My sweet boy was born on April 16th at 1:59PM.

40 weeks, 2 days.

It started out on April 15th around 7 PM. I’d been having what to me felt like a pulling in my uterus. It didn’t feel like menstrual cramps to me. And I’d been having them few and far between for a couple of days. So, at first, I wasn’t even sure it was contractions. My husband suggested we time them and so we did using a contraction counter app. Most of them were within the 3-5 minute range so we decided to go to labor and delivery around 9 PM.

I was still only 1 CM dilated and even after walking for a couple of hours, it wasn’t progressing. So we got sent home around midnight.

Once at home, my husband and I decided to have sex and see if it got things moving along. I didn’t think it would work but after about an hour of being home, the contractions were so painful that I couldn’t sit still. We debated whether to go back to the hospital or not. I really didn’t want to go and get sent home again. Ultimately, we decided the pain was too much and by 5 AM we were back at labor and

delivery being told that I had dilated to 3 CM and was being admitted.

By 7 AM, I had my epidural and catheter put in. My contractions started to die down so they ended up giving me pictocin to progress things along again. Somewhere around 9 AM, my doctor came in and broke my water. By 11 AM, I was at 9 CM. So just a little after noon, my labor and delivery nurse came in and we started working on pushing. Then at 1:59 PM my baby was born.

Up until his head was crowning, it was just me, my husband, and my l&d nurse in my room. Afterwards, there were 4 more plus my doctor.

I’ve heard a lot of stories of failed or ineffective epidurals. That was not my case. I didn’t feel anything until he was actually coming out. I also tore and didn’t feel anything while the doctor was stitching me up.

I also wanted to add that for those of you who are dealing with family members trying to force their way into the delivery room...stand your ground on what you think is going to be best for you. You won’t regret it. I sure don’t. I still am dealing with crap for not allowing anyone but my husband...I don’t care. My sons birth was perfect in my eyes and part of that was because I wasn’t bombarded with extra people in the room. I don’t regret anything. 💙