Baby class reunion

Last night was the reunion for our baby class (the official title is "Childbirth Preparation Class"). This is a six-week course we took through Swedish Hospital before Zachary was born. We learned a lot about what to expect during labor and delivery, so that I could write a detailed and well thought out birth plan for us to promptly toss out the window once we were actually in labor. I also learned labor coping techniques, which were immensely helpful. But I think the thing we got most out of the class was the comradery. There were 15 couples in the class, and overall, it was a very good-humored and fun bunch. At first it was kind of odd to be in a room with so many pregnant women, but it was also nice to not be the only one snacking constantly and waddling to the restroom at every break. The husbands were great too, and Chris enjoyed commiserating with them about his cranky, tired, forgetful, anxious, large and in-charge wife.

All of the babies are here now, so we got together last night to share stories. Of the 15 original couples, 13 came to the reunion, so it was a fun and busy evening! It was odd yet neat to be in a room with so many newborns. Very similar to the "look at all the pregnant women" scenario I experienced while we were taking the class -- only this time, the snacking and bathroom breaks translated to nursing and diaper changes.

Zachary is the oldest of the bunch (he beat Hannah and Hieu by about 15 hours), but he still managed to be one of the smallest. We put him side-by-side with Amadea, who is both the youngest and largest. What a difference! According to Amadea's mom Jessica, Amadea is growing out of 3 month clothes already...and Zachary is just now growing INTO them.

We lined all the babies up for photos, and they were surprisingly cooperative! Unfortunately it was tough to get them all in a photo together (and Finnegan and Tor didn't make it into the photos because it was time for them to eat), but I slapped together a quick composite to try to get them all. It's almost impossible to do a neat stitch job of 11 kicking and flailing babies...their arms and legs are in different positions for every shot so it's tough to merge them together! But I tried.

Here are the stats for the group:

• 8 boys, 5 girls
• 4 of 13 were emergency c-sections (which matches the hospital's rate of 30%)
• oldest = Zachary at 11 weeks
• youngest = Amadea at 4.5 weeks
• smallest at birth = Zachary at 5lb 7oz
• largest at birth = Amadea at 9lb 9oz
• cutest = Zachary (OK, OK...that's just Mama talking)

Pictures: Baby class reunion