Richard Skelton, talking about using loops in his music, describes them as

“little slices of time that are constantly being reactivated, like reliving a memory and keeping it alive, despite time’s passage. By using loops I’m holding onto something valuable that in the real world has slipped away.”

This is a way of talking about manipulating time that triangulates the two phrases I’ve heard a lot recently in connection with giving birth, hypnosis-induced “time distortion” and the “chronological management” employed by medical staff to regulate the process of delivery. I prefer this idea, with its modesty and sensitivity to the worth of small moments.