We had our last childbirth class on Saturday along with the hospital tour. I'm really liking our hospital. The labor and delivery rooms are huge and have a fold out chair (for Dad to sleep on), a bed, a rocking chair, a full bathroom with jacuzzi tub along with a sink and the "inspection station" for baby. The baby never has to leave the room because they can weigh, measure, inject, etc. right in the room. Each room also has a radio with CD player. They just remodeled the hospital 2 or 3 years ago and everything is so nice! What was really cool was all the technology they use. Each nurse wears a monitor so they can be tracked. This means that if I want nurse Catherine (our childbirth educator), we can call and ask for her and instead of them hunting her down, they know exactly where she is and can tell her that I need her. Also, each nurse wears a device that has a panic button it. So, if something was going wrong, instead of having to leave to find help, the nurse can call all staff (nurses, doctors, etc.) right to our room without having to leave. Also, all the monitoring is done by telemetry. This means that when I'm hooked up to a monitor (about 15 minutes every 1-2 hours), the output (contraction frequency and strength along with baby's heartbeat) can be seen from any labor and delivery room or nurses station. It's all connected. They can even make notes, like an electronic chart right on the computer. Yay for technology! We also saw the Labor Assessment area. This is where I would go upon arriving at the hospital. Here they check to see if my water has broken (unless I'm puddling, of course!), see how much I'm dilated, hook me up to monitor contractions, etc. If I'm not in true labor, they'd send me home and if I was, they'd move me to a labor and delivery room. The last rooms we checked out were the recovery rooms. They are down a different hallway from the labor and delivery rooms which is nice. I don't want my sleep disturbed by a screaming in labor woman! I only want it interrupted by my baby. :) Those rooms are really nice too though. They're a bit smaller but still have the fold out chair for Dad to sleep on and each has it's own full bathroom. I leaned over at one point during the tour and told Kris it will be like giving birth at the Hilton instead of the Super 8! :)

The rest of class was spent learning about (and watching) a cesarean delivery. We also learned how to swaddle a newborn, saw lots of pictures of newborns to know what looks normal/abnormal and what the nurses are looking for when they check the baby after delivery. It was pretty informative and now we know what to expect before, during and after delivery.

Tonight I have a breastfeeding class. That should be interesting. Next week we have a "Caring for Your Newborn" class and an "Infant and Child CPR" class. After that all the classes will be done. By Thursday, I'll have my birth plan written (in time for my next doctor appt) and my hospital bag packed. We're getting down to the end! Yes, I know that she may not arrive until the first or second week of September which is still pretty far away, but she could arrive the second week of August (I'd be full term then) and I must be prepared! It's just my personality! I must, must, must! If I'm not, I'll be totally stressed out.