Mommy School

Intro to Sophrology
I am now really looking forward to taking the three-week course next month. I was pleased with the whole ideology behind it and just the hospital's stance on birthing in general. It's not anything that goes way outside what other methods generally offered in pregnancy classes, but it sounds just right for what I am looking for.

At the beginning of class, the doctor asked the women about what kinds of birthing methods there are out there, and the only one anyone really knew was Lamaze. I listed off a whole bunch of methods in my head and was even brave enough to mention hypnobirthing, but even the doctor had no idea what I was trying to say. It just might be more of a western thing still...

Anyway, its main focus is on relaxing and knowing that pain in childbirth is a good sign and that it's hard for baby, too. We will go over different methods of pain relief, from breathing technique to visualizations, and will also work on different stretches. That's the course in short, anyway.

At the beginning of the class, Hee Suk was the only man there, and the doctor had people applaud him a couple of times for being such a good husband as she encouraged others to take courses with their spouses. Later on, two more couples joined in, but he definitely enjoyed his ego being fed. ^.~

Breastfeeding
Can you believe I sacrificed most of my nap time today to go to class? I know.

This was a great class with some nice diagrams and helpful videos and pictures. At the end, we were able to practice holding baby with those Chou Chou dolls. When I have more motivation/energy to do so, I will upload a couple of pictures from that. It's silly, but I think we bonded with our doll a bit. I didn't want to set the baby down after class! Our hospital highly encourages breastfeeding right after birth, which is wonderful.

**As a random sidenote, there was some sort of breastfeeding competition last month sponsored by the Korean government (I had seen a poster at our government health office--보건소). They are really trying to promote it more and more. I'm still trying to figure out how they judge it.**

Coming Up
I'm contemplating taking every morning class they are offering this month. Tomorrow is a sort of breastfeeding quiz thing that I am not sure we will go to, but Thursday is a nutrition course we figured it wouldn't hurt to check out. Next week Monday is a stretching course which incorporates a few Pilates things, so I am definitely wanting to check that out. I hope that in September, the classes in the afternoon are offered in the morning so that those who can't go in the afternoon have the opportunity to take them. My doctor is offering a class on maintaining an S-line after birth, and I just laughed at that.

In Other News
Our son has been super active the past couple of days. He's getting his workouts in while he still can, that's for sure. I think I overdid it this weekend, because my sciatica hasn't been so kind to me. It's definitely much better today, but it's still there. I think he also loves bus rides. Little does he know... ^.~

The poor thing has been getting hiccups quite a bit. I think I've passed them onto him. I've read that this is actually a good sign of a healthy baby, though, so I am happy to hear that. I was slightly concerned since they can last for so long, but I have since learned that this, too, is normal.

Countdown
We're in the double digits! Less than 100 days to go now!

Anyway, that's about all I have for now. I will try to get those pics up soon. Nothing special, but it will be fun to look back on.

Much love!

As always, my Lord, thank You for blessing us so greatly, far, far beyond what we could ever deserve.