On September 16th (my due date) I had my doctor strip my membranes to try and speed things up. She said I was 3cm dilated, I started cramping immediately after she did it, and it was constant all throughout the night to the point where I couldn't fall asleep. We called L&D just to see if I should come in and they suggested taking a warm bath and walking to see if it would go away.  It didn't, but I was able to get an hour of sleep. I woke up at 5:30 am having constant contractions. No one tells you that you could have back to back contractions without any warning. I thought they would be 10 mins apart and gradually get closer and closer together. This made my wish of having a natural delivery nearly impossible. I was convinced that I would labor at home until the contractions got bad and then go to the hospital. I was so wrong. My boyfriend and I arrived at the hospital around 6:30 am and I was still dilated to a 3. They originally didn't want to admit me but since I was having constant contractions, they decided to give me pitocin to see if I would progress. Within an hour I was dilated to a 6. I got admitted and got my epidural an hour later. By 11 am I was dilated to a 10 but her head wasn't far down enough yet so I had to wait since they didn't want me to waste my energy pushing. Turns out she was transverse so I had to turn to my side and push to get her to flip. By 2 pm it was time to start pushing. After an hour and 45 mins of pushing my baby girl was born at 3:45 pm on Saturday September 17th weighing in at 9lbs and 3oz (the exact weight mommy was born at) and measuring 20.5 inches long. I never expected to get any medication to help me along but I couldn't have handled it otherwise. After I delivered they diagnosed me with postpardom preeclamsia and I had to stay an extra day due to my blood pressure being too high. My advice to you ladies is don't get so bummed out when things don't go as you planned. Every pregnancy and every labor and delivery is different and in the end all that matters is your baby's health. Here's my little girl miss Nora Gwenn 💕