I was 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced at my 38 week appointment! My doctors said for weeks I'd probably go early, which made me hopeful because I wanted an all natural, non medicated birth. But my due date arrived and I went in for an NST and had the midwife check me before I left. I was 4 cm, 90% effaced and at +1 station. She gave me a rough membrane sweep, also hoping I'd go into labor so they wouldn't have to induce in a few days. That evening I was in early labor with mild contractions 4-6 minutes apart. Because of the progress I'd already made, my husband and I decided to head to the hospital and we met my mom and doula there. After several hours, I only progressed to 5 cm and the doctor gave me the option to go home and get some rest since we only lived 10 minutes away. So we went home, slept, and spent most of the day walking around and trying to keep my mind occupied. Contractions continued consistently but never got any stronger. We went back into the hospital around 5pm and they broke my water. We were SURE that would get things moving quicker, but two hours went by and the only thing it did was make my contractions less consistent. They started pitocin at 9pm which brought on the real contractions fast and strong! Yikes! I still wanted as little medication as possible so we did it all with no pain meds. My husband was AMAZING, right by my side, holding my hand and encouraging me the entire time. Our doula also helped with some counter pressure on my lower back which was nice since baby was SO low already. After 3 hours of hard labor, I started pushing. It felt SO good to push. It actually felt like it releived the pain from the contractions. I didn't experience the "ring of fire" so many people talk about. But it was actually such a relief when baby's head came out! They told me to look down and it was so surreal to see my baby. After 50 minutes of pushing, I was holding our baby boy! He was born on January 22nd at 1:04am at 7 lbs 11 oz, 19 inches long with a full head of hair! Although I would have loved to go into labor naturally, I wouldn't change our birth experience for anything. It was the most incredible thing I've ever been a part of! God is so good and works in crazy ways, blessing us through such a difficult task.