On Monday July 23 I went in for my 39 week appt and had a sweep done. We were going to have an elective induction (my husband’s work schedule meant he could miss the birth if I went to 40wks) done on the 25th anyways, but we figured if I went into labor naturally that was better. As soon as the sweep was done I started contracting. For the rest of Monday and all day Tuesday, I had contractions between every 8-20 minutes. Sleeping at night was difficult but I was so encouraged!

On Wednesday morning My contractions became more regular, and steadily grew throughout the day. We were scheduled to be induced at 8pm, but we got a call at 6 saying L&D; was slammed so our elective induction wasn’t top priority. So we were told to wait and see when they could take us. By 9pm I was having contractions 6 minutes apart. When we called to let them know and to see if we could go in, they said to hold off for 3-4 minute intervals. At midnight, my contractions were between 2-6 min apart. They said to still wait and to call back after 8am. I was able to sleep until about 7:30, at which point my contractions had spaced out to 8 minutes apart. We decided to take a walk...while on the walk we called and they said that since our induction had been moved a day, we could come right in and get started.

By noon, I had the Cervidil placed in my cervix, and I was at 2cm dilated. Hours went by...we watched movies, read Harry Potter, I bounced on a yoga ball, and we in general killed time while my contractions started to ramp up. Around 8pm they had gotten extremely painful. I kept going as I wanted to make sure the progress we were making wouldn’t be stalled by an epidural. However, by 9:30 I begged my nurse for fentanyl. I got the first dose at 10. It took the edge off a few contractions, but by 10:40 it had worn off and I was in agony. Luckily my nurse said I could get the epidural by then.

The epidural process took 10 minutes or so. It wasn’t painful at all- just a bit odd. By 11:45 I was asleep and finally at ease. At 1am my OB checked my cervix and I was still 2cm dilated- frustrating! They started me on pitocin at 2, and I passed out. I woke at 6am to the doctor doing her final rounds before her shift change, so said she would check my cervix- I was an 8!! She broke my water, and within an hour I was 10cm. They had me labor down for an hour to get him in the canal, and to give the next dr a chance to get there.

At about 8:40am we got the go-ahead to start pushing. The dr arrived a few pushes in and she said I was making great progress- each push brought him down closer and closer. At 9:25am, I pushed and our little Augustus joined the world! He weighs 7lb 14oz, and is perfectly healthy. He cried almost right away, and has been such a trooper since. I had 1 first degree tear, but didn’t feel it at all. She sewed me up quickly while My husband and cried and bonded with Augustus.

Overall, my birth experience was extremely positive, and I walked away from it feeling so empowered and in awe of the woman’s body. Moms are warriors, truly!