TKO

So last night's Childhood Education class was... well it was... um... it was!

The majority of the class was a review of the stages of labor: how to differentiate the stages, how long contractions will be in each stage, how long they last on average, what to do (and not do) during each stage. We also went over what to pack in the labor bag and some general reminders about the labor process. We went over medication in more detail and talked about the different options.

Then we started talking about caesarian section procedures. Even though we are planning on vaginal birth, I agree with the our instructor that it's important to know what to expect in case plans change. After talking about the procedure and what to expect we watched a video that showed an actual caesarean section. It started with some introduction by 3 women who had all had C-Sections. Then we followed a couple who was having a planned caesarean. They showed what goes on in the Operating Room during the preparation, and then we watched them make the incisions and bring the baby out. During this whole thing I was surprisingly unaffected by what I was watching. I thought maybe I'd watched enough ER for this to not effect me.

Then after the surgery was shown, the other women came back into the video and were giving concluding comments. My mind started to wander, and I started thinking about how I would feel if Andrea needed to have a C-Section. And then I started thinking about how I would react if something was happening and we had to decide if she was going to have a caesarean or continue naturally. And that indecision stayed with me, like I was frozen in that moment of not knowing what to do. My legs started feeling weird, then my stomach got upset. I was going to stand up and go to the restroom, in case I needed to vomit, but I didn't feel like I could hold myself up or even talk, so I just leaned way back in my chair. It was getting hard to breath, so I took off my necklace. Next thing I knew I felt like I was waking up from a nap and there was a crowd of people around me. My first reaction was to fight back, like I was being taken for a swirlee at Mudd, but I didn't really have the strength to fight back at that moment (and thank goodness). They set me down on the floor and it started to become clear that I had passed out. Then I got really embarrassed because the whole class was interrupted for me. Andrea told me afterwards that I started breathing really heavily and my body was limp, then it sounded like I stopped breathing and that's when she called out to the instructor that something was wrong. I guess I was unconscious for 30 seconds to a minute. Of course, if you're going to pass out, it's very efficient to do it in a classroom at the hospital. They sent about 10 different people from all over the place to come and check on me. At one point they were sending two different gurneys. But I knew that I was not in an emergency. They offered to take me over to the ER anyway, but I could tell that I was OK by this point. They took my pulse a few times and checked my blood sugar. I thanked everyone profusely and they left before I actually crawled under any rocks.

So I hope that any readers could gather from the fact that I am writing this, that I am in fact OK. I had an upset stomach for the rest of the night, but that was more because every time I would feel better, I'd started thinking about what I had done, and then a tiny bit of nausea would return. My hats off, and huge thanks, to the other class members and to the Pomona Valley Hospital staff for helping me.

So Baby, if you are reading this, many years in the future, it's true. Daddy passed out during the Childbirth Education class, and he did it to HIMSELF! Andrea said last night that maybe it's better that I went through this now. Perhaps I will be able to deal with any uncertainty that comes up during labor better now that I've already gone through that mind-numbing uncertainty in advance. I think that's an interesting idea, but honestly I won't have time to ponder it all during the actual labor. I'll be so focused on what is happening, that I won't have time to think too much about it, which is what caused the episode last night. Maybe after it's all over, and we're back at home with baby, then I'll start thinking about the whole process. I'll make sure to stay in a padded area then!