Tonight was the last meeting of our Lamaze class. Tonight was THE TOUR. Sandy – our instructor – led our twenty-person gaggle of expectant moms and dads through the Family Birthing Center at Manchester Memorial. We saw the nursery (now almost entirely disused); a “Labor Delivery Recovery Post-partum” room (LDRP -- which is where most of the coming attraction is going to play out); the spa tub rooms (mom in deep, warm, swirling water = relaxation and rapid advancement of labor); the common kitchen; and other nooks an crannies. It all seems very real right now.

Sandy wrapped up the tour with some words of encouragement, and an incitement to keep practicing breathing techniques and relaxation. Two little words: labor’s coming.