Swimming

Today was our first swimming class. My biggest worry was the logistic of getting us both changed, into and out of the pool. It will definitely take some getting used to, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Thank goodness he's big enough to stand up and hang on to my leg. I couldn't have imagined doing it with a 3 month old!
Marius really likes being in the bath and splashing, so he was quite happy to have me plopping him in and out of the water (up to his neck only). There were also lots of toys in the pool for Marius to grab on to. At one point we put swimmy arm bands on the babies and give them a little more of a floating sensation. Second timers even had their mothers let go of them! Marius didn't particularly care for the arm floaties and tried to eat them. That didn't help with his "floating" practice and he screamed a little when he was on his back. A the end of the class, we were supposed to blow on their face and then dumk them in heads and all. I was a bit hesitant, but everyone else was doing it... So, Marius had his first big gulp of chlorine baby pee water today! He seemed a bit shocked by the whole experience, so I didn't go for a repeat even though lots of mothers did. I think Marius was old enough to let me know he didn't like it, but the poor little 3 month olds couldn't tell their mommies "NO, don't do that again!"
Afterward most of us mummies had some coffee at the cafe upstairs. That was nice, as it's always good to chat up with other mothers. Inevitably we ended up sharing our labor stories. I must say, after having gone through the whole process at one of the best medical centers in the US and with great MD's checking up on me..... I'm scared out of my mind to have to go through that here! I'll try not to rant on and on, but women here don't have medical doctors supervising their pregnancy or delivery - it's a midwife who does it! Now, I know women have given birth for centuries and it's not exactly brain surgery, but it's also not exactly as simple as donating blood (and let me tell you, I have some horror stories about that too). I've heard of so many women here going through really long and difficult labors, only to find out the the baby was in the wrong position so they have an emergency C-section. If these poor women had trained and licensed doctors using ultrasounds attending to them they would have known this! But is seems like the midwives always think that birth is routine and they can handle any situation without a doctor. That may be true for 4 out of 5 women... but I don't like those odds when it comes to MY baby! I can only imagine how horrible Marius's birth would have been over here. So, I may have to take a trip to the US right before I'm due with the next baby. Not that we're planning another one any time soon!