Week 26

Depending on how I'm standing I can a little more of my toes than this or none at all. By the next picture at Week 28, I'm pretty sure there will be no seeing them at all!

3rd trimester fatigue has definitely hit a bit early, although thankfully I am sleeping better through the nights again compared to the last couple of weeks. Fatigue does nothing to help my ever-forgetful pregnancy brain to say the least.

4/6 - We had our first Bradley childbirth class. There are 5 other couples in the class, plus a doula in training for her certification. The classes are held at the home of the instructor, Amy Vaas, in Fairport. We got there a little before 7 and settled in. We started with some basic information about the workbooks Amy was giving us, some class policies and what not. Amy then had us introduce ourselves to the others in the class and answer some simple questions about our due date, where we'd be delivering, why we chose the Bradley method, etc. She then went on to give us Dr. Bradley's background and his birthing methods, and how she became involved in them as well. Amy has been Bradley trained for 15 years and teaching for 8 years. She is incredibly knowledgeable as research and writing articles on her studies is her forte. We also discussed in detail (and Amy got the partners involved by making them keep the list on paper) of ways to handle and ways to avoid pain. We ended the class with practicing some basic exercises like taylor sitting, squatting, butterflies, kegels, pelvic tilts, and my favorite - 10 minutes of a side lying relaxation pose.

I absolutely loved it!! Peter, of course, feels "meh" and is along for the ride, mostly willingly I'd say. :) I loved the small atmosphere, the instructor is totally normal, very warm & inviting like an old friend (not crunchy & hippie as I kind of expected), and the other classmates seem really great, very open and already asked some really good questions I wouldn't have thought of. Just overall I can tell these classes will fit like a glove for what I was looking for and my desire to gain as much information as I can. This class will be very empowering to me to have a med-free, natural chilbirth.