Clementine Jane was born at 11pm on October 4th (39w1d). No medical interventions other than occasional fetal monitoring and a few stitches for natural tearing. I started feeling light menstrual cramp-type contractions the evening of October 3rd, which got stronger the next morning but seemed to go away after taking an antispasmodic. I went grocery shopping and came back for lunch. The contractions came back - they were stronger and this time didn't go away with the antispasmodic, but they didn't seem regular or frequent enough to be the real thing, so I tried stretching, having a hot drink, applying a hot water bottle and taking a shower, but they were still pretty painful. The shower ran out of hot water and I wasn't feeling good so I called my partner and asked him to leave work to meet me. We left for the hospital (took the tram) and got there around 4pm. They checked me and I was 3cm dilated, so we were admitted. I told them I wanted to try without an epidural, and they brought us to the "natural birth" room which had a big tub that I labored in for a few hours. The hot water helped but my feet kept falling asleep since the most comfortable position was sort of hunched over on my knees/toes. After that the [male] midwife asked if I wanted to try a birthing ball or swing, but the ball felt too low and I found that the most comfortable position for me was standing up leaning over the elevated bed. I focused on breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth, and reminded myself every time a contraction was really bad that it wasn't much worse than bad menstrual cramps and the most painful part only lasted 10-15 seconds, which was manageable. At some point he checked me and I was fully effaced, so I got up onto the bed on all fours (again, felt like the most comfortable position, except that my wrists and hands kept falling asleep) and tried to focus on the baby's heart rate, which kept reminding me that it was almost over and I'd have a baby in my arms soon :) Pushing was definitely the worst - the contractions didn't let up and my water only broke (naturally) at the very end, so they probably would've been worse if the midwife had broken my waters artificially, but the sensation of pushing was so weird and painful that I sort of scary animal-screamed a few times. Thankfully it didn't last too long - I think only around 15-20 minutes, and all of a sudden the whole baby made it out and everything felt amazingly better. They slipped her under my chest and I got onto my back to hold her - she was so warm and alive, with beautiful dark little eyes looking really intently at the world. She didn't cry at all after the initial cry coming out. They put her to my breast and she started feeding immediately. Afterward they delivered the placenta, which wasn't too painful, and stitched me up with some local anesthetic, which took a while but was fine. My partner cut the umbilical cord and they showed us the placenta and amniotic sac, which was cool. Once they were done stitching me up we walked to our room, pushing the baby in her crib, and they brought us some snacks before checking my blood pressure and letting us settle in for the night. We stayed until Saturday morning and got tons of help learning how to give her a bath, change her, clean the umbilical cord, etc. Plus it was great having someone bring us meals and clean the room for the first few days. My mom delivered my brothers and I at home and I had always imagined that I'd do the same, but I'm glad we settled on a natural birth-oriented clinic instead of a home birth because it was really reassuring to have that extra support and to know that she and I were totally healthy. There was even an office where we could get her birth certificate right at the hospital, and someone scheduled a midwife house call for tomorrow to check in on us. I'm so glad with how everything went - the whole pregnancy was overall very healthy and easy, and the birth was a perfect continuation of that good experience. I wish everyone could have such a good experience, and I'm especially aware of how different it might've been if I were back home in the US instead of here in France, where so much is done to support families. I'm so grateful.