Baby girl decided to make her appearance 4 days after her due date! I felt so frustrated once my due date passed and tried everything to get labor started and to prepare for labor; red raspberry leaf tea, evenin primrose oil, bouncing on a yoga ball, walking daily, eating spicy foods and as a last ditch effort on the evening of 11/12/16 I made a batch of spicy labor cookies I found on Pinterest. All I got was heartburn, so I took some Tums and went to bed. Around 5:30am I woke up feeling some menstrual type cramps and then (TMI) had diarrhea SEVEN TIMES😳. I figured I just had indigestion from the labor cookies so I just tried to relax. At one point I noticed that I had a bit of bloody show, just pink tinged discharge. The cramping that I was feeling gradually intensified so I started timing them and they were lasting 30-60 seconds and would range from 3-7 minutes apart. A hot bath helped for a short time, but as soon as I got out and started moving around again, I became sure I was having real contractions. They would start like a BH, with a crampy feeling underneath my belly and a tightening in my lower back. As they got worse I felt a tightness and pain going down the tops of my thighs as well. After about three hours, I called my midwife who suggested getting some breakfast and then heading into L&D, where I was found to be 4cm! Got checked in and after 16.5 hours of labor my little girl arrived! I didn't use any pain meds, but did utilize a tub for a bit and used nitrous through transition. I really think that preparing for a natural birth helped me get through the pain, but it was HARD!!!! I pushed for an hour and three minutes and then Emerson Ruth entered the world at 10:07pm, 7lb 13oz and 21 inches long. She is perfection and we are SO in love with her!!!