I had very easy 1st & 2nd trimesters (no nausea, no complications) but my 3rd was getting gradually harder an harder. No real medical issues, but by the time I was 39 weeks, I was just SO done. I ended up going against my whole birth plan by asking to get induced. I chose the foley balloon because it was at least non-chemical.

6/4 at 3pm: I got the balloon put in and then had to endure a crazy-stressful 4hr car ride with my husband who insisted on doing errands in traffic and heavy rain. This kicked in some major contractions that were coming in fast and strong. But once we finally got home, all the contractions went away and I spent the evening slowly dilating from 1.5cm to 4cm.

6/5 at 4am: I woke up with more chill contractions and we soon headed to our 7am hospital appointment.

7am: Got to our room and was hooked up to IV for fluid, pitocin, and penicillin (because I'm GBS+) and then just dealt with the waves as they came. I mostly leaned on my husband, sister, or doula during the contractions. I also tried all kinds of different positions while my support team massaged and encouraged me.

1pm: they turned the pitocin off so I could get in the shower and I was still progressing along without the pitocin so we left it off.

3:30pm: I got checked and was at 7cm. Then maybe 15min later, my water broke and everything got very different. More intense than ever, impossible to breathe through without moaning and getting stressed... I knew that an epidural could take an hour from calling the anaesthesiologist to getting the actual relief so I made the call then that I'd like to get one.

4:30pm: I got the epidural. I could finally talk and joke around. I put my makeup on and fixed my hair... I also rested for a few hours... It was SO great.

7:45pm: Got checked again and was at 9.5cm. The doctor said it would be wiser to wait a little longer instead of adding more pitocin... So I rested more.

9:30pm: Nurse checked me and I was at 10cm and I decided I wanted to push... She started me out with "practice pushes" until the doctor came because most ladies with epidurals don't really push well, but I was confident that that wasn't gonna be me. And I proved it! Luckily I still had just enough feeling to be able to tell where to push and I was praised as a good pusher. :)

During each contraction I had to push 3 times with only one exhale and one inhale in between. I wasn't great at holding my breath while pushing. Sometimes I couldn't do the 3rd one.

The doctor eventually came in and took over for the nurse and she set me straight about the importance of consistency, focus, and not overspending my energy. Because when I take an extra breath between pushes, it makes the baby back up. I felt like I was failing even though everyone was telling me I was doing great. So I forced myself to focus and not mess up anymore and got the job done.

11:42pm: Naomi Joy Miller arrived at 8lbs 1oz and 20in! I feel like I got run over by a truck, but I'm soooo happy she's here!