, wasting money, whatever it is that we are doing in this class it just wasn't meeting my expectations - so could she kindly help me with making sure not only that I don't lose interest but more importantly that my husband doesn't lose interest. Her response comes and I reply to it with an even longer and more detailed email stating LOTS of not only personal information but goals and plans and how everything should be working in my mind... I did apologize somewhat because I don't want her to think that I'm criticizing her or her teaching methods, I just didn't know what to make of these early classes - even though I knew what the topics would be, I wrongly assumed that there would be "more" to this... what that more was I'm not sure but I knew it needed to be more something! Her 2nd response was thanking me for opening up and a half-assed attempt at making a conviction statement that "hopefully tonight's class will be better"... I'm unsure and just hoping that something will come from it that will help both me and J to feel a little more confident in my choice of birthing classes!
I will admit that I wish I'd just waited until the other instructor I had lined up was available...
Anyways - tonight's class 4 which is about the coach's role... I guess we'll see what happens next...
I found this article while surfing around today, it kinda talks a little about natural birthing and would fit well with the ciriculium from class 1 and 2 in my opinion... so I'm posting it with this - just for reference maybe one day soon!
http://www.motherrisingbirth.com/2012/06/how-rock-a-long-hard-home-birth.html
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