Ladies let me just say never feel bad about having to use the epidural, or abandoning your birth plan. On the night of November 30 at 10 PM I started having period like cramps they were about 15 minutes apart come to 12 AM and I was waking hubby up to go to the hospital because contractions were about 10 minutes apart and much stronger I decided not to and decided to wait a little bit longer so around 3 AM we were in the car on our way to the hospital the contractions were now seven minutes apart and very strong. We got to the hospital and they informed me that my contractions were actually much closer together about 5 minutes apart and check to see how far dilated I was, I was only 2.5 but because I live so far away they decided to draw me a bath, and see how far dilated I was in an hour. By then it is about 4:30 and I am now 3.5 cm. They decided to admit me, and I finally reach 10 cm by 3 p.m. on the 30th. After about 2 1/2 hours of pushing I decide to get a pain med but NOT the epidural. The pain meds kick in in about five minutes and I continue pushing, I feel the pain but it’s more like they were around midnight not so strong, I was pushing so hard but something went wrong. They realize that a piece of my water bag was still on the side of the wall of my cervix, the doctor comes in and begins scraping the side of the cervix. He does this for about 15 minutes before I begin to scream in pain I continue to push for an hour and they put me on oxygen because I was fading in and out and babys heart beat was dropping low to 89. At this point I am in so much pain I was begging for the epidural I felt like I was dying. The amnesia doctor was on call and was about 10 minutes away from where the hospital is. When he arrives he administers the epidural at this point I am screaming and begging them to get him out any possible way, but the epidural is finally working and I begin to feel relief in less than five minutes. It’s about seven by now and they decide to let me sleep for two hours. At 9:30 they wake me up to tell me I have to begin pushing or I will have to have a C-section. I begin pushing again and at this point I can feel my legs but not my contractions, they tell me when one begins and then I start to push for about another hour this continues until I can begin to start feel them I feel them very slightly but I continue to push until about 1030 by now, I can feel them very strongly but not as strong as they had been. 11 o’clock rolls around and they begin to see his head they cannot figure out why he still stuck they soon realize that his cord is not only wrapped around his neck but down his chest like a seatbelt and it is preventing him from coming out. At midnight his head is finally out but there is no cry. By 12:04 AM on December 1 I have pushed him completely out and he is on my chest now crying. A wave of unconditional love washes over me and I become very emotional. My baby has a little bruises on his eyes and his head from all the work that we had just done he is a whopping 9 lbs. 3 oz. and 22 1/2 inches long and absolutely perfect. After my experience I will never ever judge another woman because of the decision she makes during labor and delivery because unless you have experienced it you will never understand why it’s so hard but absolutely worth it. Please ladies do not feel bad if you abandon your birth plan because sometimes that’s just the way it is. Had I not abandon mine and got the epidural my doctor says I would’ve had to have a C-section,

down below is my sweet little baby Thomas John💙. Thank you for reading my story if you got all the way through ❤️