My little girl finally arrived Friday 8/28 at 10:37 pm. I started contracting Thursday night which was my 39 week mark. It felt like really bad cramps but I had been in prodormal labor for four wks so I thought nothing of it. They started to get worse by 6 pm but I was so tired so I tried to rest. At 2 am I was still awake and felt something wet in my panties and when I went to reach down a big gush of fluid came out. I had been peeing alot that night so I thought I might have peed. 10 mins later my cramps were definitely worse and during my next bathroom visit I had anither big gush but this time it was filled with blood. So I called my doctor and went to the hospital. When I got there they confirmed it was my water but I was still closed. An hour after they admitted me (4 am) I was at a 1. Around 11 am they started Pitocin. At about 2pm I felt a drop followed by another big gush of fluid, this time with way more blood (something no one told me to expect). Within minutes my contractions were so bad I was screaming. They paged the anesthesiologist who seemed to take his time getting to me. An hour later they started the epidural but it wasn't working. The doctor ended up giving me four times the regular dose to get it to reach my pelvis. It took 4 hours to fully kick in and in this time I was in the worst pain of my life. The epidural immobilized me since it was working everywhere else, but I could still feel every contraction. It felt like my insides were going to burst and my back was being ripped open. I couldn't open my eyes and was crying like a baby. By 5:30pm I was numb and was able to take a short nap. I woke up at 6 pm, alone in my room and couldnt move. I started to have a panic attack as when I fell asleep I was numb but could still move my legs in my bed. The nurse ended up giving me a dose of fentanyl to calm me down but when she checked my status I had gone from 3 cm before my nap to an 8! The nurse paged the doctor and told me I would probably need to start pushing soon. An hour later the doctor arrived and told me I was fully dilated and ready to push. I was really freaked out as everything progressed so fast. The doctors and nurses had previously told me I wouldn't be delivering until the next day so I was shocked at how fast it went. My nurse had me start pushing at 8:30 pm. Again, nothing like I expected. I couldn't even feel the pressure of pushing and felt like I was going to hurt the baby. Also, pushing releases a hormone that makes you sleepy so about an hour into pushing I was literally falling asleep only to be woken up by the pain of contractions. By that point my epidural was wearing off and I could feel the contractions and the pressure of her head. 30 mins later my doctor came in and told me to push really hard and two pushes later out popped my beautiful little girl. I was seriously shocked that she came out. There's something so incredible about those first few moments of seeing that new life that put you in disbelief that you just gave birth. It was so overwhelming to finally be holding my little girl. She ended up swallowing a large amount of amniotic fluid on the way out and was having breathing problems so they had to take her to the special care unit. It's now day 5 and baby girl and I are finally being discharged. For all the other first time moms, labor is no joke and probably will be the toughest thing you go through, but it does end and you're gifted with a beautiful little child.