Mama A and Daddy K host a birth planning meeting

Last Wednesday night was our birth planning meeting where we discussed what we wanted the day our birth, what may or may not happen, and what to do in preparation for the day (which according to my Baby B blog ticker is only 34 days away). Our midwife Kathe, our good friend Annee (who's our doula), and another couple came to our house for the meeting.

Kathe brought books and photos and a slide set and a video – all to show us visually what happens at a home birth. Our guest couple shared their birth story with us, which was heartwarming and funny. (We're reading one of Ina May's natural childbirth / birth story books as well that Kathe recommended to us.)

I teased Kathe about the age of some of her visual aids, birthing women and their partners from the 1970s. Imagine that. No wait. Don't.

Lots and lots of crowning pictures and straining women and sideburns and polyester and –

Ack. Ouch. Ugh. Sigh.

Kathe left us some material to read that included these precious words of wisdom for dads:

During transition it's important that the father, as well as other birth attendants, be supportive of the mother. The Huichol Indians of Mexico had a tradition in which the father squatted in the rafters above the mother with ropes attached to his scrotum. When the mother had contractions, she pulled on the ropes so that the father shared the overwhelming sensations she was experiencing.

Are you kidding me? Whatever happened to the stork delivery? Can we still sign up for that? Is there a watermelon patch nearby?

Where's the daddy epidural?