Lamaze - first class

Patrick and I had our first lamaze class this week. Since we don't know anything about pregnancy and delivery, we thought that it was a good idea to be informed before we experience it. The lamaze instructor told us that the average labor time is approximately 14 hours. Hell, that's long! Historically, it was believed that when contractions happen (I assume that is very painful), it was best to stay lying down and being knocked out. Lamaze developed a theory that rather than ignoring the pain, it would be more effective to work through the pain by focusing on breathing and pleasant things. So during the minute or so of contraction, we are to first develop a focal point, which can be a pleasant image in your head, or something nice to focus the eyes on. Mine is a mental image of a glass blower. I dreamt about a glass blower when I was very young. An old glass blower with white beard and white hair, has his dark wooden house on green and sunny rolling hills. There, he lives and works, making objects from glass.... Next, we are to do one "deep cleansing breath" really loud and deep so that people around me will be aware that I am starting contraction. At this point, my "coach", Pat, is suppose to start timing my contraction. I go through the minute with slow breathing, while he softly massages my back, also in attempt to take my mind off of the pain. The contraction ends with another deep cleansing breath. We'll see if it's going to be any effective, but anything to reduce the pain will be good.