The End of Bradley Classes

Last night was our last meeting of our weekly Bradley Method Birth Classes and I am feeling a bit sad about it. It was so nice to sit in a group of also pregnant first time parents and listen to their questions and concerns as well as laugh at the crazy stuff that is happening to us all during pregnancy. Plus as Ryan pointed out- the end of class means we are two months more pregnant than we were when we started! Time is going so quickly- I am scared of how fast it is going to go when he gets here (I fear my maternity leave will fly by in haze of no sleep and obsession with my new little man).
So in theory since we have completed two months of birth classes- we are ready (ha ha) for delivery, prepared and knowledgeable about our options and outcomes. We have spent greater than 24 hours in classes talking about everything from nutrition to exercise, first stage labor to delivery positions, non-medication relaxation options to the surprises of my body awaiting me after delivery and more! woo hoo? Sometimes I freak out that I am going to forget it all before we actually get to delivery, or that during the 'excitement' of it all I will have zero memory of the 8 weeks of knowledge in my brain. Ryan keeps reassuring me that he will remember (whew) so let's all hope he is right.
I really LOVED our instructor and have to be honest that I am going to miss her too. Any woman that can discuss blood clots, sex, circumcision, transitional labor (described by her as bitching, burping, barfing, b.m.s, oh fun!) and still make Ryan feel comfortable or laugh is a treasure in my book. Not only is she funny, she is so knowledgeable and I am a bit bummed to not be seeing her and gleaning bits of wisdom from her decades of experiences on a weekly basis- perhaps I will have to start taking her prenatal yoga class on Thursdays just for a little Coral time :)
As part of completing our class we also completed our birth plan (Cheri our midwife will be happy since she wants it at our next appointment). I was surprised at how much time and emotional energy it took for us to complete it. There are SO MANY decisions to make- and he isn't even here yet! We have to decide about medications for me and him, the who and where and when of what we want during labor and delivery and Ryan and I had to talk a lot about our expectations and desires for both labor and delivery. His ultimate goal is just to get the baby safely, and his next big goal is for me to have the experience that is important to me. My biggest goal is just about the same - so it is nice that we are on the same page. And I am grateful that writing the birth plan 'forced' us to have those conversations. I feel like this whole Bradley class experience has really encouraged us to have conversations that we may not have had otherwise (I guess when the method is called "Husband Coached Childbirth" I should have maybe expected that, huh?) I have really enjoyed seeing how our relationship is growing and changing just through this pregnancy and taking classes together, it should be interesting to see how it changes again when the baby gets here.