Prenatal Fun

This morning, E and I dragged ourselves out of bed to attend an all-day prenatal class at the hospital. I paid $60 for a 6-hour session that included lunch and a tutorial on breastfeeding. It didn’t end up being exactly as described. There were only 5 couples (normally, I guess, there are about 20), so the nurse decided to speed through the material. We were finished in three hours and sent away without lunch or the breastfeeding tutorial. I wish they’d also given us $30.

Overall, I felt dissatisfied by the experience, but I guess I learned some useful information. I learned about all the wrong ways baby can try to come out, all the complications that can lead to a c-section, and all the blood and gore that follow birth.

E has been really reluctant about the whole birthing process. In Turkey, men still don’t attend delivery (his aunt recently gave birth to her first child, and his uncle just came to the hospital when work was over). He thinks I should have my mom with me, and he can wait in the hall. I don’t think so. Unfortunately, today didn’t help at all. We watched a woman give birth vaginally, and then another by c-section. When the doctor pulled the baby out of the woman’s stomach, E got up and left. It was too much for him, and he said he really doesn’t think he can come into the delivery room with me. To be honest, I didn’t exactly enjoy watching either birth myself, but if I have to be there, E does too.

In other news, E has been getting a bit on the hairy side. Even he admitted that he looked like a “wolfman,” so we decided it was time to go to a barber. But where? I finally took him the barbershop at the university. We walked through the door, and E was in shock. Only young women were working there. In Turkey, only men cut hair. He was incredibly reluctant to get his hair cut. And, of course, at the end of it all, he decided the cut was too short and complained about it for days. Ay ay ay. I don’t know if he’ll ever let another woman cut his hair. And I don’t know where to take him next time.

As I’ve mentioned before, E has an obsession with the Y on the mountain. Because it is homecoming this week, students climbed up to the Y and lit it in celebration. We took a late-night drive one night to check it out. As we were driving, three animals ran into the road and stopped in our headlights. Fortunately, we weren’t close to hitting them. It was the first time E had ever seen deer, and to see them standing only a few feet away was an incredible experience for him. I’m sure if he could have, he would have brought them home to add to our menagerie.

Finally, E was offered a job this week at his school. For visa reasons, he’s only allowed to work at the school, and his school has only one job—cleaning. E is very happy to be working, and I'm pleased they decided to give the one job to him. He’s really struggled with not providing for the family financially, so I’m glad he feels better about that. I, of course, have mixed feelings about it. He already spends all his time doing homework and comes late to bed every night. Now that he’s working, I’m pretty sure I’ll never see him. But I guess that’s the normal situation for most couples.