My New Dad's Class

On July 2nd I attended a new dad’s class at Northside Hospital. Mary Alice our nurse invited me, and I agreed to attend. I was unsure what to expect going into to it but was promised free pizza and soda which was plenty to motivate me.

I arrived and sat down in the waiting room of our doctor’s office. I watched a tall slender fellow destroy some pizza crust and stand up and walk towards a table, I assumed he was going for round two. I followed him and sure enough there were several pizza boxes on a table, cheese and pepperoni were my choice of gourmet that night, I went with a slice of both. When I returned to the waiting room a few more faces had joined the crowd, all were silent. The sound of chewing and drinking was deafening.

From the hallway I heard Mary Alice welcome in David, one of our speakers. He came in and I was shocked to see he was younger than I am, I some how pictured a DAD to be my fathers age. He pulled up a seat next to me and introduced himself, I choked down my bite of pan crust Pizza Hut and brushed the crumbs of my mouth and shook his hand. Shortly after that Greg and his son Thomas came in, our last speaker had arrived.

Mary Alice asked that we fill up our cups and grab whatever else we wanted and take our seats, class was about to start. She told us it was an open forum where no question was out of bounds, she then opened the floor up to questions. Silence… David made the suggestion that he open up and tell us about his experience as a new dad. He told us about how his in-laws were life savers right after his baby was born, about how it was a magical moment where he and his wife grew closer together and how he would do anything for his son.

Something David said must have woke the class up because everyone chimed in with questions once his hippie love fest story had ended. It was at this time where the “magical moment” wore off and the truth about pain, terror and gross things that occur during pregnancy reared its head. I will leave the details to the imagination but some of the guys in there (the older more redneck gentleman, come on we do live in Georgia) were downright crass. Needless to say I was happy with my decision to eat before the question and answer portion got into full effect.

In the end the take away points were as followed:

- This will change your life in ways you cannot imagine

- Catch up on your sleep now

- Get an epidural (Dad's you can request one, but I think that this is for Mom's only).

- Stay above the cloth, leave the below the cloth stuff to the doctors and nurses

- And you will leave the hospital with a new found respect for your wife and a new love for a being you had a hand in creating

All in all I was glad I went to the class, at first I thought it was going to be boring and a waste of time. It really was informative and a lot of fun. If you plan on have a baby in the greater Atlanta area, may I recommend the New Dad’s Class at Northside Hospital.