Relaxation For Childbirth (Part 4)

Posted on Sun Jun 15th, 2025 @ 9:07pm by Captain Maho Takahashi & Lieutenant Commander Brennyn Scott M.D.

1,385 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Indivisible

Previously, on Star Trek: Myogi:

"How is that a good stand-in for contraction discomfort?" Maho asked.

"It's not an exact match to the cramping sensations you'll experience on the big day, but holding ice cubes in your hand for progressively longer periods of time creates more discomfort than you might first expect. Creating the exact sensation is less important than creating some thing uncomfortable that challenges you to practice your coping skills."

And now, the continuation!

Maho still wasn't quite sure how freezing her hand correlated to the discomfort of contractions, but she gave Scott a simple "Okay." To feign that she understood what the counselor was talking about, and also to serve as a cue for Scott to go ahead with the replication process.

It didn’t take Scott long to replicate what she needed, including a simple yoga mat, a couple of regular pillows, and the aforementioned mentioned ice cubes. Placing the yoga mat on the floor against the couch and propping pillows against the couch so that Maho could sit comfortably on the floor, Bree stood and offered her hand to ease the heavily pregnant captain into a comfortable position on the mat. “One of these days we will have your husband serve as your supportive partner for these exercises, but for now I’ll have to do,“ she added with a smile “I promise to help you get back up.“

"I should hope so." Maho said. "Otherwise I'd have to wait for K.T. to get back, and what kind of sick officer would do that? Nevermind, I know the exact answer to that one. Anyhow, what's first on the itinerary?"

After seeing Maho was comfortably positioned against the couch on her yoga mat, Bree said, "I want you to hold both arms out in front of you, palms up. I'm going to place an ice cube in each hand and I want you to gently close your fingers around them without crushing them. Keep your arms stretched out in front of you until I tell you to put the cubes back into the bowl," Bree explainedd, holding up the receptacle, "here. During this time, breathe normally and take note of any thoughts that come up and any tension you feel in the rest of your body. The goal is to take note of how you cope as your physical discomfort increases. Ready?"

"Well, I can't guarantee that the ice cubes will survive the exercise." Maho muttered, holding out her arms as instructed. "I've been told I... Have a tendency to convert my inner pain to outward aggression. I'm sure I need not remind you of the numerous times our simple transport to Beta Antares almost ended in disaster?"

“You don’t,“ Bree replied simply. Rather than relitigate past events, however, she decided to focus on the larger admission. “Why do you think you respond that way? Understanding why might help us figure out how to prevent such a reaction for your upcoming delivery.“ it wasn’t difficult for Scott to understand why someone would externalize their inner emotional or physical pain, but she wanted to get Maho’s insight into her own state of mind.

"I can tell you the exact root of everything:" Maho said. "Her name is Taiga Aisaka. That woman has been nothing but trouble to this ship, and the USS Tokyo is a disgraceful shit stain on the fleet! If you want to prevent what happened on the way to Beta Antares, the best thing we can do is to keep Taiga Aisaka within a minimum of one light year's distance from this ship or wherever I go into labor."

"She is a stimulus, but that does not explain the thoughts and feelings behind your reaction," Bree pointed out. "Spiders are a stimulus, but whether someone picks them up, smashes them, or runs away in terror is entirely a matter of experience and context, yes?"

Maho sighed. The story as to why she hated Captain Aisaka was always a hard one to retell, especially when such a common response was "get off your soapbox."

"Well, our ship's last mission before I took command was to take Captain Aisaka into custody. Afterwards, we were to assist the Romulans with prosecuting her." Maho explained. "That whole trial was a shitshow, but it's not relevant to the story at hand: When Aisaka beamed aboard, I was given orders to use lethal force should she attack a member of this crew. Orders that I followed to the letter, setting my phaser to a lethal setting. Well, Captain Aisaka wasn't too pleased with this, and she insulted me for following orders."

Maho looked down at her belly.

"And to top it all off, it had only been a few hours since I found out that I was pregnant." She added. "In a sense, you could say it was the perfect storm."

“I’m not saying you don’t have a reason to think and feel as you do, “ the counselor offered sincerely. “I am also not here to simply criticize. Can we agree that it doesn’t serve you to let hormones or circumstances determine your behavior?“

"I know, believe me..." Maho sighed. Even the counselor had more or less told her to get off her soap box. "I made a promise to be a better commanding officer, but sometimes it feels like I'm just pushing a boulder of expectations uphill. That I'm so busy trying to be what everyone else wants me to be that I can't actually be myself..."

“You have a lot on your plate,“ Bree echoed. “Serving as a commanding officer is challenging enough, let alone doing so while pregnant and wrestling your own demons. It’s a good enough start that you want to work on some things. No one said you have to figure it all out by yourself. I’m in your corner, Captain, for all of it, and I can, and will, help you meet the goals you set for yourself, if that’s what you want.”

"I may take you up on your offer, Commander." Maho nodded. "In the meanwhile, shall we get back to the exercises?"

"Of course," Bree agreed with a nod. She didn't receive a full throated commitment to therapy, but the door had been opened and that was all Scott could hope for at the moment. At least Maho had heard Bree was on her side and not looking to condemn her for it. "Let's start with having you hold an ice cube in each hand, arms out in front of you. Keep your fingers closed around the ice and just breathe as you normally would. I'll tell you when you can put the ice down."

Nodding, Maho extended her arms to accept the ice cubes, closing her hands around the frozen blocks of water as instructed, but not too tightly that the cubes were in danger of being crushed.

From a young age, Maho had learned to withstand even the most treacherous environments, as the occasional Parrises Squares game was played in a holosuite simulating less than ideal weather conditions as the game had been historically played through the 22nd and 23rd centuries. So to her, the discomfort of having her hands frozen was just that: A discomfort, sure, but not debilitating like she was expecting labor pain to be. Soon, the results of her stalwart resoluteness began to show as water began to drip through Maho's fingers onto the coffee table.

As Bree watched Maho withstand the ice with little trouble, she contemplated what to do next. Should she trust her initial plan? After all, this first step was a simulation of a very mild contraction. There was also the possibility the ice was not at all sufficient. If that was true, what in the galaxy could she do? Inducing pain in a pregnant woman who wasn't looking to give birth right now could look like torture if she wasn't careful.

She had an idea but decided to run it by Maho first. "No pun intended, but am I right in thinking this was child's play for you?"

"Certainly." Maho responded with a nod. "If anything, this has felt more like cold weather training than labor exercise."

To be continued...

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