My back grew steadily worse. At one point, I was having to stop every few minutes and have Eric give me a quick backrub. It was becoming very unpleasant, and my mind began to wander. Yes, backaches are common during pregnancy, but they can also be indicative of some of the more major prenatal complications. By the time we were on the way home, the pain was accompanied by a slight but nagging nausea. I wasn't sure whether or not the nausea was also physical or simply due to the nerves which were beginning to stand on end with my worrying.

Once home, I rested on the sofa with a heating pad. Eric went to get dinner and brought home a movie, so we settled in and I tried to take my mind off everything. It was entirely unsuccessful. Halfway through the movie, I began to develop a small amount of abdominal discomfort to boot, which made the nerves and nausea worse.

"I'm hungry," I decided. I was not; when Eric brought the food, I could only eat a few bites. Finally, I resigned myself to the panic I was feeling. "Eric, bring me the phone and my datebook."

Barbara listened intently as I described my symptoms, and then asked a few questions. No, I was not bleeding. No, it didn't feel exactly like menstrual cramps, but perhaps a little bit. Finally, she came to a conclusion. "If we can make this pain go away, then it's nothing serious," she told me. "Take a few Tylenol, then a hot shower. If that doesn't help in an hour, call me again."

So that's what I did. After the shower, I rested in bed on my side, and within a few minutes, I was drowsing off. The pain only reappeared when I shifted positions - exactly like a strained muscle. This morning, the pain is almost gone. Praise God!

I did have one moment of momentary residual panic in the night, though, when I awoke to horrible nausea. It only took me a second to recognize it as my old friend from the first trimester, the "You didn't feed me, so now I'm going to get you back!" attack. We had to get up and make a sandwich in order to fall back to sleep. Now, with that I can deal.

Let's hope that will be the extent of my "complications." It was definitely not a pleasant day.

Wouldn't you know that our first week would be complicated by a snowstorm? We hadn't even realized it was snowing until we stepped outside the front door and saw the swirling white stuff everywhere. It was quite heavy, and for a while we weren't at all certain that we would even be able to make it to Michigan. Luck was with us, and the storm eased as we made it across the state border.

The class itself was small - only four couples, counting us. All of us were expecting our first child, and the other three couples are all using the same group of CNMs at an Ann Arbor hospital. This first class was largely for introduction purposes, and we each took turns answering such questions as, "What is your biggest fear with this birth?" and, "What do you want to learn most from this class?" All went placidly until I got up to use the bathroom; while I was gone, I heard a big burst of laughter, and when I returned, Eric informed me, "I soapboxed on 'the recipe for a C-section.'" Ladies and gentlemen, my husband, the birth purist.

Near the end of the class, we watched the prerequisite birth video. I'd venture to say, though, that it's not in every class where one gets to witness a twin birth wherein the first twin is delivered vaginally and as a footling breech (one leg presenting first) and the second twin doesn't make his appearance until two hours later, unrushed by the doctor. Boy, you have to love those French midwifery centers; even Eric's eyebrows were raised.

We have a ton of reading and homework to complete before the next class. The worksheets have essay questions, to boot; I guess we won't be finishing them during the car ride to class next Saturday!

Anyway, there will be pictures and more information as things firm up. Eric has already decided that he'll be offering to buy the guys at work pizza and beer if they help us move. We'll be doing it next month, so look for things to start getting a little bit frantic in a few weeks!