I started off Friday, 11/15 with the normal occasional crampy contractions. Thinking it was going to be a regular day, I went to get a pedicure with my doula Vonda, While there, I had several contractions in a row. We joked that the pedicure would start up my labor which I really hoped to be true. I was due for induction on 11/22 and was hoping to go into labor naturally before then.

We kept shopping. Contractions really picked up then. They were about 3 minutes apart, a minute long, and getting pretty strong. Once we got back in the car to leave, they slowed back down a bit. We got home from running errands, had dinner, I jumped in the shower, and did some birth ball. It was then that they got pretty regular again.

Around 10:30 pm, contractions were strong enough that I knew it was time to go. I situated my daughter and headed to the hospital with Doula Vonda. My husband met us there after he got off work. Once I was checked into Triage, they checked me and was told I was between 6 and 7 cm. We got settled into a room and hooked up to monitoring. Sadly, the hospital wouldn’t let me get up to walk around.

By 2 am and 9 cm dilated, the contractions were so intense that I decided to get an epidural. After that I was able to relax some. At 4 am, I started losing my mucus plug so they checked me again and said I could push when I wanted. I decided to wait and let my baby rest some since her heart rate started staying regular through contractions after that.

At 4:30 am, my water broke with a pop! The nurse came in and I started pushing. My beautiful baby girl was born at 4:49 am, 11/16 weighing 7.6 pounds and 20 in. I got to have skin-to-skin time with her and nurse her for over an hour before she was taken for weighing and measuring.

I am so proud of my body and the strength I found to get through the labor and delivery. I am so thankful for my doula who stayed with me the whole day and helped me to find that strength!