Gabriel Joesph joined the world today. I went in for an appointment at 40 weeks 4 days and due to hypertension and a few dips in his heart rate they decided to induce me! As soon as I got to labor and delivery they started me on pitocin. I ended up laboring for 12 hours. At first it wasn’t bad, but at 4cm the doctor ruptured my membrane and the contractions started coming fast and hard. I opted for an epidural and ended up having to have it twice. It only took on one side at first. For me, getting the epidural was painful but worth it to get me to 10 cm comfortably. However at about 10cm it wore off on my left side again and I could feel everything so they just shut it off. I pushed for an hour and a half feeling everything, including a small tear which I had to get stitched. It was the hardest and most painful thing I’ve ever had to do but I’d do it all again for this little boy.