Baby Class # 5

This week's baby class was all about PAIN.

How to manage it (breathing and movement), drug options to treat it (narcotics and epidural), and procedures that may create more of it during/after labor (vacuum and episiotomy). Yikes!

AND, I have to say the one thing I was most surprised about was the internal heart rate monitor for the baby. This is a device that is used in more serious circumstances where they need a more accurate read of the baby's heart rate than the not-so-accurate external monitor that is wrapped around mama's belly. The thing that bothers me about this is that it is screwed into the baby's head while he is still waiting to be born. I've never heard of this before(?!). Its a very tiny spring-like device that is gently (if such a thing is possible?) screwed into his head. Sure, the mark it makes goes away after a while, but its gotta hurt the little guy - I mean, he can feel things, like pain, at this point and how would you like to have a little spring poked into your head (to my non-pierced up friends)??

The spring kinda looks like this, but much smaller and maybe only 2 - 3 turns:



On a lighter note, I will leave you with this link, which is non-baby related, but hilarious.