Tonight's class was excellent. DH and I were a bit nervous going there. It didn't help that we saw a schoolmate of DH's parking when we did. DH freaked a bit with concern that the schoolmate would tell his mom who would in turn tell DH's mom who has no idea that we're doing any of this. Anyhow, his friend looked almost relieved to see someone he knew when he realized it was DH.We started by introducing ourselves. The class is led by a doula and there are 5 couples, including us. Everyone else is pregnant (from 8 weeks to 27 weeks) and the doula had her baby (by waterbirth) about 12 weeks ago. So yeah, DH and I are a bit early in the process. We spent this evening concentrating on 5 exercises:
1. Belly breathing - You take air in through your nose and into your belly (expanding your belly) and then breathing out through your mouth and bringing the belly back to the spine.
2. Pelvic tilts - starting with flat back and legs hip distance apart (either standing, hands above knees, or on all fours), we bring our pubic bone towards our belly button then return to flat back (repeating 10 times). We also did it on our backs. We first had to get onto our backs by sitting with our legs to the side, bring our side down and then roll to our back. When we tilted our pelvis we could not tighten our buttocks or legs. It was actually more difficult than we thought. To make sure we breathed we had to count out loud. Then we had to roll to our side and push up with our arms (excellent for your back and abdominals). We're supposed to do this exercise sequence 10 times in each position.
3. elevators - perhaps my favorite exercise for my transevrse and recti (I do this exercise a lot in my bellydancing class). You sit up with your hands on your upper (below ribs) and lower (above pelvic bones). Then we breathe in and expand belly and then breathe out and pull the belly to the spine in 5 increments (or floors). After doing that a few times we had to hold it at the '5th floor' for 30 seconds. Then we had to pull our bellies back even further to the '6th floor' (basically to where DH had his hand on my lower back) 5 times. We're supposed to do 10 of these each day.
4. contracting - this exercise had you going from the '3rd floor' to the '5th floor'. We had to do 100 (which counts as a set) and we are supposed to do 5 sets each day. It was tough but it was excellent because I was sore after 1 set!
5. pushing - we didn't get to try this because you have to do it in private. Basically, when you go to the bathroom you need to elevate your feet with a small stool when going for a bowel movement. Breathe in and expand belly, bring belly to spine and then push back to have the bowel movement. Apparently the pelvic floor ends up open and relaxed. I have not tried this one yet..... I will have to think about how to go about elevating my feet.....
We then watched a DVD about childbirth, medical intervention, birth options, etc. It was not in depth but it got you thinking. We briefly discussed home births, water births and midwives after the DVD. Then we closed for the evening. DH and I discussed the class on the way home and admitted that it was informative and we had no clue what we were getting ourselves into!!!! Anyhow, I expressed that I was not happy that my 'high risk' designation may not allow me the full range of birth options but I may like to labour in a water bath. Also, if I do not have to have a c-section, I would prefer to give birth either kneeling, on my side or perhaps seated. I do not think that I want to be on my back unless I have to.... I guess we'll see.My goodness, this was a lot for one night...
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