It started out with contractions every five minutes for a couple hours one day while i was at work. I started timing them and they were very painful but i only had an hour left at work so i just kept working. I got off at 11 and my husband and i went to the hospital only to find i wasnt dialated. I have a tilted pelvis and uterus so they have a hard time checking my dialation. So we went home and the pain kept getting stronger. By 3:00 am i was in unbearable pain but my husband didnt believe me because we had been sent home earlier. But my water broke, i just heard a pop and it came out. So we went to the hospital and i was only 1 cm but they kept me because i was in labor. The contractions were unbearable. You cant talk or think or do anything. I got an epidural and was able to rest. My babys heart beat kept dipping so they were worried his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck.Also i wasnt progressing so they had to give me medicine to speed up the process. Finally they told me if i didn't push the baby out in an hour we would have to do an emergency c section.So i pushed and pushed and they said one more thing they could try was the vacuum with a 50% chance of it working if not we were going to have surgery. The vacuum is like a suction cup that you attach to the head and basically pull him out while i push. Tons of people were rushing into the room for surgery.But the vacuum worked! My baby was born after 19 hours of labor. Turns out the reason his heart beat was slowing was because he had a really thin umbilical cord. Im thankful for the epidural or else i dont think i would have been able to do it. I had a second degree tear but nothing serious. There is nothing more amazing than watching your so hold the baby for the first time, and try not holding back tears. Its beautiful. As a first time mom its a scary process when its finally the beginning of the end. You are sore after, they give you some gigantic pads to wear because you will bleed a lot which is normal, and a squirt bottle of water to clean yourself after you pee. The baby will have some acne and some rash but thats normal for a newborn and it will clear up. After that its just learning how to comfort your baby. For me breastfeeding is a learning process. I had no idea how hard it was to learn to latch. Im still learning. You will be really hormonal the next few days especially. I broke down in tears because i felt bad for not offering my guests to hold the baby once they left. I cried when we put him in the car seat for the first time, because i didn't think i was gonna be a good mom, because my husband said our neighbor could help us lol and other times for no reason. Its funny in hindsight. All of you first timers its scary, it doesnt get less scary, but it is worth it. I still am excited and nervous for the future but its so worth it.The first pic is me skin to skin, pardon my messy hair and no makeup i got to the hospital at 3 am and didn't even look in the mirror lol, second is his first carseat ride home, third is Aiden in my lap as we speak.