We signed up for a few classes through our hospital and our first one, Breastfeeding Basics, began at 6:30 p.m. yesterday evening. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the class and upon our arrival, we were instructed to select a doll or teddy bear from a bin and find our seats.
I told Ryan I picked this curly-haired beauty because she looked hungry and ready for some quality feedings.
The class touched on a variety of topics related to breastfeeding, including breast milk storage guidelines, the benefits of breastfeeding, cluster feeding, hunger cues, latching your baby and more.
We also practiced holding our dolls and “nursing” in a variety of ways and I’d be lying if I said everyone in the class kept it all together and didn’t let out a few laughs during this part of the class. It’s hard not to crack a grin when you look over at someone practicing the “football hold,” pretend-nursing a neon rainbow teddy bear.
It was very educational and the class made me feel all the more pleased with the hospital Ryan and I selected for our delivery. We walked away with a lot of information and I’m already looking forward to the additional classes we have on our calendar to take before our baby is born. We have a hospital tour next week and I can’t wait!
32-Week Appointment + Today
Yesterday I ended up working for most of the day, but my quick break for my 32-week prenatal appointment went well. My mom joined me at my OB/GYN’s office and heard our little one’s heartbeat for the first time! I learned that my belly is measuring a week behind but that our baby is already head down, which was great news for me since I had absolutely no clue about his positioning going into the appointment. I asked my doctor a bunch of questions that have been on my mind before we made our way home for lunch.
I dug into a hot ham and turkey sandwich on fresh bakery bread served with a side of grapes before I had to head back to work.
I was able to get off a little early and prepared a delicious appetizer for everyone (recipe to come!) while my mom prepped dinner and then Ryan and I headed out to our class.
Now we’re pretty much all caught up!
Breakfast this morning was another Greek yogurt bowl topped with fresh strawberries, raspberries, granola, cacao nibs and crushed raw almonds.
Plus a hot mug of pregnancy tea!
Plans for today include work and nursery organization. I’m also hoping to squeeze in a workout of my own at some point, but we shall see. Hope you have a great Tuesday!
Question of the Morning
- Moms/Moms-To-Be: Did you take and classes before you had your baby? Did you find any particularly beneficial?
In addition to the breastfeeding class we took last night, Ryan and I are signed up for a childbirth prep class (<—I feel like I desperately need this one… for my nerves more than anything!), parenting a baby class, infant CPR and a hospital tour.
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We took infant CPR, baby care (where you learn to change a diaper, swaddle, how to do baths etc) and child birth. I would say we definitely picked up little tips at each class. Child birth did not prepare me for the actual birth but I did learn some stuff about what happens the days before. I would record all 3 if you have the time and if it’s convenient. 🙂
What an amazing journey for you two! Wishing you all the best!
*recommend all 3… Not record all 3
🙂
The classes really do make it all seem surreal!! We took a newborn care class, breastfeeding class and birth class. I feel like my husband and I benefited most from the newborn care class. After we attended the breastfeeding and birth class we both agreed we could have done without those – not b/c they weren’t good it’s just everyone’s situation with birth and breastfeeding is different so it was hard to judge what is going to be useful in a few weeks when baby comes! Eeekk we are both so close!
Yes, we took a child care class and a breast feeding class. I actually gave birth to my son one year ago today. He has light blonde hair and blue eyes and my husband and I have brown hair and brown eyes. It’s funny how this kind of stuff turns out!
Happy birthday to your little boy! <3
I’m taking all of the same classes at my hospital here in Illinois. We have our first tonight- the hospital tour!
In addition to the hospital newborn class, our hospital offered a breastfeeding support group which I LOVED! It was once a week and in addition to breastfeeding issues we discussed sleep arraignments (co-sleeping, crib sleeping, etc.) and solids, and babywearing. It was so nice to have a group of new moms to meet with and ask questions in real time. If you see anything like this in your area, I highly recommend checking it out at least once! So many questions and concerns once baby is born! Good luck! 🙂
I should say that the breastfeeding support group met once baby was born. Just in case that wasn’t clear. 😉
I think the baby classes are beneficial but in a completely different way. Parenting is such a mystery and both mom and dad have different ways of doing things. When you both take the classes it starts you off on some common ground and shared knowledge. I also was very glad my husband came with me to the breastfeeding class so he would understand a little more what I was going to be going through! The baby care was probably my least favorite but was still helpful. For nerve calming, the tour of the hospital was helpful. If you are going to a larger hospital, take the time to walk the route from the car to the wing like you will do the day of. I ended up going into the hospital around 12:15 AM and there wasn’t anyone around to help us get to the right place!
Great tip! We’ll definitely do that next week!
Check on how it will differ during different times of the day too! At my hospital after 9PM everyone had to enter through the ER. Finding that out while in active labor was not fun!
I think taking parenting classes are beyond beneficial. I used to teach CPR and think it’s so important for parents to know! Hope you have a great day!
We are in the process of taking classes ourselves. We are taking our prenatal class(learn all about labor, birth, hospital tour, csections, breathing etc). Oddly, we are really enjoying it. I am so glad we signed up. Now who knows if it will help when I go into labor, but the hospital tour was great, I was pretty clueless about it all. We havea breastfeeding class next month and I am pretty excited about that..
What great classes. Pretty awesome that you get some tips BEFORE your Son is born!!
so glad to hear everything went well at your appointment 🙂
I think the breastfeeding class was helpful, not in actually learning to breastfeed, but in getting information. Particularly when your husband joins you and can be supportive. That way he knows some of the same background and research that you do and can support your choices. Also if they didn’t give you resources at that class, I’d second what someone else said about a breastfeeding support group. Your hospital or clinic may offer one or look up a local La Leche League group and see when they meet near you. In addition to having resources for private lactation consultants (either through your pediatrician or a separate clinic), the group setting is helpful for more than just breastfeeding and it’s good to know where the resources are ahead of time.
the more you know, girl! I took all 3 classes at my hospital and it helped me to take it all in and have a realistic approach when it came to the delivery and breastfeeding. Our hospital offered a natural prepared childbirth class and it didn’t seem like I heard anything new, but just hearing about other experiences helped me focus on the actual day and avoid an epidural (my personal goal)!
I’m glad everything is going well with baby!! Practicing nursing a teddy bear does sound pretty funny!
I miss seeing and hearing Sadie…
The hospital tour was definitely beneficial! It made me feel so much more at ease knowing where to go and actually seeing where everything will go down 🙂 We also took the breast feeding class and an infant care class. Now I’m just waiting for the baby to come! 38w1d
that berry bowl looks so good.
Our hospital offered one six-week class that encompassed all of the above! Breast feeding, hospital tour, childbirth prep and infant CPR. It was great and we learned SO much! It was a ton of information but since it was spread out over six weeks, it wasn’t quite so overwhelming! 🙂
I think getting the most information posssible is great. Overall, I am sure it’ll make you feel more relaxed and prepared. So important to manage stress!
We were so busy when I was pregnant that we didn’t get a chance to take any classes; before I knew it I was in labor! But I was pretty Lucky in that my delivery was pretty straight forward, my mom used to be a lactation consultant, and I worked in a daycare so I already knew infant CPR and how to take care of an infant. I think labor tends to come pretty naturally, but nursing and CPR would definitely be good classes to take. It’s a good you got on that! haha
I would also have a certified person show you how to put in your carseat and how to strap in your baby; one thing I saw a lot in the daycare was children improperly buckled into their carseat. Safety First.
With my (almost) 2 year old, my midwife did our prenatal appointments in a BUMP group. I forget what it stands for, but basically a group of 5 or so couples would come in to get checked at the same time. You’d get weighed, blood pressure checked, belly measured, and heartbeat checked (in separate rooms of course), and then for an hour and a half there would be information on a specific topic. They covered a little bit of labor, but mostly it was related to a healthy pregancy (this started around 16 weeks so there was still plenty of time left) and then post partum care, breastfeeding, post baby birth control, and a little bit of baby care. I knew a lot of the information from my time as a paramedic but it was still kind of reassuring.
For my second pregnancy I REALLY wanted to take Bradley classes, but they were out of my price range. Instead I read all of the Bradley books and tried to use the techniques in labor. I was able to be totally natural both times, but the second time I think I had an easier time making it through transition and pushing.
I would definitely recommend infant CPR just in case. I wasn’t technically certified when I gave birth, but after 11 years in the field as a paramedic I’d done CPR on babies enough times that I didn’t feel like I needed a refresher. Hopefully it’s never needed, but everyone should know how to do proper CPR on their kids.
yay! yes, i took a 3-in-1 class which was a six week series of their most popular classes: breastfeeding, newborn basics, and labor & delivery – not that i remembered EVERYTHING from the classes (or much lol), but it definitely was good to hear the information, get educated, and help make me feel more prepared!
We did not take a breastfeeding class, however I do recommend finding a breast feeding group. Ours met once a week and there was always a lactation consultant there to help with any questions or problems. They also have a hospital grade scale so you can weigh your baby before and after feedings to estimate how much they are eating 🙂 it’s exciting to see your baby’s weight gain those first few weeks! Most hospitals offer the service free of cost.
If I taught a breastfeeding class I would include a lot less “here’s how to latch” (bc who remembers and the nurses in the hospital helped with that) and a lot more “get ready for everything you own to be covered in breast milk unless you have twins bc the girls work as a team and also get ready for everyone at work to see your boobs if you plan to pump because people don’t read signs”. My childbirth class was good information but all that shit about the husband offering positive encouragement sounded great during those fake contractions they had us breathe through in class and then when things got real I just needed him to shut his face. Maybe a section on “how to deal after 24 hours of labor and still not being admitted to the hospital”.
We took birthing class and toured the hospital. We ended up delivering early at 33 weeks. While out of ordinary, delivering at 36 weeks is full term. Just mentioning to make sure you are taking classes and touring hospital soon. My doctor recommends everyone to have those done by 30 weeks. You just never know.
OMG I can’t get over how tiny that little first day belly is! I had no idea!
Your comment about the doll looking hungry made me laugh out loud! So funny!
I remember we went a couple of times for some classes when I was expecting my first son. When he was born everything I learned pretty much went up in the air and we basically lived for every moment. We were excited and got lost in the hospital on the way to the maternity ward. Going through the whole labor thing is a totally different experience and for me it was very exciting. There were two things that made me cry out of joy for both of my pregnancies : hearing the first cry and watching my husband hold our son for the first time.
We only did the childbirth class, and I found that to be very, very helpful! It’s just good information for all of the options you have on delivery day! I’m especially glad we went since I wound up having to be induced AND have an unplanned C-section. Thanks to the class, I knew all of the options for being induced so I could tell them what I wanted. When it came time to push, I knew what they were talking about each time something went wrong (my baby’s heart rate would drop any time I pushed) and what they were talking about each time they tried something new or asked me about different things!
And I’m glad you know about cluster feeding–my baby did that the second night in the hospital, and I was about ready to throw in the towel right then and there! Luckily, the lactation consultant mentioned it earlier in the day, so I looked it up and was more at peace. But, seriously, eating every hour on the hour (even if she’d just finished eating 20 minutes before) was so scary to me!
Ah! Where are you capris from again?? So cute!
We didn’t take any classes but I had been reading a few books about birth throughout pregnancy. I did want my husband to be more informed because I think he had some misconceptions. So he compromised instead of going to a class I got a DVD called Get Ready For Birth. I also think what helped me was to create a birth plan. I was faced with some procedures that I didn’t know so I had to do research, but I was also able to talk with my husband about what birth may be like for us, what I would like (natural, props to help me relax, who is allowed in the room, etc.), and what to expect. Here is the worksheet I followed:
http://assets.babycenter.com/ims/Content/birthplan_pdf.pdf
Given your fear of needles, are you planning to try and go drug-free during the birth and avoid epidurals, etc.? Or do you think you’ll want something for the pain?
The most useful thing I did among all of the classes was go on that hospital tour and see the birthing suite. It just calmed my fears of the whole thing to see where it was going to happen. You don’t have to take the class since there is a DVD, but The Happiest Baby on the Block 5 S’s really worked with my son. That was the most helpful class we took.
Bahaha, I can imagine a breastfeeding class for us will be full of immature giggles! Ha! We are going to take a breastfeeding class, CPR, labor and birth, and maybe one other! I need to get signed up soon! Also, my mother in law is a Lactation Consultant…so you can imagine my MIL and I will be having some quality conversations at some point hahaha
Whenever I decide to have kids I think I will need all the classes I can get!! I don’t think I would have been able to keep it together while pretend breastfeeding that creepy doll! At least they kept it fun 🙂
Hi! I just found your blog – I live in Rock Hill, so we are pretty close 🙂 We just had a baby in December at CMC Pineville. We did the hospital tour and took an infant CPR class this time around, but for our son, we took a 12 week (!!) long Bradley class and a breastfeeding class, too. Honestly, I don’t think any of the classes actually prepared me for having an actual baby to take care of, but they were fun to take and at least help you feel more prepared on the front end 🙂
I took a class with my daughter and learned a lot of different breathing techniques, etc. All of it went out the window once I was in labor. I most likely won’t take a class with my second child. Good Luck!
I actually didn’t take any classes at all before I had my daughter. I was so busy with school and work that I honestly just didn’t think about it. Crazy I know ha! Anyways, I had an amazing delivery and my body just kind of knew what to do so I was very lucky. But I did really appreciate the help that I got from the lactation consultant at the hospital after I had my baby girl. She help me to get my daughter to latch on better and also showed me a few different holds 🙂
We went a little crazy with the class-taking (hello, Type A control freaks) but after the breastfeeding class we decided NOT to take the childbirth prep class we had originally planned on. Mostly because the breastfeeding class made us feel like if breastfeeding didn’t work for us, that we’d be bad parents. It was a little too much “breast is best” for us and it made me feel this sense of pressure that i hadn’t felt before, and I didn’t want to feel that way about birth, too! The one class that I found super helpful was the Newborn 101 type class that went over practical things like how to bathe a newborn, how to take a rectal temperature, CPR, etc. As someone who had never even held a baby before, I found it to be QUITE informative!
We went to childbirth classes. The information is good as well as meeting others who are in the same boat (so to speak) and just talking about your fears and plans. All the stuff we practiced in the childbirth class though went out the window during the actual birth. All I could do was “hee, hee, who” over and over again. A lot depends if you feel the labor in your back or front. I walked a lot and sat in a chair…your body will tell you what feels “right”.
We toured the hospital and one nurse came in after the baby was born and just sat with me for like 2 hours and answered questions and helped me with breast feeding and swaddling and a pacifier….etc. One tip: if you do want to breastfeed, tell the staff not to give the baby sugar water from a bottle. I had a very difficult labor and delivery but made that part of my plan going in and then had no trouble breast feeding. Also, a breast feeding support group is very helpful-I’m sure there’s one in Charlotte.
Best to your growing family!
Beth
My husband and I didnt take any classes. I take CPR every 2 years to maintain my license, but other than that….We were completely fine. You totally learn as you go 🙂
We didn’t end up taking any classes before and to this day, I’m still fine with that decision. As for the breastfeeding thing, we did have a nurse do an in-home visit and it was LIFE SAVING!! Seriously…loved every second of being in the comfort of my home. Plus, the nurse was amazing so that made it all that much better!
My son was born at the end of March and my husband and I took a 6 week all in one course + a CPR class. I found the CPR class to be great and the breastfeeding portion of the 6 week class to be most helpful. As far as the labor portion, your body just does what it needs – I didn’t think back to what we learned in class – I just did what felt best. My husband said that the one helpful thing he got from the labor portion was that all women are different during labor and that your partner may want to be touched or NOT want to be touched (me) and to just ask and feel it out and not be surprised by new preferences or demands.
I took childbirth classes before both deliveries (my kiddos are several years apart). But the second time around I also took a breastfeeding class–it made breastfeeding the second time around a lot easier. I read about breastfeeding both times, but I think the class helped a lot and made a big difference. They handed out some literature that I referenced often those first few weeks. I think the best advice from it was: When your a few weeks in and your worried/ thinking your baby is not getting enough to eat because they are nursing All.The.Time,–relax, grab a book, grab the dvr, hunker down and feed your baby on demand, the supply and demand will work out.
We are doing Bradley Method classes and plan to do the hospital tour. I didn’t think about a breastfeeding class but we are reading a book for Bradley and it is covered so it should be ok!
Glad to hear baby is head down and ready to go!
My husband and I are in a four-week Lamaze class right now, and we’re loving it. Like you, I’ve been nervous for childbirth my whole life, but the class has been surprisingly empowering and so good for both of us. I hope you enjoy your childbirth class just as much!
First, I love your blog, and after reading for three plus years, I’ve loved following your pregnancy journey. Second, my mom is a lactation consultant and I remember being a little girl and going with her when she taught the expectant mothers about breastfeeding. She also used to take one of my cabbage patch kids to class for teaching. 🙂 and I’ll never forget the hours she spent on the phone with concerned mothers talking about latching on and whether the baby was eating enough.
I took the breastfeeding class and I liked it alot, however my breastfeeding experience was less than great. I’m hoping with what I know now it comes easier when we have baby #2 in a couple of years.
Together my husband and I took a birthing class but everything they went over I had already read about prior to the class. And when I was in actual labor everything I had read went out the window, haha. Thankfully insurance reimbursed for the class!
The only thing I did learn in the class was that the hospital would send us home if I wasn’t far enough along in labor to be admitted! So when I went into labor at home I waited until I couldn’t speak through contractions to call my midwive, I was so scared of driving to the hospital and then having to drive back home! When she said come in I was so happy AND I was 9cm when I got to the hospital!