First parenting class

Last Friday we went to our first parenting class. These classes are complimentary once you register at the hospital I will deliver at. They are ran in the hospital on a Friday afternoon and they last one and half hours. We were running some errands before the appointment, we got paint for Izzy's room and some other D.I.Y. store kind of things and then we decided to go across town to get a new sprinkling system as well. We made it almost on time but we got lost as the hospital part where the lessons are held was deserted. Here Fridays are like Sundays in the western world so it was so quiet and no one was around to ask where to go.

We finally made it our teacher welcomed us by saying :"You are late". Now that was a great start. I could not believe she would say that even if we were 4 minutes late. In this part of the world you are ridiculed for being early and you realised pretty soon that there is no point getting to places early as all you will do is end up waiting. Well this time, we were the fools for being 4 minutes late. Anyway, the class was packed and we got a seat next to this American couple who brought along their cute 5 year old son. There were many nationalities in the class and the set up felt really welcoming. We were sitting on the floor on these gym mats with pillows behind are backs.

The first activity was an eye opener. We all (husbands and wives) got to take one gym ball, you know the big inflatable ones you see in exercise videos. Our teacher explained that by sitting on these balls and doing certain exercises it helps placing the baby in the correct position for labour. It also helps alleviate back pain and it's a more comfortable to sit this than on a chair. She also showed us how to lean on it in order to help with contractions and then she got all our husbands to do lovely massages and then we returned the favour! I was amazed and happy to learn about this tool. She recommended us all to get these balls and start using them daily. (We got ours on Saturday morning!) Read more here.

She then explained about nutrition and the usual food pyramid you see in a lot of pregnancy literature. She did say that pregnant women should take Omega 3 supplements as they help with brain and eye development in babies. I freaked out immediately as I had not taken Omega 3 supplements. How could I have missed this important information? Why didn't I know about it? Of course I do eat fish at least once a week but I am not taking supplements. The next day I went out and got a new pregnancy vitamin supplement that contains both Omega 3 and 6. I started taking them that day and I hope all will be OK.

We have 5 more classes and a hospital tour as well. I saw the list of what to expect from the next classes and there is a good mix of labour management techniques and getting ready for baby too. For classes 4/5/6 we need to bring a baby doll or a teddy bear. Now that should be interesting! I am looking forward to the tour with anticipation as it will give us a great idea of what to expect in terms of rooms and facilities. It'll make the whole experience less scary for when I go back to deliver in October. We are so looking forward to this week's class!

In other news, D painting of the nursery is ongoing. He finished half the room but now needs to apply masking tape to the ceiling so as to avoid splatters and start painting the rest of the walls. I am sure we will get a lot more done during the weekend. I was home all day yesterday as there was an electrical failure and we were left with no electricity at work. So I took advantage and covered the rest of the floor in plastic sheets and went around the house doing touch ups on the walls that had stains from when we moved in. It all looks brand new! I also had the maintenance team come in and fix our ac as we could smell the neighbour's cooking (not too bad of a smell!) but also their cigarette smoke which was irritating and considering we are bringing a baby home in less than 4 months it's dangerous. Our house is looking more like a home as the days go by.... it's a great place to go back to at the end of a working day!