Our prenatal class started bright and early Saturday morning in the hospital conference center. I mention that it was in the conference center only because the welcome packet that was sent to us in advance did not. There was a brief mention of the medical building itself, so we dutifully wandered the halls of doctors' offices for several minutes before finally giving up and calling for directions.

Thankfully, for us, one of the highlights of the day of prenatal instruction was a guided tour of the hospital campus. The entire day of instruction, actually, was a guided tour of what we could potentially expect when the Big Day arrives. We sat in the conference center with half a dozen other bulging women and their sidekick husbands learning all their is to know concerning birth and the process of giving it.

As anyone who knows me well might expect, I was more than a little skeptical going into the class. I'm generally none too fond of group instruction, particularly those settings where the syllabus specifically notes that you should bring a few pillows and a blanket to class. But to keep this brief, I highly, very highly, recommend a birthing class to anyone who's pregnant or who has a preggers wife.

Particularly for first time parents, I think the whole ordeal can be a bit intimidating. We honestly learned quite a bit in the class and I think both Michelle and I are more comfortable with what to expect over the next several weeks as the Big Day looms ever closer.

One of the standard steps, at least for first time parents, in preparing for the Big Day is having a baby shower. Again, I think I was pretty skeptical about showers prior to getting married. But after picking up Michelle after both our wedding and our baby shower and getting an honest perspective of how helpful they are in preparing for the big event, I highly recommend showers now to anyone having a baby.

I actually dropped Michelle off at the actual shower, not wanting to interfere with the proceding inside. The shower itself was planned by one of Michelle's long-time friends, Gina, who recently began doing that sort of thing professionally. When I came back by to collect the gifts and my wife (in that order), I got a good chance to eyeball the spread.

One of the apparent joys of attending a shower, be it of the wedding or baby variety, is noticing the decor that was chosen and displayed. As I was piling my plate with the leftover remnants from the buffet, I was particularly surprised, and almost pleased, by the condiment dispensers. Instead of just slapping a bottle of yellow mustard on the table, Gina filled a set of baby bottles with all the requisite condiments: mustard, ketchup, and mayonaise. Even the cream for the coffee was poured from a baby bottle.

The rest of the spread was laid out with an equal eye for detail. While the guests filtered out one-by-one, I filled up the car with the bounty from the shower. As I loaded (and then later, unloaded at home) the car with the gifts, I failed to notice even one item that I would consider junk that we will never use. After the baby bottles and the high quality of the gifts we received, I am a firm believer.

As if an omen, the weather today brought with it the first true signs of winter. On the way to the shower, we had a few spots of ice on the road and snow intermingled with rain for much of the afternoon. A warm front washed in behind the storm front and any thoughts of snow quickly melted as the temperature rose into the mid 30s, but I take this as a sign.

After this weekend, Michelle and I are a good bit more prepared for when the Little Guy finally arrives. But at the end of January, in the dead of winter, I'm willing to bet that the world will be frozen over of the Big Day.

If you haven't already, enter The Baby Pool.