(Original photo by my friend, Alicia I!)

Many people tell me that they would rather just go with the flow for labor and that’s perfectly okay. Some people are planners and they like to have an idea of what they would want or what they think would help them. I’m not a planner but I tried to go with the flow during one of my labors and I felt like I just barely held on to my sanity by a thread. Ever since then, I’ve tried to do things to ready myself, my body, and my mind. Things may not go as planned but at least I give myself options! Here are some of the things that I like to do while preparing for labor and birth:

Music: Today, I’m preparing my labor playlists. I’m birthing at home but many hospitals will allow for music, you just have to ask. With my third daughter, I listened to Celtic music in the hospital to relax me and help me with my visualizations. The music is calm, with flutes and piccolos, as well as a lot of nature sounds. For my son’s birth, I quickly tired of the Celtic music and my husband put on our favorite country songs. We rocked back and forth, with me leaning on him during contractions. It was actually quite beautiful, I wished there was a picture but we were alone at the time so it will forever have to remain an image in my mind!

This time around, our baby will arrive sometime after Thanksgiving but before Christmas. In other words, THE SEASON OF CHEER! I get so into Christmas, I drive all of the Grinches crazy! My Bluetooth speaker is going to be in my birthing space and I used our Slacker radio (we subscribe so there are no commercials!) to create several playlists full of songs I love. One of my playlists consist of various songs that put me into a good mood, like Christian rock and meaningful country songs. The other is, you guessed it, Christmas favorites!

Breathing techniques: During my second labor, they told me to “just breathe” through contractions. I just kind of “ackkkkkk”ed and “blahhhh”ed and then said “I don’t know how!” It got me nowhere. The next time, I was determined to figure out exactly how I was supposed to breathe. I purchased HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method and the chapter that begins on page 123 details sleep breathing, slow breathing, and birth breathing. I would share the pages with you but I don’t want to get in trouble for copyright infringement! The good news is you can purchase the book for less than a dollar on Amazon or Half.com most of the time! I’m sure that there are many other books out there that can give you the same information, this is just the one I rely on!

Visualizations: Think about the things that calm you down. My primary visualizations consist of images like waterfalls surrounded by deep green forests, the sound of the water crashing and tiny frogs periodically croaking the only sound for miles. I tune out everything else and let my body flow with the water, in my mind. It might sound ridiculous to some people but that’s why we each come up with our own. My husband attempted to walk me through rollercoasters the last time and I was adamant that that wasn’t even remotely a calming image for me. He said that the rise and fall made him think it would help me feel the contractions differently. His idea made sense but in practice, that was simply not doing it for me.

Affirmations: The Art of Birth’s Bringing Baby Earthside coloring book has some amazing examples of affirmations. I may hang the coloring pages around in my birth space but I’m also considering making some of my own. Affirmations are just statements that encourage you and keep you going. Telling yourself that you are strong, you can do this, and you will get to meet that beautiful baby. You can put them around your birth space but it’s also good to repeat them to yourself. Say them aloud or have those around you say them, remind yourself how powerful you are and that you were meant for this.

Essential oils/aromatherapy: I am in no way an essential oil expert. With my last labor, I put subtle wax bars onto a warmer and allowed that to help my senses. This time, I have the Blissful Birth Kit from Anna Naturals that I’m counting on to help pump me up and push me forward through each step of labor. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, do your research! Some people absolutely swear by essential oils but I’m still completely new!

Other tools: Some women are lucky enough to be able to utilize a shower or tub at their hospitals. I am not a tub person by any means but the shower was my spot during my last birth. Water can calm you down, which is why so many women take a nice hot bubble bath when they’re stressed out! There is also a birthing/yoga ball which I just purchased at a local retail store for $5. I didn’t use this much during labor but it was great at the end of my pregnancy. The ball is good for rocking on through your contractions, just a slow motion to focus on through them. The wraps that hang from the ceiling, which I’ve seen on documentaries and know that some birth centers and hospitals are lucky enough to have them, look wonderful. Almost like a swing to glide on during the surges!

What am I missing? What do you use to help you during labor?