Birth story

On March 14 around 2 AM I began having contractions and had my bloody show. I took a shower and began timing the contractions. Around 10 AM my contractions were 6 minutes apart so my husband and I decided to head to the hospital. When we arrived they checked and I was 4 cm dilated and 100% effaced. The day before I was only 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. I was immediately admitted. By 1 PM I was dilated to a 6 and the nurses kept insisting that I get an epidural before I was in so much pain I wouldn't be able to sit still. I finally agreed to it. From there my body dilated fairly quickly. At 5 PM my water broke and around 7 PM I was dilated to 9 cm. Because baby and I were doing so well the nurses allowed me to labor down and let the baby slowly go down the canal on his own. When he got to the point where we could see his head and I was able to feel his hair, I began pushing. After a short hour of very slow on and off pushing, my baby boy was born at 1:14 AM. He was 7lbs 14 oz, 20 inches long. It was the smoothest, calmest, most amazing delivery I could've ever dreamed of. Recovery was wonderful. We were released from the hospital the next day and that same day I was shopping at target and marshalls. Now at 9 days postpartum I weigh 3 lbs less than my prepregnancy weight (thank you breastfeeding!!!). I hope that this gives first time moms some hope that not all deliveries have to be horror stories💙