Anesthesia and stuff...

First, I want to thank our friends, LeAnna and Heather, who told me about the rubber band trick for jeans! Last night, Ray and I went to our first pregnancy/childbirth class at Presbyterian Hospital, where we will be delivering. I got my “big jeans” up without much problem, but moving was a different story. I discovered they weren’t going to work when I bent down to put on my shoes! Baby Tse said, “Hey! Watch it!” Since I don’t have any bigger pants (unless I start digging on Ray’s side of the closet…which it might come to), I remembered LeAnna and Heather’s recommendation! For those of you who may not know what the “rubber band trick” is, I will explain the best I can. First, you loop and hook the rubber band on your button hole side. Then, you hook the rubber band onto your button. My first thought was, “Not pretty”. But when Ray saw it, he said, “That’s cute!” Of course, his compliment and the fact that it worked like a charm made it right in my head.

As I said, Ray and I went to our first class last night. It was actually the anesthesia class. For those of you who might be wondering, YES, I will definitely be getting whatever pain medicine I need and they will give me. I’m not a wimp, but I am not extremely tolerant of pain. My grandfather says it best, “Giving birth natural is only good for conversation sake”. I know that giving birth without any medication is important to some people…and I’m not knocking that. You have to do what blows your skirt up. But this girl is a believer in comfort! So, bring on the goods!!!! ;)

Our class went well. Ray and I are both super impressed with the fact that the Presbyterian has an Anesthesia Department. There is an anesthetist, anesthesia registered nurses (forgot their official title), an obstetrician, a pediatrician, etc, there 24/7. One of the anesthetists did the class presentation. In about an hour and a half, we learned just about EVERYTHING there is to know about epidurals without getting one! Heck, we even saw an actual epidural needle and the catheter that connects to it!

For those of you who do not know, I am terrified of needles (after having very bad hospital experience as a 4 year old). Things could change, but as of right now, I’m more afraid of the epidural than labor! The video they showed during class was made in the 80’s. So, I spent more time laughing at that fact rather than being freaked out by the woman they showed getting an epidural. However, the anesthetist did a LOT of talking after the video. He was using words like: pressure, veins, nerves, spinal fluid, i.v.’s, injections, intravenous…and he actually said the needle they use is “long to get through the back muscle tissue”. I shook my leg and balled my fists the entire time. I even started feeling a bit flushed. That’s when Ray looked over, put his arm around me, and said, “You’re turning white”.

Obviously, I did survive the class…AND walked myself to the car! HA! On the way home, I called my mom. When she answered, I said, “I have an idea…I’ll pass the baby along to you. You carry and deliver it for us!” She knew I was making this joke as a result of our class. But being as sweet as she is, she said, “I would if I could”. :)

When Mom and I hung up, I called my grandfather. When he answered, I said, “Hey Paw. I gotta tell you something.” He said, “Okay. Go for it.” As serious as I could, I said, “Tonight, Ray and I went to our first childbirth class…and I’ve changed my mind about having a baby.” He gave a big, gutsy laugh and said, “It’s a little late for that, baby!” I told him all about our class. He laughed the entire time I talked. In the end, he assured me that I’d be fine. He said the most important thing is for me to eat good and do some walking/light exercise to ensure a healthy baby. He followed it up with, “It don’t matter if it is a boy or girl…just as long as it is healthy”. That made my heart warm. As much of a grizzly man as he can be sometimes, he can also be a teddy bear. But I must admit that I was tempted to remind him of the phone call he made to me last weekend! Ray and I were at Babies ‘R’ Us, and I decided that I didn’t feel like digging in my purse to find my stupid phone. About 5 minutes later, it started ringing again. I decided that whoever it was could just wait (or call Ray on his cell phone). When we left the store and were on our way home, I looked on my cell phone. I saw it was my Paw that called both times. Of course, I felt a little guilty for not answering. Because he didn’t even take the time to leave me a voicemail, I worried that there might be an emergency. I immediately called him back. He asked me why I didn’t answer my phone. I said, “I couldn’t find my phone in my purse…is everything okay?!” He said, “Yeah. I was just calling to check on my great-grandson!” I said, “What?!” He said, “I want to know how my great-grandson is doing!” I said, “Paw, you know better than that! That’s mean! What if I call you and tell you it’s a girl?!” He said, “You won’t. I have faith in Ray!” I said, “PAW!!!! You are so mean! I don’t like this kind of pressure! What if it is a girl and she grows up giving you just as hard of a time as me?!” He said, “If it is a girl, I hope she’s as beautiful as her mother”. :)

Going back to last night’s conversation with my Paw-Paw…he started telling me once again about packing for a baby every time you go somewhere. I gather that was his least favorite part about being a parent! He said, “Every time you go somewhere, you have to pack so many dam bottles, warmers, diapers, wipes, cloths, clothes,…” I started laughing and said, “I know, Paw!” He said, “Your car will be loaded down.” Still laughing, I said, “I know, Paw!” He said, “When your Maw-Maw and I used to pack our car with a baby to go anywhere – even just to Grandma’s house, it looked like we were moving!!!!” :)

Paw went on to say, “All joking aside, babies are truly a miracle, baby. There is nothing like seeing them look up at ya, smile, laugh, and try to talk to you”. :)

~"Tish"