Back to school...

We have finally begun our childbirth classes! This past weekend Jason and I attended the Prepared Childbirth series both Saturday and Sunday from 9a-1p. I was a little anxious about the class because there are so many things I feel like I need to learn before Conner makes his debut. There were probably about 10-12 couples there with due dates ranging from November to January. The first day we talked about what to expect during labor and we practiced different relaxation techniques, as well as positions to ease labor pains. Jason also learned different massage techniques and ways to help ease back labor pain. I think it allowed him to see exactly how he's going to be able to support me throughout labor. One thing I thought was interesting was that they no longer call hubby your "coach" because in the nurse's words, "it's mean to make you coach a game you can never play." The new name is "support person."

Also, up until this point I had been saying that I didn't necessarily want an epidural, but would just wait and see about the pain. Just very open-minded about the whole thing. At the beginning of the class the nurse asked about what kind of pain people in the class had experienced and how we thought that differed from labor pains. People threw out broken bones, torn Achilles tendons, and I said gall stones (if you didn't get to hear about my experience, see these posts). The nurse said that she's heard that gall stones are worse than labor pain. I was shocked! When Jason heard that ... he told me that he is confident that I can totally do this without the epidural. That meant the WORLD to me! If Jason didn't think I could do it, then there was no way it would happen ... but with his support and encouragement, I do think I can do it. Of course ... this confidence may slip away the second I get to the hospital with labor pains ... LOL! We will just have to wait and see.

So that afternoon Jason and I headed to a date night since we hadn't had hardly any time together just the two of us since before Jason left for "mancamp" back in the first week of October. Our first stop was Top Golf where we played 2 free games each and snacked on some yummy nachos and quesadillas. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time just being together.

 Check out my stud! :)

We then went to Guitar Center for some guitar wall hangars and played around on some of the instruments. We are like two kids in a candy store in there. So fun to check out all the equipment. It was getting to be dinner time, so we made our way over to Chuy's for some delicious Mexican food. We got there right at 5p and didn't have to wait for a table and had the best time just chilling and eating and talking. When we were done we drove home and played around on the keyboard where I showed Jason a few things about playing the piano. We started with the basics and used one of my piano books from when I was in elementary school! I was exhausted, and Jason wanted to watch the Rangers game, so he headed over to Chris' and I headed for the tub for a relaxing bath and reading time. It was so nice to wind down from the day and then fall asleep at a decent time.

On Sunday morning, we headed back out to Frisco for our second day of class where we learned all about epidurals, c-sections, and other important issues in delivery. We were so glad we attended this 2-day class together because we learned so much!

That afternoon we went over to my parents house along with Chris and Kylee, where the boys watched the Rangers game and us girls watched Twilight. We are gearing up for the new movie coming out in a few weeks, so we're watching the first 3 movies before then. It's been a while since I'd seen the first one ... it was better than I remembered it. :)

Then on Tuesday I decided to spend the day running errands, which began with a Salted Caramel Mocha, breakfast sandwich, and Baby Wise at Starbucks. Jason had read ahead of me, so my goal was to catch up to him. This book is so good! It talks about getting your baby on a flexible routine with eating and sleeping. I feel so much more prepared and I'm only halfway through the book. I can't wait for Conner to get here, so we can start implementing the things we've learned.

 Mmm, yum. AND, I got the comfy chair! :)

Yesterday Jason and I had another doctor appointment - we are going every 2 weeks now. We had a lot of questions from our class over the weekend, so it was good to get those answered. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat and as soon as the nurse pressed the little heartbeat reader on my belly, Conner kicked it away. His heartbeat was at 135 before the kick, and then jumped to 152 after the kick. The doctor measured my uterus again and I'm measuring big again. He anticipates that we'll have another ultrasound before the end, just to make sure I'm not birthing a ginormous baby.

After our appointment we headed back to Frisco for our Infant Safety and CPR class. We decided to try eating the food from the cafeteria at the hospital to just see how good it is. Let me tell you ... totally worth eating at Baylor Medical Center Frisco!

 My $7.50 dinner that was delicious!!

At 6p our class started and first we talked about safety which made me absolutely terrified that there are so many ways for your baby to get hurt or killed! I want to just put Conner in a bubble and wrap my arms around him so he'll always be safe. Unfortunately that's not realistic. I just can't believe there will be this tiny little baby who's safety and protection is controlled by me. What pressure and responsibility! I may get a few gray hairs being a mom...

Then we started the CPR portion and it was actually easier than I thought it'd be. We got a booklet that talks about Infant, Child, and Adult CPR. Infant CPR is only for babies 1 year and younger. We not only learned CPR but also what to do when your baby is choking (which is more likely to happen than having to perform CPR on your baby). I definitely felt better after this portion of the class, since I feel like I will know what to do in an emergency situation.

Here's our dummy baby - the plastic over the face was so that we didn't have to put our mouths on the actual baby. We weren't smothering the babies. Speaking of smothering your kids ...

I love me some Scrubs!! :)