Dodi and I have been going to "Ready, Set, Deliver!" classes hosted by our Hospital.  These classes are pretty much "Having a Baby 101" - they cover everything you need to know about the delivery process, potential complications, drugs, procedures, and breathing techniques. 

It's amusing to me how little they can tell you about your specific birth.  Not only does every women have a unique birth experience, even if you've had a child before your second birth can be completely different.  Labor can be anywhere from 4 hours to a day or more.  Everything is so individual that the best they can do is tell you about everything.  It's kind of frightening to think that we're probably going to be making decisions about the birth on the day of, as Dodi is lying there.  We had already decided that we want to take advantage of drugs, but the specific circumstances of the birth may render that a moot point.  Even once you're having the baby, in labor, there is no knowing for sure how it's going to go.  Maybe we'll have time for narcotics or Epidural, maybe we won't.  Maybe the Epidural will be so strong she can't push properly, maybe they won't be strong enough.

It's a humbling experience, expecting a child.  As an Engineer, I am used to certainty . . or at least solid statistics.  It's almost unfathomable to me that a process that, by definition, everyone last one of us has experienced and every one of our ancestors has experienced going back thousands of generations, is so ill-defined.  Sure, it's way safer to have a baby now than it was even 50 years ago, but the best you can do is know what might happen and plan for the worst.  *shakes his fist*  Blast you, universe, I need more order!  This is why I hated Chemistry too.  Gimme rules, not guidelines. *breaths deeply*

That said, the classes have helped a lot.  Last night, as part of the class, we did a tour of the Hospital's Labor rooms and post-partum rooms.  Lemme tell you, I've stayed in worse hotel rooms. This place is DE-luxe.  The Labor rooms have the full adjustable bed, a couch, a rocking chair, walk in shower, and a baby closet.  This cracked me up, but there is literally a walk in closet for your baby.  It's got the baby warming machine and the scale and everything.  The instructor was describing how, while you've got all the doctors and nurses in the labor room, you'll also have the post-natal nurses in the closet, getting the warmer ready.  I seriously want a baby closet at home, with it's own "closet nurses".

Best part ever - In this class we've seen about 4-5 birth videos now, including a couple cesarean birth.  In EVERY SINGLE ONE of the videos, as the baby is delivered, they start up with the sappy piano music.  I was telling Dodi that we were going to have to bring in a piano player to give us accompaniment when the kid is delivered, otherwise we won't know what to do.  Turns out, once you give birth at Sutter, they play a Brahms lullaby throughout the entire hospital.  I guess the videos were right - you get sappy piano music when you deliver.  Rock on!

Pleasantly, the hospital smelled really good.  I hadn't really thought about it, but I had been dreading that "hospital smell".  Dodi has been in the hospital before and that smell really stuck with me.  One day around the house, Dodi put some aromatic oils on that smelled just like the disinfectant the hospital had used and I had to have her put it out.  The smell was too much for me.  But Sutter, at least the delivery rooms, smell great.  I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it's fabulous. 

Overall, the trip helped to put me at ease.  It's easier for me to imagine the birth when I can see the room in my head.  The hospital seems very comfortable to me.  While I don't know exactly what will happen with the birth, at least I know it will happen someplace the feels safe.