She's a Freak, Ow

Ever have one of those days where you take one look at all the stuff that keeps piling up on your To Do list and have a minor Freak Out? The holidays can be for so many of us poor fools not only the Season of Lights but also Freak Out Season. I dunno, maybe it would've helped to have glanced at a calendar sometime *before* mid December. I literally just discovered today that this weekend is the last one - aaaagh!! - before Christmas. In my defense, only yesterday did I finally dig myself out of the enormous mountain of baby shower thank you notes that I was buried under. I emerged feeling a gratifying sense of accomplishment for mere milliseconds before being inundated by all that remains to be done.

So not only is it the dreaded Last Weekend Before Christmas - and I have not even *started* on what I hope(d?) would be lovely and thoughtful - though modest - handmade gifts for my beloved diaspora of friends and family... but I also have a major code release to get out for a very important client, which may have me working over the weekend... and Arwen is hell bent on going snowboarding this weekend.

Not that I'm complaining. I'm not! I am determined to march into the New Year with a big fat happy face on. I am making a Girl Scout Pledge not to let getting ready for the holidays ruin the holidays. That would be stupid. Whatever gets done, great, and whatever doesn't, oh well.

Screwing up Christmas is one thing; screwing up your motherly duties is on a whole different level as far as panic and guilt factor goes. Monday I suddenly vividly recalled a conversation I'd had a week earlier with another March '07 mom in which she said, "You haven't signed up for birthing classes yet? I did weeks ago and they were almost booked up then!" Greeeaaat. Yet another thing I'd failed to do. I still hadn't finished researching what classes to take or where - but I realized with horror that the birthing method I was most interested in, the Bradley Method, requires 12 whole weeks of classes... and there aren't much more than 12 weeks left in this entire pregnancy! (We are at Week 25, btw, which means only 15 weeks to go!!!)

All's well that ends well though. We found a Bradley instructor who teaches downtown - which is convenient for us - and has a class that just started. We missed the first couple, but she will give us a makeup class. She sounds really nice. I'm excited to get started. I don't know anyone who's taken the Bradley classes, but they sound great. They emphasize natural childbirth, trusting your body, and the importance of the dad's role as coach. Arwen has said that a lot of times he's felt like dads are just left out of the picture of this whole pregnancy thing. Apparently Dr. Bradley, the guy who came up with the Bradley method, was one of the first obstetricians decades ago to extol the virtues of having fathers present in the delivery room. I think his "Husband-Coached Childbirth" philosophy will be a good one for Team Vaughan. They also encourage a number of other things we agree with: good nutrition, breastfeeding, and continuous contact between baby and mother after birth. You can read more here: http://www.bradleybirth.com/WhyBradley.aspx