How to Hold a Bag of Ice for Long Periods of Time.

First off, a little Lamaze humor...

The room was full of pregnant women and their partners, and the Lamaze class was in full swing. The instructor was teaching the women how to breathe properly, along with informing the men how to give the necessary assurances at this stage of the plan.

The teacher then announced, "Ladies, exercise is good for you. Walking is especially beneficial. And, gentlemen, it wouldn't hurt you to take the time to go walking with your partner!"

The room really got quiet.

Finally, a man in the middle of the group raised his hand. "Yes?" replied the teacher. "Is it all right if she carries a golf bag while we walk?"

*Insert Rimshot*

"Thanks, I'll be here all week."

Jun and I attended a Lamaze class together last weekend. It proved to be a very informative event. Due to my uncertain work schedule, we avoided the class that went every day for a week for a couple of hours a day and went for the Friday-Saturday option. It was a 10-hours-over-2-days grind. However, I know we both got a lot out of the class.

There were 12 couples that were signed up for the class we got started on Friday at 6 PM. The Friday session was mostly about the three stages of labor and what changes the female body goes through in order to prepare for delivery. It was very scientific and medical which isn't something I was expecting. (I thought it would be more "hippy" for some reason.)

When I think of "Lamaze," I think of the breathing exercises. You know, like in the movies: "Hee hee hee hoooooo, hee hee hee hoooo." Well, it's not like that anymore apparently as the Saturday class showed us. Now it seems that the most effective way of dealing with the pain of contractions and labor is simply to distract the mother as best you can. The title of this post refers to the exercise we did to demonstrate this:

The mothers were given a ziplock bag of ice and told to hold it in her hand for the exercise. After each step she was given reprieve and was able to put the bag of ice down and warm her hand until the next step.

Step 1: Hold the bag in the palm of your hand and stare at it.
Step 2: Same as step one, but the lights were dimmed and soft music was played.
Step 3: Hold the bag in your hand while the fathers gave the mothers a massage.
Step 3: Hold the bag while leaning on a medical ball and getting a massage.
Step 4: Hold the bag while leaning on a chair and getting a massage.
Step 5: Hold the bag and stand and hold onto/lean on the father.
Step 6: Hold the bag and kick the medical ball back and forth between the mother and father like a soccer ball.

From this exercise, we learned that distraction is a very powerful tool, because not only did she hold onto the bag of ice longer with each step, she didn't feel the pain and discomfort as much. Very interesting.

During the Saturday session we also were able to take a tour of the hospital in which we saw the delivery, recovery, and waiting rooms. I was glad that we were able to see all of that to mentally prepare for what the delivery will actually look like.

Overall, Lamaze class was a very good experience and I'm glad we were able to attend. Hopefully it will be very beneficial when the time actually comes.