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What was your birthing mantra? - Page 2

post #21 of 53
9/26/06 at 9:37pm
[QUOTE=Hazelnut;6118667]"When I imagine myself swimming I feel calm" and of course I was imagining myself calmly floating in a Minnesota lake.

With my first ds I was not informed and in a hospital strapped to the bed. I was in a ton of pain and I had dh put ds's ultrasound picture above me and I would "swim" with my hands up to his picture during the continuous contractions. I mean continuous! We got to 3cm this way- it took 3 hours.
I got SO embarrased when the nurses came in.

I find it interesting with not knowing anything my body responded with movement( tho not ideal) to manage the pain. =WE were not prepared for birth as I thought I would be able to just "get" to 5 cm and get the epidural. LOL. That did NOT work.

Those 3 hours from 1-3 cm were much more painful and horrrendous than my entire labor with dd at home.

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post #22 of 53
9/26/06 at 9:49pm
I didn't plan anything before hand, but when I was pushing with dd I kept thinking that millions of women had done this for years, and so could I. Sounds corny but it really helped to think about all the women before me that had even birth.
post #23 of 53
9/26/06 at 9:52pm
"Peace."

and then later when I was really needing strength to get through each contraction, I counted them down from 100. And I visualized the number I was on and made up rhymes in my head using that number.
post #24 of 53
9/26/06 at 10:29pm
I had a poster made up of birth affirmations, but I didn't use any of them. Mine just kinda came up out of nowhere during the course of my labor...

Ooooohhhh
Ooooohhhh baby
Ooooohhhh God
Ooooohhhh Bobbie (Bobbie was my doula : )
Bobbiebobbiebobbiebobbie
Come dooooowwwwn baby
Ooooohhhh-kay
Relaaaaax

A bit OT, but after DS1 was born, I asked my husband what was going through his mind while I labored. He said, "Boooy. Your gonna carry that weight, carry that weight a long time" a la Beatles. Nice.
post #25 of 53
9/26/06 at 10:33pm
With dd, I had a handful of peaceful, meditative, *opening* mantras planned. What I ended up repeating to myself through the better part of 18 hours was "This is gonna hurt, this is gonna hurt, this is gonna hurt, but then it gets better." That was just long enough to get me over the peak of the contraction.

With ds, I didn't plan anything. And what I ended up repeating, to myself and out loud, for the half hour or so at the end when I was too into it to keep doing funny horse lips was, "Come on, Sebastian, I want to meet you, come on, sweetie, time to come out . . . Come on!"
post #26 of 53
9/26/06 at 10:35pm
with ds it was "one fish two fish red fish blue fish, one fish two fish, red fish blue fish" over and over.
post #27 of 53
9/26/06 at 10:37pm
"I can do anything for a minute"
post #28 of 53
9/26/06 at 10:40pm
for my last, part of a song..."opening up in sweet surrender to the beautiful birthing of this babe". over and over and over again
post #29 of 53
9/26/06 at 10:43pm
Alternating between "relax, let go" and "It's not forever. It's not forever" (remembering the whole "no one was never in labor forever" pep talk).

I found the "let go" more useful, because there was a similarity between the peaks of contractions and the feeling of out-of-control shivering (like when you get into a cold car). I know that if I can take a deep breath and let go of the tension behind my diaphragm I can make myself stop shivering, and when I was able to do the same thing during labor the contractions were - not painless - but not too bad. So I just had to remember with each peak to let it go and loosen up, not tense against it...
post #30 of 53
9/26/06 at 10:45pm
I planned on reciting a bunch of hypnobirthing stuff.
What actually ended up being my mantra was what I had also used while getting a tattoo two years previously: "Om Mani Padme Hum."
I imagine I'll end up meditating again with the next one as well. It worked amazingly well.
post #31 of 53
9/27/06 at 12:50am
open, open, open which I silently repeated...
post #32 of 53
9/27/06 at 12:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lizabird View Post
I don't remember thinking much of anything other than just living in each moment. Here's another one, time to relax, here's another one, time to relax. I was just really inside myself and not thinking about anything except moment to moment.
That's exactly what I was doing too!

ANd it worked REALLY well! 4hour EASY labor : (as close to painless as you can get!)
post #33 of 53
9/27/06 at 10:33am
"I want to die. Let me die. No, no, no...."
Hoping this time goes a bit (A LOT) better. I like "Open" as my 2 year old says that a lot, and it expresses what I should be doing. I also like "loose" and "Loose mouth equals loose bottom" because it reminds me of Ina May and makes me laugh.
post #34 of 53
9/27/06 at 11:28am
I kept repeating- "it's only one day in your life- you can do anything for one day"...well three days later it wasn't working too well for me! Next time, it will be "my body and mind are to do nothing but relax until pushing! (Even if that takes an entire week!)"
post #35 of 53
9/27/06 at 5:24pm
The mantra going through my head and off my lips with every contraction was "OPEN, OPEN, OPEN". That was with #1. With number two it was "this is fast, FAST, FAST!". I'd recommend the first highly and the second only in case of very rapid contractions!! Go with the energy!!
post #36 of 53
9/27/06 at 5:25pm
Mine (with all 4 births) was "This, too, shall pass." (And it did! )
post #37 of 53
9/27/06 at 6:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Qerratsmom View Post
with ds it was "one fish two fish red fish blue fish, one fish two fish, red fish blue fish" over and over.
post #38 of 53
9/27/06 at 6:53pm
There is a great joy at the end of this and it's worth it.
post #39 of 53
9/27/06 at 8:57pm
Fun question!

During my first labor, I kept thinking "surrender" and "what can I let go of".

During my most recent labor, I kept thinking "I'm melting!" with each contraction. It wasn't planned, but my dd is obsessed with The Wizard of Oz and after I got over the silies, it really helped me to relax.
post #40 of 53
9/28/06 at 12:34am
I didn't dialate any until I found visualizing the cervix and uterus during contractions saying, in a very even and low tone, "my uterus is tightening upword. . .pulling my cervix open over the baby's head. . .it's opening. . .now my uterus is resting" ANd I would say roughly the same thing over and over.

Before that I was in labor for like 2.5 days and was still 3m. After I started that I delivered within hours.

I am so revisiting it again.
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