FTM here! No matter how many birth stories I read, I really wasn’t sure what to expect, since every woman, every baby and every pregnancy is so different. Below is my experience from my sweet girls birth at 39 weeks:

On Friday, 10/11, I had woken up and gone about my usual day of getting ready for work. I had no indication I would be going to L&D that day. A lot of people have told me they had a “feeling”, I did not. I even complained that my babe was stubborn as I made dinner plans with a friend for the evening. We had a doctors appt 4 days prior, I was 1cm and -2, which I had been at for 3 weeks.

Fast forward to 3:30pm, I got up from my desk to pee. I peed, then was washing my hands when all of a sudden I thought I was peeing myself. I stood there confused for a few seconds and then thought “omg my water?!”. I smelled my undies and it was not urine. I quickly exited the bathroom, told my coworker I was pretty sure babe was coming and headed home (no contractions). On my 15 min drive home I started to get low grade period cramping. I called the doctor who told me to go to L&D so they could verify it was definitely my water. My husband came home and we left. On the 15 min ride, I started to get stronger cramps, coming 4 minutes apart, but I could still speak through them. By the time we got through triage I was MISERABLE. The contractions had gotten much stronger and they were 1-2 minutes apart. L&D was packed, and there were a few people with bleeds who took priority. I finally got into a room and they determined I was 4cm. I asked for the epidural and they said they would call up for it. While waiting, and really really uncomfortable, my water broke more, gushing out all over the table! They came back in to check me and I was 7cm (7:45pm). They moved me to get the epidural but it takes a while to consent, prep and sterilize etc. I all but offered my first born to have this thing. I kept telling them I cannot breathe they’re too close together. They finally got the positioning right and WHAT RELIEF! Epidurals truly are god-sent. They checked me right after it kicked in (about 15 minutes later- 9pm) and I was 10cm! Thankfully they didn’t realize I was that far along or they probably would not have let me even have it. Everyone was so shocked how fast I progressed as a FTM. Although I was 10cm, she was still at -1, so they told me to rest for about an hour and we would recheck to see if she came down on her own at all. At 10pm she hadn’t come down so we decided to start pushing. Unfortunately my BP dropped and so was her heart rate, so they pulled my husband out to prep him for a c-section and called the OR to get it ready for me. They cut the epidural and my BP rose and so did her heart rate. They monitored closely with NICU bedside and determined it was safe to keep going vaginally as long as her heart rate remained at normal levels. I pushed for 2 1/2 hours but was only able to get her down to a 1. The doctor came in and determined she was sunny side up. They couldn’t turn her so they gave us 2 options. We could go up for a c-section or try pushing with vacuum assistance. They told us the risks for both and gave us time to discuss and decide. Based on her position, which was confirmed by ultrasound, it was safer to do vac, so we decided on that. Vac + 3 pushes and our girl was here! She was literally the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, even covered with all types of bodily fluids lol!

Miss Abigail Elizabeth arrived at 12:38am on 10/12. 9 hours flat from the time my water broke to her birth. 2nd degree vaginal tear which is sore but otherwise so happy to have avoided the c-section, twice, as I know I would be in more pain now if I had that! Considering she was face up, born vaginally and they used vacuum, I still cannot believe how perfect she came out, not one mark! This pic was still in labor room right after they wiped her down 💗