On 10-7-15, my water began to break at 5:42 am.  I called my midwife and doula and both checked in with me all day until around 2:30pm when she arrived. On arrival, my midwife checked me and said I was only 2 cm dilated. I was discouraged. She left to attend to another mother birthing in her care that was nearing delivery. She returned that night close to 7 and I was then at 4 cm. I was tired, and didn't feel the end was insight. I did everything I could to speed the process and shortly after that check she checked me again and saw I was 6-7 cm and that it appeared my water still hadn't fully emptied. So she pushed on it as I pushed and my waters ruptured fully-after this things sped up dramatically. The pain intensified which I soothed in the birthing tub. At close to 9 cm she said I only had the lip of the cervix to go and I could wait for that or she could try and push it back during contractions and get it to stay. I opted for her to assist as it had been a long day. Once this was done pushing began-some on the toilet some on the birthing stool, some squaring. After some intense hard work, out came my sweet boy without any tearing. 8 pounds 3 ozs. I spent a total of 21.5 hours in labor, at home. It was by far my hardest experience and by far the most empowering. Giving birth is something that is so incredibly transformative. I feel having a home birth allows you to more fully sumerse yourself in that transformation. You learn so much about your inner strength. We are such powerful creatures and it's easy to forget but birth gives us the opportunity to remind ourselves of the incredible power contained within us. I will never be the same and not just because I am now a mom but because I battled and am a warrior mom.