We recently received this story from Rachael in Germany. We love how she detailed her use of the CD with regular journal entries, which she shares below. Enjoy this story, and thanks to Rachael for sharing!

Julius Rawson

Born July 1, 2013

8 lb 6 oz

 

Our son was born on July 1, 2013, and is now two years old. What a journey! As I write this, we’re living in a small town in southwest Germany. I am four months pregnant with our second child, and have just pulled out my old Calm Birth CD to begin practicing again.

I took my doula’s Calm Birth course about one month before my due date. Perhaps because I took the course so late in the pregnancy, I was quite dedicated to practicing on a daily basis until the birth. I enjoyed reading the textbook and getting to know the three meditations. My favorite, which I listened to almost exclusively for the last several weeks, was “Womb Breathing”. As I was laboring at the hospital, my husband or doula made sure the track was playing at all times. Our instructor also suggested that keeping a notebook of the practice might help encourage us to keep up with the meditations; I don’t think I started that immediately, but kept daily notes for the last few weeks. On each day, I noted which meditation(s) I listened to, which foot was tucked in closer as I sat cross­legged (trying not to favor my favorite side), observations about each session, and any notable responses from the baby. A few examples:

 

Sun. 6/16: Womb Breathing; 7:30 am (Left foot in)

Body a bit twitchy. Mind felt calm. 20 min flew by.

Baby’s responses: fair amount of movement. Responded when I intended energy to baby

 

Wed. 6/19: WB; 7:10 am (Right foot in)
A bit noisy mind today, distracted. Baby moved early on, and again toward end.

Sat. 6/22: WB; 7:15 am (R ft in)
Fairly calm throughout. Not w/o mental chatter. Breathing helped wake me up today.
Baby: some undulations, esp. toward end

Fri. 6/28: WB; 7:25 am (R ft in)
Distracted first half, relaxed into it. Worry about date for inducement (July 11) if labor is late in coming. Let it go…
Baby: subtle while sitting

Sat. 6/29: WB; 7:50 am (L ft in)
Very similar to past few days. Body comfortable, mind prone to wandering, worrying. Settles somewhat over course.
Baby: fairly still, tight uterus (Braxton­Hicks). a little mvt. @ end

Sun. 6/30: WB; 7:30 am (R ft in)
Imagining labor coming on.
Baby napping

Mon. 7/1: WB; 7:15 am (L ft in)
A bit crampy. water broke or cervical plug? Clear discharge, slightly pinkish, wet pad. Did Practice of Opening.
Baby: some movement, also uterine and low back minor cramping

The last entry is a bit graphic, but it was quite a powerful moment, and in hindsight, was the beginning of my labor! I began my meditation as usual, and felt a little wetness which I assumed was a bit of escaped urine, since by this point I had to pee all the time. I finished the meditation and went to the toilet and discovered the discharge was pink in color, which started a series of speculations, leading to us calling the doctor around 8 am. She thought it might

indicate the start of labor, but that we would have a lot of time ahead of us. Within an hour or so, the contractions were coming closer, at a much faster rate than we were led to expect in the birthing class, and our birthing day “plan” of watching movies, playing games, etc. to fill in the space of the long day and night ahead started to seem improbable.

When I suggested to my husband at 9:30 or 10 am that we start the movie we’d picked out, he thought I was crazy! The contractions seemed frequent and intense enough that we went to the hospital around 11 am and were admitted shortly thereafter. Throughout the labor, our CD player was looping Track 2, Womb Breathing. I was very lucky to have had a baby who was healthy, ready, and came relatively easily and quickly. He was born just after 4 pm that afternoon. I didn’t feel that I had to endure any excruciating pain, and was happy to avoid the need for drugs to dull the intensity of the contractions. My husband had also practiced some of the Acupressure points recommended for labor contractions (among lots of information provided by my doula!), and having him press hard on the lower back points during the intense moments of the contractions was a huge comfort throughout the labor.

It’s hard to quantify precisely how my labor was impacted by my practice and use of the Calm Birth meditations, but I can say with confidence that meditating on a daily, or occasionally, twice daily basis for over a month was the single most consistent meditation routine I have ever practiced, before or since giving birth. The meditations became very familiar, but different words, images or phrases would come into focus on different days. The affirmations of the meditations themselves gave me a sense of calm and confidence that I was ready and prepared to labor, even though it was a fully new and unknown experience to me. I don’t think any amount of meditation or birthing education can actually direct one’s labor to achieve a particular desired outcome, but I believe that having a familiar and calming routine to bring one’s mind back to the present and back to the breath is extremely useful throughout the labor. It is an intense and out­of­body experience, and a time when the mind can easily get overwhelmed with the emotions, physicality, and extended timespan of the labor. I feel the effort spent on this mental preparation for birth was well worth every minute.

 

July 1, 2015

 

Jülich, Germany