this is my second baby she was due june 26 and was born june 23. i gotta start by saying the 23rd felt like any other day with the only difference that i had braxton contractions going on all day long ..i started timing them around 1pm and around 5 pm we were rushing to the hospital, contractions were 4 mins apart we checked in at 6:10 pm i was dilated 8 1/2. at 9 1/2 dilation i started to push baby on my own.. the baby was born at 6:59 pm No epidural No taring .. she was born at 8 lbs 1 ounce. Now i'll tell u what i left out: my first time was a difficult birth and the pain during labor was sooo intense. i also had back labor and was laboring like that for 12 hours i got the epidural at 8cm he was born 8lbs 9 oz and i tore inside the vagina as well as the outside (sorry..tmi) so long story short ... for my second time the labor pain was strong but not intense and as the contractions moved closer and closer together i thought to myself well it's not as bad as the first time so i kept going on about my day. i was cleaning cooking and making sure the house was left clean for when it was ready to go to the hospital , i even left dinner for my mom and toddler. once contractions were 5 mins apart my husband pulled me out of our house and drove us to the hospital he said 'we are going to the the baby in the car if we don't leave now' ...pushing the baby was done in 4 pushes then she was born. prior to pushing i was holding it in as long as i could (i was really scaredthe pain especially since i couldn't get the epidural) i started to push in a side laying position and the turned to my back once she was crowning (sorry again tmi) i think it's important to listen to ur body and do what u believe is safe and correct for u and ur baby. this is just how my journey went 😊