This week I was much more confident walking in. Got my baby with me. Check. Paid for the class. Check. Brought my carrier. Check. We were good to go! I get out of the van, grab everything, and run inside since the weather has switched back to winter this week.
I walk into class and see two new girls. I said hello and they were a little stand-off-ish. Okie dokie. Still not meshing with these other moms too well. They told me that they only came to this class because their other Mommy/Baby exercise class switched locations this week. So I guess I won't be seeing them much anyways.
I set Ava down and start getting my carrier on. I start looking around and every other freaking mom has the Ergo carriers. The name brand, top of the line, expensive carrier for their baby. The carrier I described last week as a strait jacket. The one with 60 straps and clips that I couldn't handle. I don't even know the brand of mine. I got it from another mom at a garage sale last summer for super cheap and it was still in the box because she had never used it. That's the brand of mine. And I was ok with it until these judging eyes looked my way. Whatever. I'm fine with it as long as Ava doesn't fall out of mine during class. And not to ruin the suspense of this story but she did in fact NOT fall out of the carrier during class :)
I get all set up and a girl from last week sets her stuff down right next to mine and says hello. Yay a friend! Hello...uhhh...dang it I forgot her name. So instead I say "hey there!" which worked just fine. We chit chat a little bit and it was nice to have a familiar face in class to talk to. We made a little bit of a bond even if this is really only the second hour I have known her.
Class starts and I'm feeling much better than last week. Ava is smiling and swinging her legs and talking a bit. I think it made all the difference to face her outwards in the carrier so she could see the world rather than my neck during the class. She liked looking in the mirror and looking at everyone else in class. This week I felt like I was actually working out. And I'm feeling good that it can't go any worse than last week.
This week there are about 4 babies younger than 8 weeks, two babies around 3 months, and two around 6 months. One of the younger babies starts crying in the first ten minutes and the mom goes to the corner of the room to nurse. I'm a little taken aback. I'm not against breastfeeding in public, but in general I'm still pretty uncomfortable and awkward with a mom nursing in public while I'm near her in public. I'm actually pretty uncomfortable with all bodily functions in general. Farts, the sound of peeing, blowing your nose, #2, and most recently the sound of a breast pump. These all make me uncomfortable. I'm finally able to blow my nose in public, but I get stage fright with all of the other listed bodily sounds if they are not coming from me and I'm by myself. (If you are wondering how the birthing process went we turned the volume up while Pretty Woman was playing on TV so that no possible bodily function sounds could be heard). But in general I'd rather not be in earshot of these things if it comes from other people. So the sound of a baby breastfeeding even if it is under a blanket is still the sound of a baby breastfeeding and I know what's going on under that blanket and I'm awkward about it. But we are all moms so I guess this is one of those things I'm just gonna have to get over.
So I ignore that corner of the room...and a few minutes later I have to ignore the mom nursing in the other corner of the room...and I continue doing my lunges and bicep curls and tricep kickbacks. And this week I'm magically asked to introduce myself to the class. The teacher remembers my name and Ava's name from last week so she basically introduces us to the newcomers in class. Apparently I made enough of an impression last week to be remembered. But I was glad not to be left out of introductions this week.
The teacher is great and makes a conversation with the class after each person is introduced. Sometimes she will ask about teething or sleeping habits or how this baby is different from your last. Just anything about being a mom. But it's nice to hear opinions. Input that although it's biased on what worked for a particular mom, it is just conversation. It isn't advice from people who think you should or should not be doing something. It's not critical or intrusive. And it's input that is always preceded with something along the lines of "this worked for me but every kid is different" or "I tried everything and this finally worked". It's open conversation for moms to let other moms know what worked for them without stepping on anyone's toes. So I enjoy this throughout the class.
The rest of class goes well and I feel sweat drip down my face. My legs are tired. My arms are tired. Ava is still smiling. And I'm really happy that I came back this week. We do the last part of class which is still my favorite - where we get on the mat with our baby and do push-ups, planks, and sit-ups while interacting with our kids.
We finish with stretching and I have a big smile on my face with how the day is going.
And then an elderly gentleman enters the exercise room.
I half-expected him just to want to say hi to all the babies and to let the mom's know how cute they are. Instead he informs us that there is a vehicle outside that has its door wide open and he wanted to see if it belonged to any of us. He goes on to describes the vehicle and where it's parked. And he describes my vehicle to a T. I didn't speak up at first thinking this is the end of class so we are heading to our vehicle anyways - no need to embarass us again this week. But he sticks around and describes it again and everyone looks around to see who it could belong to. Finally I pipe up and state that it is mine. Arghhhh. So close to the day being a complete success! My best guess is that something was in the way of the automatic sliding door that made it open back up or that I hit the open door button on my keys on the way in. I just hate to have anything happen where I look like a frazzled new mom rather than having it somewhat together. But we head back outside to a cold car and made our way back home. And we continued to enjoy our day together - just Ava and I.
Exhausted after exercise class
