My doctor's office told us that birthing classes at the hospital where we were going to deliver would be covered by our insurance - - aka FREE. I felt like I knew everything I needed to, as I had a younger brother and many of my friends already have children, but I thought it would be fun and I really wanted to see my husband change a doll's diaper. I looked online, found a ton of classes to choose from (we took a three week Birthing Class, as well as a one session Newborn Class) for a total of 4 classes about 3 months before Tristan's due date. I highly recommend taking a class BEFORE you become too big and find that moving is a struggle. I saw several women who looked hungry and miserable - don't let that be you.
The classes were actually informative - as in they showed videos of vaginal deliveries, C-sections, water births, etc. - and watching John's face made it all worth it. The class was taught be a Labor and Delivery Nurse and she was funny too, so that helped a lot. The class lasted for 2 hours at a time and of course she passed out ice chips and gave several potty breaks. By the last class, I finally got to see John change a baby doll's diaper... hilarious by the way.
One thing I did learn from the class, was that because of the change in insurances here lately, most (pretty much all) insurances will cover your breast pump - - aka FREE. What?! I called my insurance, asked the lady who then answered this riveting question about a free breast pump, and sure enough, YEP! She gave me a website to go to, which I did but was unable to order the pump until I was at 28 weeks in my pregnancy. I went back at the right time, ordered my pump of choice, filled out my insurance information and BAM. Free double breast pump (It was $499). I received it in the mail about a week later, mailed in the paperwork to my insurance and that was that. See? If I hadn't have gone to the birthing classes, I never would have learned this ultra nice tidbit of information.
All in all, the best part about the birthing classes, was the hospital tour. I found out that my hospital has an online check in so that when we got there, we could go straight to the Women's Wing - I definitely completed that as soon as I got home that night. We also found out where all the snack machines were and where our families could wait. I got a good look at a delivery room which by the way, housed a nice flat screen tv. One of the men in our group asked if there was cable so he could watch sports and YES, THERE WAS. *insert high-fiving daddies*
The Birthing Class and the Newborn Class were both fun experiences. There were several people who asked some off the wall questions, but who am I to judge, right? John and I enjoyed our time together, plus Chipotle was right across the street. SCORE.
If this is something you're interested in and it's cheap or better yet, FREE, do it. If anything, you can always meet new mommies-to-be, as well as get a picture of your husband holding the creepy fake baby. Ah, priceless.
The classes were actually informative - as in they showed videos of vaginal deliveries, C-sections, water births, etc. - and watching John's face made it all worth it. The class was taught be a Labor and Delivery Nurse and she was funny too, so that helped a lot. The class lasted for 2 hours at a time and of course she passed out ice chips and gave several potty breaks. By the last class, I finally got to see John change a baby doll's diaper... hilarious by the way.
One thing I did learn from the class, was that because of the change in insurances here lately, most (pretty much all) insurances will cover your breast pump - - aka FREE. What?! I called my insurance, asked the lady who then answered this riveting question about a free breast pump, and sure enough, YEP! She gave me a website to go to, which I did but was unable to order the pump until I was at 28 weeks in my pregnancy. I went back at the right time, ordered my pump of choice, filled out my insurance information and BAM. Free double breast pump (It was $499). I received it in the mail about a week later, mailed in the paperwork to my insurance and that was that. See? If I hadn't have gone to the birthing classes, I never would have learned this ultra nice tidbit of information.
All in all, the best part about the birthing classes, was the hospital tour. I found out that my hospital has an online check in so that when we got there, we could go straight to the Women's Wing - I definitely completed that as soon as I got home that night. We also found out where all the snack machines were and where our families could wait. I got a good look at a delivery room which by the way, housed a nice flat screen tv. One of the men in our group asked if there was cable so he could watch sports and YES, THERE WAS. *insert high-fiving daddies*
The Birthing Class and the Newborn Class were both fun experiences. There were several people who asked some off the wall questions, but who am I to judge, right? John and I enjoyed our time together, plus Chipotle was right across the street. SCORE.
If this is something you're interested in and it's cheap or better yet, FREE, do it. If anything, you can always meet new mommies-to-be, as well as get a picture of your husband holding the creepy fake baby. Ah, priceless.