Lamaze Graduates

Well, Folks, it's official. Josh and I are graduates of our Childbirth Education class. During our last class we learned about induced labor, cesarean sections, and infant care. Our teacher passed out a baby doll to each couple and we practiced swaddling our babies, which is supposedly a comfort measure for infants right after they're born, burping our babies, diapering our babies, and bathing our babies. It was fun! I look back over our 6 week crash course with misty eyes. Josh got to try on a sympathy belly that weighed 30 pounds so he would know how it felt to be carrying a baby close to term. We learned about every stage of labor. We practiced breathing and relaxation techniques. We got seriously grossed out by an epidural video (needles just shouldn't be allowed to be that long...). We also got seriously grossed out by the skin retractors used to stretch the incision cut to get the baby out during a C-section. We learned when you should go to the hospital once labor starts and what to expect once you get there. This was definitely a valuable class, and I'm really glad that we went!

One of the most useful things that I will take away from the class was one way that we practiced a labor contraction. Our teacher, Debby, gave us all a cup of ice. We had been practicing contractions with good breathing and coaching from our coach while Debby counted. This time Debby told us to pick up a handful of ice and then go through the same contraction pattern, practicing good breathing and focusing. Squeezing the ice in my hand and trying to focus on a focal point away from the sensation was hard!! Debby told us it was good practice for labor because this exercise taught us that the sensation isn't bad. It's not harmful- you're not going to lose a limb or brain cells because your hand is cold. That's the same idea with labor. The pain of labor is not harmful and so it's best to not fight against it, since it's doing necessary work. You just have to focus somewhere away from the sensation, thus, practicing holding a handful of ice for a minute. That actually is pretty tough, at least, it was for me.

We went to the Pizza Joint for dinner last night to celebrate our 10 month anniversary! It was wonderful. We love the Pizza Joint. It's right down the street from our house. We get 3 pieces of pizza and that does the trick! You have to understand that these pieces are like half the size of a basketball. They are so big. One person couldn't eat much more than 2 pieces unless you're Rambo or something. One weekend last month Mr. and Mrs. Desch were in town and we decided we wanted to get a pizza from Pizza Joint. Josh and Mr. Desch went to get the pizza while Mrs. Desch and I hung out at our apartment, and they returned with what I swear was the biggest pizza I have ever seen. I didn't know they made pizza boxes that big. I'm not sure how Josh a. fit it in the car and b. fit it through our door. This thing was amazing. We have a pretty big circular table that seats 6, but we didn't even attempt to put this box on the table and sit there too. Oof. If any of you are ever in town, we'll get that monster again so you too can marvel at its sheer size. And then enjoy its goodness.

I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch and really enjoyed it. I think I was taken back to the days of packed school lunches. I don't know about your mom, but my mom bought that really thin, kind of gross bread, and then gross old grape jelly. The jelly always soaked through the bread before lunchtime, so you had a soggy, floppy sandwich whose bread was nearly absorbed into the middle. I'm wondering what kind of experience Josh had with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because he will NOT eat them under any circumstances. It's interesting because Josh basically lives on bread and peanut butter, but he will NEVER put any jelly on. He once told me that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches is what Satan packs in his children's lunches. That's pretty bad! But peanut butter and jelly sandwiches have been reborn for me because we don't buy that gross floppy bread and I also never buy grape jelly that leaks through the bread. Peanut butter with apricot or cherry jam on real bread is so yummy!! So I definitely enjoyed that for lunch.

We send you much love from Georgia!