Friday, January 12, 2007

First Bradley Class

I want to give a shout out to RSG and HG for lunch yesterday. Seeing you both was lovely and comforting and energizing all rolled into a ball of fun. Thanks!

Last night was our first Bradley class. There are four other couples taking the class with us. And all of them were so cool about the lesbians in the room with them. The Bradley teacher, Kara, did a fantastic job of using the term coach or partner instead of husband. I really felt relaxed and at ease throughout the evening.

Rather than give you a detailed account of the class, I'll leave with some highlights of what I liked best.

  • It was great to be in the presence of other pregnant women. Just seeing their bellies made me happy.

  • However these are tiny women. Just looking at them inspired me to slow down my Hostess cupcake consumption.

  • We practiced our pregnancy exercises together. And let me tell you, when the other women got into squat position, they looked fantastic. Just sitting there, looking totally at ease with their backs straight and their asses practically touching the floor. When I got into the squat position (it was my first time by the way), my face turned red, I made strange grunts, and I was nowhere near the ideal position. That's okay though--it was just the motivation I needed to start doing these exercises all the time. I'm such a competitive little sprite that next week, I'm determined my ass will be just as low as theirs and the look on my face just as placid!


  • I'm inspired to do the 15 squats and butterflies, 30 pelvic rocks and 100 kegels a day that's been recommended.

  • This week we've been asked to track all of our eating. Already it's been enlightening and I know that I'm not getting nearly enough protein.

  • Two former students returned to class with their 3 week old baby and told us their birth story. In listening to them, I thought for the first time that I might be able to have a natural childbirth. I loved their story!

  • At the end of class we had a 10 minute massage from our partner along with a guided meditation/relaxation from the instructor. It was so soothing. I've decided to look for other bits of material that Karen can read to me during the first stages of delivery and to create an Itunes playlist of relaxing music.

    All in all, it was a very good first class.

    -Wendy
    [24w, 4d]
  • 4 comments:

    Stacey said...

    Glad it went well. I loved the massage in our prenatal class. I think Angele should practice it more. ;)

    I never do the kegels. I'm really bad.

    Dee said...

    What a great post. I can't wait for our prenatal class. Since you're watching the cupcake consumtion and trying to get more protein maybe you could try Peanut Butter cookies or a PB&J. PB is protein even if it's in a form of a cookie! Okay, I might be stretching!

    Anonymous said...

    Let me just say this: MUCH later, when your lovely bambina is MUCH bigger and older, you will thank god and your birth instructor for kegels! I swear if I laugh one more time and pee my pants I'm gonna scream...or laugh harder!

    Mo said...

    This just made me think, where are all those small flexible alien pregnant women coming from? I mean I know there are SOME out there, but it seems like it is more common to run into pregnant women who feel inflexible, awkward, etc. Maybe they all stayed home? Anyway, go you, it sounds like it will be a productive class.