This is my first post ever, but I finally decided I wanted to document my birth story before I forgot too much of it! This is going to be long so sorry in advance. Also, the exact time, weight, and length at birth are not given to protect my daughter’s privacy.

I’m a FTM and I was due August 6th. Well my due date came and went with nothing. I had been dilated 1cm since 39 weeks with no change. I started having contractions on the 9th that were anywhere from 10-20 minutes apart. They never hurt and were just a tightening in my belly. Looking back I’m guessing they were BH but at the time I thought it was early labor. This went on for days with no change. On the 13th the contractions were getting to be between 8-10 minutes apart and I decided to go into l&d; and get checked because I thought maybe that was the start and I was already 41 weeks. They monitored my contractions and agreed they were 8-10 minutes apart. But I was still only 1cm so they sent me home. I had an appt the next day and still 1cm. I got an NST done and my fluid levels looked good. They talked about possible induction and I was really upset. I didn’t want to be induced because I heard the contractions are more painful, that it increases the chances of a csection, and I wanted to go into labor spontaneously. I was already 41+1 though so I knew it was going to be necessary eventually. They said it was fine to wait a few more days and then revisit the idea, but 42 weeks was the cutoff.

On the 15th around 3pm I started being able to time the contractions easier because they started getting uncomfortable. They were 7 min apart and by about 10pm they were around 5 minutes apart. We decided to go to the hospital again, but I was in denial because of the contractions doing nothing for a week. We got there at 10:45pm and I was 2-3cm! Finally some progress. They had me walk around for an hour while they got a room set up. When I got in the room I was 4cm and it was around midnight. I hadn’t had any classes on breathing through contractions, but the nurse told me to say “Hee hee hoo” throughout each one and it really helped me having something to focus on other than the pain. I labored for a little while with a birthing ball on the bed and around 1:30am I was 5-6cm. I didn’t want an epidural but they told me they could give me some fentanyl through my iv so I agreed and it toned it down some for about an hour. By around 2:30am I was 7-8cm. Around 3am I got up to use the bathroom and as I was walking I felt something hanging out of me. I said “Is that the baby??” and then seconds later I heard a splash on the floor! It was my water breaking. They got me back on the bed right then and I was 10cm. I didn’t feel the urge to push yet so the nurse said we’d wait until the contractions moved the baby down a little more. Around 3:30am I started pushing and baby was born around 4:30am. They put her on my chest within seconds and it was the most amazing feeling in my entire life.

My baby girl weighed just under 7lb and was around 19in long born 8/16/17 at 41+3. She’s the love of my life.