SPECIAL guest post by Matt

The Incident!

So, as Leigh mentioned earlier we started birth classes. Now, I have had a fair amount of medical training, I've put my own finger back together after severing the tip, I've performed first aid with blood gushing from wounds, and I can gut and skin a deer. So I don't know why, but I was a little intimidated by the thought of watching videos of natural childbirth; I felt like I needed to ease my way into it and Leigh said she would help by showing me still photos before I saw video.

Anyway, I missed the first half hour of the birth class because I was in class (Human Behavior in the Social Environment- the irony of this kills me). So I showed up to our first birth class just in time to begin the presentation - AND VIDEOS!! Yikes! The nurse teaching the class (Lindsey) showed us a video of "Riley's Birthday" (not sure who Riley is but I went with it); it started out alright and then came the closeups of the "business end" of the birth process. I felt the temperature in the room rise slightly and I began to fidget a little. I noticed at least 2 other guys in the room uncomfortably shifting positions a few times; heck, I couldn't get comfortable either. I kept looking away from the screen but my eyes were strangely drawn back again within seconds. Then the baby's head came out and I thought, "wow, that's not too bad", then the rest of the baby came out and was placed on the mother's stomach. The temperature in the room went back to normal and the next thing I knew, Leigh was pulling me off of the 8 month pregnant woman to my right. Yup, I passed out cold! I felt it happening too and was powerless to stop myself or warn anyone. I think I scarred that poor woman for life.

Well there goes the idea of easing my way into seeing the birth process. Better now than during the real deal, I guess. Leigh keeps joking that I have to wear my ski helmet when she goes into labor; not a bad idea (considering my track record).