breathe in deeply...now slowly exhale

whoa...tina and I attended a birth education class last night. it was the first of seven, every monday night from 7-9:30 pm. at first, tina and i thought, "why are the classes so long? what do they cover that we need to meet for so long?"

Well, a lot really. Yesterday we talked about signs of labor, positive changes in the body, negative changes in the body, relaxation and breathing techniques, nutrition, pelvic thrusts, and kegel exercises. We even watched a video that described and depicted what happens when the mother's water breaks, when the baby drops into the pelvis, and what contractions look like.

I know I speak for Tina too cuz we talked about it after class: watching the video gave me goosebumps. i mean real goosebumps. the kind that reflect dizzying thoughts such as..."holy sh*t! what am i getting msyelf into?! am i prepared for this baby? am i gonna know what to do? holy sh*t! i'm gonna be a daddy"

i can profess how excited I am...and let me tell you I am. but when our instructor pressed stop on the VCR/DVD, i imagine i looked like a wide-eyed deer, frozen, mesmerized by the high-beam headlights of reality...i'm gonna have a baby soon.

when i snapped out of that daze, i looked over at tina for a little reassurance that she doles out so readily. but she had that same wide-eyed gaze too! (though i think hers was catalyzed by thoughts such as "holy sh*t! that baby is gonna come out of me??!"

i wanna say that i've lost that anxiety, but i haven't. it's now there mixed in with the excitement that i already had. i suppose my best bet is to take it all in stride and not get too anxious about it all.

i'm gonna go practice some calming breathing techniques now...