[girrllie]

I do this in my prenatal class. I have them close their eyes and imagine themselves as a mama animal snuggling up to their "baby animals." This came to me one day in the pediatrician's office. I had this one ped. who would just roll right over me. So I would psyche myself up beforehand saying, "o.k. girrllie. Mama Bear! Mama Bear! You have to be Mia's Mama Bear!" It would usually work!

So in Wednesday's class, we did it and this time I was a mama bunny b/c DD likes to say lately, "Mama, you're so soft and comfortable!" She's so sweet

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So anyone else want to share?

 

[Spark]

Oh, girrllie that's such a great story about being Mama Bear. I should have done that with my trips to the hospital. I didn't advocate for myself very well when faced with white coats. I'm trying not to blame myself though, because I really was just so out of it. Anyway, they did U/S after U/S despite my feelings against it.

I instictively did that during my first labor. My DS was posterior the whole time (never did flip, I pushed him out sunny side up with his hand against his face) and while the first 15 hours weren't bad at all, the last two hours got pretty intense. Despite doing HypnoBirthing I was feeling a lot of intense pain. A few weeks before birth my husband and I watched some nature show with big Bears in it. It followed a mama bear and her cubs. The mama was GIGANTIC she was so muscular and powerful and protective. During the peak of my ctx when I was struggling, Jason (DH), would say, COME ON MAMA BEAR, COME ON MAMA BEAR! And, I'd growl on through the ctx. It worked. It got us through.

(I should note with my 2nd labor I did hypno again and it was pain free, she was well positioned though.)

Now if I needed to be an animal, I'd probably be... hmmm, I'd want to be something that matched well with the sensation of ctx... like perhaps a bird that takes flight during a ctx or maybe a dolphin that dives under the water for a ctx... or perhaps a fish that dives under the water for a ctx, but breathes deeply while doing so. Ok, I'll be a fish. I like the idea of that fluid momvement anyway.

 

[selazenby]

I'm gonna go with mama tiger. Fiercely protective of my babies, my births, my family. But also very gentle with my babies, my births, my family (and with people who are gentle with me

During my labor with Jake there were times when I had this image of myself - outside myself - pacing back and forth like a mama tiger in front of the door of the room in which I was birthing...keeping the world out for just a moment while we did the work of birth and met our son for the very first time.