Hear Say (not just a bad 'pop' group)
How many of the horror stories relating to childbirth are actually true? Everyone knows someone who knows someone who.... well, you know the drill.
The Fat Lady got the dates for the NHS ante-natal classes the other day, and we're [a little] worried by the anecdotal tales of early births when we look at the class dates.
The main, and repeated, story we’re worried about is the “so-and-so gave up work on Friday and gave birth on Monday”. The Fat Lady is giving up work quite late to have more time with Ripley at the other side, not that there’s any firm decision on when to go back. And it’s these that seem to be higher in numbers, ie late finishers giving birth early.
So what’s the concern? With the due date on the 30th, the class dates are the four Wednesdays before. So if Ripley’s as little as a week early a class will be missed.
The solution? As with everything consult the midwife. Liz has offered to split The Fat Lady across July’s latter half and August’s first half. So we get to be daunted with two groups rather than one, and get the classes arse about face.
The final decision rests with The Fat Lady, who will be discussing the anecdotes with the midwife. After all, Liz makes a living out of this and has been there for hundreds of births, so I’d rather listen to her and her experiences rather than the second-hand anecdotes of those who’ve had one or two.
Comments
Can you not just ask to meet the midwife and get her to give you all the important points in summary form? I found that it was about 5 mins of useful info spread over too many hours. But then I'm not a patient person at the best of times...
Useful secondhand tips:
- get an epidural at the earliest possible moment. Then it will be like waiting for a bus rather than Saving Private Ryan.
- Gas and air TOTALLY ROCKS for the bloke. Inhale as much as possible - much hilarity ensues..
- The actual 'giving birth' is the least important bit of giving birth. Try and think about what comes afterwards ie being a daddy (needless to say, thats the cool bit).
Posted by: Dave Morrow | July 14, 2006 11:27 AM
The Fat Lady is seeing the midwife on Tuesday, so will sort things out then.
Those three bits of "second-hand" advice have all come in from various people, so it's really good to see there's some good consistent tips out there, thanks Dave.
BTW, I wrapped "second-hand" in quotes - why? Well, I guess the epidural thing was really second hand advice, with "Carrie" being the first hand and the gas & air I hope was a first-hand experience for you too!
We still call Carole "Carrie", as in "Carrie Dave home 'cos he's pisched"). Old habits die hard...
Posted by: Lee | July 14, 2006 3:28 PM
Good to see you men are organised for the birth. Never mind about the women going through pain and agony. Hope Deborah gets her own back on you when it is all over.
Posted by: Doris | July 14, 2006 8:44 PM