Birthing Class Reunion : Important Connections

We had our birthing class reunion two Saturdays ago. It was really, really lovely. Only 3 of the 6 couples were there with our instructor Svea.

I wish I could have visited with them in our first week with baby. We all instantly bonded. I felt so connected to them. They are all going through the same struggles and emotions that we are going through and it is nice to commiserate with people who are currently in the same boat.

We got to hear the gory details of each labor. Mine and Roxanne's were the worst (and similar!) Lauren had a dream labor: 6 hours, she had a doula at home and her best friend was at the Birth Center to catch the baby via water birth. Roxanne had 4 days of early labor but when she finally went to the Birth Center she was only 1 cm dilated. So, like me, but the opposite of cervix cooperation. She also ended up at UNC with an epidural and pitocin but no vacuum. Her baby was also posterior like Aki Bear. Svea said that it is rare for first timers to have a vaginal birth when their babies are posterior - usually that results in a C-section. Roxanne and I high-fived and patted eachother on the backs. Lauren's baby boy is about 6 weeks and Roxanne's baby boy is about 5 weeks but Stanley is was bigger than them at 3 weeks! He's a chub monster!

It was also nice to just talk about our trials and tribulations. We talked about thrush, diaper rash, diaper ointments, bottle feeding, pacifiers, diapers, breast feeding, leaving the house with baby, baby acne, carriers and day care. Thrush is basically a yeast infection in the baby's mouth where his tongue gets really white. I think it can be passed back in forth from baby's mouth to mama's nipples. That sounds like no fun at all. Their babes also have diaper rashes and we all looked at our baby's bums to compare! Ha! Roxanne told me to be very liberal with the diaper ointment. She is using the Burt's Bees Diaper Ointment that I have.  So I've been slathering his bum in that. Lauren started bottle feeding her boy breast milk once a day which allows her husband to pitch in. All of them use pacifiers - Stanley just spits them out (which is strange because the NICU nurses gave him pacifiers and he had more pacifier than boob in his first 12 hours of life.) UPDATE: I tried giving him a pacifier again the other night and it pacified him into a slumber so much so that I put him down unswaddled and he slept for 2 hours! Win! And he's been breastfeeding fine - no nipple confusion - which pacifiers can sometimes cause. We will probably introduce the bottle to him at 6 weeks old. We talked about cloth diapers and paper ones. Roxanne is currently using disposables - Pampers - and there is this new technology where when the baby wets his pants the diaper has a strip on the front that changes colors so you know he's wet. Lauren is using cloth dipes similar to us. I asked them when they first left the house to go to a public place and Lauren said, "5 days!" She said that when you do it once it gets easier each time. Svea said I can take Stanley out just don't pass him around or make sure that people wash their hands before handling him. Lauren said that we should all go to coffee and I can have their support with Stanley's first outing. We did that last Monday - Aki Bear and my first date - 3 hours! It went well. Lauren was carrying her baby in a little front carrier and it inspired me to pull out our Baby Bjorn which I thought Stanley was too young for but he's way over the minimum weight (8 lbs) so I tried it on and he loves it. Passed out cold. It's much easier to use than the Moby, altho the Moby really keeps him close like he's still in the womb and he loves it, I just need Mike's assistance with the Moby, I'm no pro at that one yet. Lauren also talked about daycare - she's done a lot of research in the Chapel Hill area and apparently it ranges between $1000 and $1500 per month, which made my stomach sink. I don't think we can afford that so we need to take a closer look at our finances to figure that monster out.

I really enjoyed hanging out with these ladies and their babes and partners - Mike did too! I hope we can hang out some more. I also feel like I learned so much just by observing/hanging out/talking to them. I've always been a visual learner (When I was a wee tot I was taking swim lessons and my age group was holding onto the edge and learning how to kick, we weren't actually learning any strokes yet. My brother's age group (whose lessons took place right before mine) were actually learning freestyle. Apparently I would sit and watch his group swimming each lesson and one day I got in the pool for my lesson and took off swimming across the pool. Visual learner am I.) I feel like this new parent thing has such a steep learning curve. I have changed and grown so much in these last 4 weeks...more than I ever imagined. I am still the same Erin to the core but with all of these extra colorful and ratty patches sewn on here and there adding to my story.

I left our little reunion inspired to leave the house with my little guy, with more confidence in myself, with more appreciation for our boy (more patience and love even), with less fear of taboo things like pacifiers and diaper ointments. I think I fell in love with this being a parent thing more and felt more normal than I have in weeks. It was wonderful. Who woulda thunk?! So simple - connecting with people is a powerful thing.

P.S. No pics yet. I will post 'em when I receive 'em!