Small backstory: my pregnancy was easy - no morning sickness or too much pain until the 3rd trimester. I had back and pelvic pain. I did not feel many of my contractions even when on monitors for non-stress tests.

We had a planned induction due to having gestational diabetes. I was induced 39+1, which was Thursday September 12th. We went in at 8 p.m. My nurse was in a delivery so I was not seen until after 9pm. They checked me and I was one cm dilated, 60% effaced and baby in station -1. At 10:30 p.m. They placed cervidil to try and help soften my cervix. They monitored me every 2 hours for 12 hours. At 10:30am on the 13th, they checked me again and I had not progressed. Since I had not progressed they started me on misoprostol and was monitored every 4 hours for 8 hours. They checked me again around 9 p.m. and yet again still no progression. They decided to insert a Cook's catheter, this could be inserted for up to 12 hours. After the insertion, my body was not tolerating the pain / pressure of the catheter so I got sick. I was given two different types of nausea medicines and one of them worked relatively okay. I was still nauseous and throwing up even after those medications, so I opted to receive fentanyl at 9:45 p.m. After the fentanyl kicked in, we were able to sleep for a little over an hour. They checked me at 12 a.m. the 14th and I had finally progressed with that catheter to 5cm! They started me on Pitocin around 1 a.m. to where I actively felt my contractions and tried to labor by using a birthing ball, walking the halls and squatting and finally using the birthing tub. My contractions felt like period cramps. I did not feel any tightening in my stomach as we are told we should. Squatting during a contraction relieved the most pain for me. I got what was called the baby shakes, this made my entire body shake uncontrollably and I felt very cold, that was when I had used the birthing tub. The hot water soothed my contractions and made them less intense for the time I was in there. After the tub I had been exhausted. I was still throwing up due to the pain of my contractions. My original plan was to get to 7 centimeters and use nitrous oxide through the end of birth. Since I was still sick, my husband suggested I get an epidural. I contemplated whether or not I wanted it and ultimately decided to get it. At 5 a.m. I was 7 cm dilated and received the epidural. It was a strange feeling getting it placed. The needle felt like a bee sting and when they were placing the catheter in my back, I could feel the side it was going into even though everything was still numb. After everything was placed, I was laid down to receive the bladder catheter and my water broke on its own! Since my legs were numb, what I felt was a warm gush almost like pee. Once everything was situated we napped for 3 hours until 8 a.m. After 8 a.m., during my contractions I started to feel pressure in my butt. The nurse told me to let her know when I felt constant pressure and at that point we would know delivery was soon. It was difficult for me to know if I was having constant pressure because in between contractions I would doze off and wake up 2 minutes later to feeling pressure. At 9 a.m. I forced myself awake during a few contractions and noticed I was having constant pressure so I let my nurse now! She checked my cervix and I was 10 cm dilated but baby was still pretty high so they had me labor down for about 40 minutes. Laboring down was easy. They sat me up and we just waited so gravity could bring baby into a better position. I relatively knew how to push because I had been told by several people to push as if I'm having a bowel movement, and that's exactly what I tried to do! I would push only during a contraction for approximately 30 seconds total. We started pushing around 945am, contractions were about 2 minutes apart. It was a little difficult to know when to push since my contractions i had felt as period cramps, but was able to figure it out. At one point they could not find his heartbeat because he was so low into my pelvis, but they were able to find it again and he was doing great. Finally, at 10:57am Saturday September 14th, our baby boy was born! I was told as soon as his head popped out he started screaming, didn't even have the rest of his body out! I did tear quite a bit and have stitches, but that is okay.

Baby is now 4 days old and we are all adjusting to being home. Its rough, but 100% worth it.

Tips for FTM. Make a birth plan for your own peace of mind but know things change. After delivery you should be given ice packs. Try to take as many home as you can because they are a god-send! I was able to take home 5 extra, but if you could get like 20..your lady bits will thank you! Also be sure to purchase Tucks or an off brand to help keep it all nice and cool.

Just know you and baby are learning, and ask all the questions and get all the help you can. You've got this!