We GRADUATED!!!!

After 5 Mondays of driving to the hospital in the evenings for our Childbirth Preparation Class we finally had our last class last night. Each week we learned more and more about what we can expect when we go into labor and how to cope at each stage until the baby is delivered and even after. We both enjoyed the teacher, the classmates, and the curriculum immensely. All of that really surprised us. We knew we would learn things we did not know but we really did not expect to take away this level of confidence in ourselves. I know now that I am as prepared as I can be to enter the unknown that is labor and delivery. Well, yeah, its still unknown to me - but its not as foreign as it was before. This class prepared me in a way that TV shows like Birth Day or A Baby Story really cannot. And what it did for hubby was even better - it prepared him to support me. Yeah, I know he is still going to freak in a big way when he hears me utter those all famous words, "Its time!" But once he gets his bearings I really think he will do great. We make a great team.

So, last night we were called up to the front of the class. We got our diploma (i.e. Certificate of Completion) and were sent on our merry way. Now the preparing really begins. Packing our labor bag and our after labor bag. Lining the bed and car with plastic in case my water breaks. And waiting. Waiting for that all important cue that our daughter, as comfortable as she has been in my belly these last few months, is ready to come out and meet us.

I cannot believe I am saying this - but I am ready! I really am. For all of it. For the labor and delivery - and for all the work that will come along with this baby.

WE CAN DO IT!