Graduation at last!

Today Wifey and I attended our baby birthing class called Teddy Bear University at Fort Sanders Regional Hospital. It was their "Super Saturday" class which runs for about eight hours and covers the basics of the birth experience from beginning to postpartum. It was eye-opening in many ways and we both learned a lot. They had several video segments which covered topics from "old wives' tales" about pregnancy to caesarian sections. We went on a tour of the entire Women's Services floor and got to check out the delivery room, the operating room, and the nursery. The facilities seem nice and I have to admit I could entertain the possibility of spending hours with my nose pressed against the glass window of the nursery. We even got to meet a 32-week pregnant mother who has been in the hospital for seven weeks because she is having triplets! We had a Q&A session with an anesthetist concerning epidurals and enjoyed presentations by a labor and delivery nurse as well as a post-partum specialist. We also spent a little time practicing swaddling and changing a doll that was surprisingly life-like(although the wrong race and gender). Overall it was an enlightening experience that I would recommend to all prospective parents. I even noticed one mother with a laptop, so if you are lucky, I will be doing a little bit of hospital blogging during our stay! We are getting excited about the whole process and it seems a lot more real now that we are in the final stages of preparations. Just a few more weeks and I will be a proud Papa! Thank you Teddy Bear U!