Bradley Class Week 3

As you all know, we missed week 1 (not our fault). Yesterday we went to class 3. We covered the changes your body goes through during pregnancy and a couple other topics. We also got to see a video of Dr. Bradley talking about the birth process. He is a funny man; I thought he was very likeable. I can't really say I learned anything especially new or surprising. Most of the discussion covered things I've already come across in my reading and research on pregnancy.

I had to bite my tongue a few times when the nutritional information was being dispensed. Not that there was really any mis-information from the instructor, but I had to stop myself from piping up with a "better" explanation or more details. Like, "isn't this too much protein? I heard bad things happen to you if you eat too much protein?" GAH.

Or, yesterday's nutritional topic was eggs and how good they are for you to eat during pregnancy, and one lady asked whether we shouldn't just eat the whites because "don't the yolks have tons of cholesterol that we should avoid??"

GAAAHHHHH.

The instructor's response was that yes the yolks do have cholesterol, but the whites have lecithin that helps it move through our bloodstream so we shouldn't worry. Especially if you aren't eating tons of red meat.

GAHHHHHHHHH.

Which. Well, it misses the point entirely which is that CHOLESTEROL IN THE DIET IS NOT BAD FOR YOU. (Coincidentally, neither is red meat, or animal fat, or saturated fat). In fact, cholesterol is so important for your body that every cell can make its own if you don't supply it through the diet. I could go on for hours - days! - on this one subject, so I'll just leave it at that and say that I was squeezing Adam's hand and biting my tongue at several points during the class!

Overall, though, the nutritional advice they give out is spot on, even when I want to get on my soapbox and expound or clarify ad nauseum about why fat and protein are GOOD! Well, the only thing I would take umbrage with would be the grain/carbohydrate bit. It hasn't even been raised as an "important issue" (yet), but I've read in the Bradley guidelines that we should eat plenty of carbohydrates (especially heart-healthy-whole-grains gahhhhh) so our bodies don't burn protein for fuel. This isn't exactly dangerous advice, but it is somewhat misguided. I mean, as long as you're eating plenty of fat (as you should be in pregnancy anyway), your body will burn mostly FAT for fuel if it runs out of carbohydrates. Not that it would be bad to run out of carbohydrates, necessarily. Quite a few healthy babies have been born to peoples around the world and through history who ate very little in the way of carbohydrates.

Ok, I was going to move on from this topic five minutes ago... not that all of your eyes didn't roll back into your heads already. In fact, you've stopped reading, haven't you? This is why I need to keep my mouth shut in the birth class.

I also got another mini-full body massage at the end of class. I was ready to go to sleep right there on the floor, especially since the class ran over and it was almost 9 by the time we left... my bedtime. Yes, I know. I am a hopeless Old already and I'm not even (quite) out of my 20s yet. I like sleep. Mock me if you must. And don't anyone start crowing about how I should sleep now cause once the baby comes, I'll be propping my eyelids open with toothpicks. I've heard it all already - it seems to be one of the favored topics as soon as my pregnancy is confirmed to a new person. UR HOL LIF IZ CHANGED!! Look, I realize my entire life is going to change once I have a baby. I was actually even aware of it BEFORE I got pregnant! I say that with good humor and in a nice, positive way.