This is going to be long: I had the doctor check me at almost 38 weeks and was at .5cm. The next week at almost 39 weeks, I was still at .5 and was a little disappointed as I was sure I should have made some progress. At this point, I was sure I'd be going over my due date and was just counting down the days until my maternity leave would start.

On October 12th, I just had this feeling like I was going to go into labor that night despite my due date being the 18th and having felt sure until then that I was going to go over my due date with this being my first. I was in a sort of panic to get some last minute things done.

All day I was having contractions but I wasn't sure if they were braxton hicks or real contractions. At around 1am, I told my husband I was going to go to bed but every time I would lay down, I'd have a contraction and feel like I needed to go to the bathroom. I kept going up and down the stairs and would just sit on the toilet and breathe through the contractions. I started timing them but felt like I was doing it wrong as I was sure what I was getting couldn't be right. I was having contractions for between 1.5-10 minutes without a break and they were coming roughly every 1.5-2 minutes. Still, I convinced myself, if nothing else, it was early labor contractions and nothing serious.

I was joking around with one of my friends on snapchat about the contractions. My husband had fallen asleep on the couch and I didn't want to bother him so I continued my back and forth from the bedroom to the bathroom. I eventually called L&D and told the doctor I wasn't sure but I felt like I might be going into labor. The doctor advised me to keep timing them and then said he'd probably see me soon.

Shortly after the phone call, I was yet again laboring on the toilet and when I wiped, I had my bloody show which put me semi into panic mode even though I knew you could lose that and not be in labor for days or weeks. I stood up and just had this feeling that my water was about to break so I quickly sat back down. At this point, I was literally just wearing a Freddy Krueger sweater without any pants or underwear because I was tired of taking them off while I was laboring. At 5am I convinced myself I was good, stood up and walked to the kitchen heading towards the living room when I felt my water break and gush onto the floor.

I called out to my husband and when he opened his eyes I just said, "we need to go to the hospital, my water just broke." He quickly got up and calmly but quickly started gathering stuff up to head out. I chanhed into some leggings and threw a different shirt on with a light cardigan, grabbed a towel so I didnt leak all over his car and could feel little gushes of water as we got ready to get in the car. The contractions got really intense as we drove to the hospital and I was struggling to breathe through them. My husband was trying to joke with me to make me laugh but when I'm in pain, I dont respond well to humor and the hospital felt so far away.

In what felt like the shortest and longest drive, we pulled up to the ER entrance and they wheeled me into L&D. When I stood up in the triage room, I felt another big gush of water that soaked my leggings all the way down to my feet. My husband helped me get my pants off and get into the hospital gown. They needed a urine sample so I went into the bathroom while fighting the contractions. I was making a lot of guttural noises and moans trying to get through the pain. I got the urine sample but every time I'd try to get off the toilet, I'd have another. I got onto the triage bed and got checked and was only at 3cm dilated. They put the monitor on my stomach to get the babies heartrate and I hated it. I know it was necessary but it literally felt like I was bloated to the point of exploding and the pressure on my stomach had me so uncomfortable that I was fighting it. Being on my back caused me intense pain but they needed me to lay down so they could continue to monitor the baby's heart rate. I told the nurse I needed to pee again and she made me keep the monitor on while I went. I sat down on the toilet and was crying from the pain and discomfort and told my husband I felt sick. My husband pulled the trashcan in front of me and the next contraction made me vomit.

At this point, the nurse was getting nervous and told me I needed to get off the toilet so she could check me again because she felt like I'd probably progressed due to the noises I was making and the fact that I had vomited. My husband was trying to coax me off the toilet. I told them they'd have to wait as the contractions were back to back. Finally, they got me off the toilet and the nurse checked me again and I was at a 6 less than an hour after arriving. They got me in a wheelchair and into the delivery room.

I continued laboring through intense contractions and refused to lay down because it made everything more painful. I went into the bathroom and the nurses were nervous that I was going to have the baby on the toilet. I had IV fluids in my arm so it had to be unplugged so I could go into the bathroom, it started beeping and I asked if it could be turned off because it was getting on my nerves (I thought I said this in a normal way but I apparently snapped at them).

I got back on the bed and was going back and forth between standing and sitting. They asked me about an epidural and I told them I wanted to try to go without it but I wasnt sure. My husband told them I'd probably want it so be ready but it was ultimately my choose. At this point I was crying and moaning through the almost endless waves of contractions, sitting on the bed on my hands and knees and sitting back on my heels as I fought through them. It's true what they say about all modesty going out the window. My gown my barely on me while I rocked on my hands and knees, my butt out in the air for the world to see just trying to ease the pressure in my abdomen and tailbonr. When they asked again about the epidural I said yes (and, honestly, this was the best decision I have ever made). I was really nervous because they told me I'd have to stay still but as the contractions hit me over and over I was having a hard time. My husband stood in front of me and held my shoulders as I gripped a pillow and tried my best to do as they told me and stay still.

I felt the numbing needle pinch ever so slightly and then never felt the actual epidural go in. They taped me up to my shoulders and had me sit back.

As the epidural started to kick in, I felt like a fog lifted from my head and the people around me were finally making sense. The anesthesiologist was explaining how the meds were working and I took a nice deep breath and laid all the way back on the bed, relieved that the pressure in my back was finally gone. By this point, I was at 8cm dilated. My husband was going to step out and get out hospital bag which he forgot out in the car when he parked it and they told him he didnt have time as I had been progressing very quickly from the start. He kept stroking my head and I started joking around with him because I was finally not in excruciating pain. He later told me he could tell how much pain I had been in because I literally wasnt really responding, just crying, moaning, making noises through them and couldnt bring myself to lift my head or make eye contact with him. I could tell he was relieved when u started joking around and laying still.

This was when I was truly happy to have gotten the epidural. They said I was right when I was timing them, I was having varying contractions with literally no break. They saw another one like I had at home that lasted 10 straight minutes and were giving me no time to really breathe.

They went to check me again and i was at almost 10 but with a lip of the cervix still in the way. They started turning me onto my left side while they were still checking and I got a little nervous when I realized there were 6 people standing all around me and they were talking a little hushed. I asked if everything was okay and they told me baby's heart rate kept dropping pretty low after contractions. After this continued to happen, they placed an internal monitor on the baby to get a better reading but it was still showing the dip. They got the lip of cervix to soften and had me start doing practice pushes, periodically shifting me from side to side while pushing fluids. This entire time, I feel no pain, just mild pressure.

Now was time to start pushing, I believe I pushed through around 6 series of 3-4 pushes each before our baby came into the world. The only thing I felt as I was pushing was an increased pressure in my pelvis. They cleaned baby off and placed it on my chest. The baby my husband and I were convinced in our guts was a little girl turned out to be a perfect little BOY!

My water broke at 5am and our little boy, Salem James, was born at 10:07am on October 13th during the full moon. 6lbs 15oz and 20 inches long.

Amazingly, even though my labor progressed so quickly, I didnt tear (thankful that I got to avoid stitches).

My husband has been amazing, he has waited on me hand and foot while I recovered, lets me sleep, changes almost every diaper, and swaddles like a pro. He was holding him in the hospital the first night and said, "I've done two things right in my life; marrying that girl and making you" to which I bawled like a baby. If you've read this far, you've the patience of a saint.

My body is sore and squishy but my heart has never been so full! ❤👶🥰👪