My baby came right on his due date, 12/28/19

Contractions started at 6am. I went about my morning, eventually called my husband to come home and got our bags In the car. We stayed at his cousin house throughout the morning just waiting for things to get closer together and more consistent but my contractions never got to the 5-1-1 rule. They stayed between 5-10 minutes apart until I decided to go to the hospital at 345pm since they were pretty intense when they would hit. I arrived at triage and was obviously uncomfortable and in pain but I was getting through the contractions pretty well with breathing.

When the nurse checked me in triage, I was 7cm dilated! After that, I didn’t hear anything that was said. I started to lose my nerve because I knew this baby was coming and I did not expect to be so far along. My husband was amazing at calming me down and keeping me sane. I was admitted at 4pm. They asked if I wanted an epidural, I had to do it there and then or there would be no time. I declined because I felt like I’d made it this far so I could do it.

So once we got to the delivery room, my mom, cousin and mother-in-law joined us. My water was slowly leaking so the midwife finished popping it and when I say the pressure intensified, man... did it INTENSIFY. I started to lose my nerve again because I could not tell the difference between a contraction and the pressure. I told them I had to push and they said I was 9cm with just a little bit of cervix left. I said no I had to push NOW. We waited through one more contraction and it was time. I started pushing at 537pm and with the first push, everyone could see his hair. I screamed, cried, cursed, asked them to just cut him out and all of that. It hurts. I won’t beat around the bush. But my midwife looked me in the face and said, “you can be here all night or you can push him out with the next contraction. It’s up to you.” So with the next contraction, I pushed with all my strength and he was out! Jonás Austin Ryker was born at 5:48pm after 11 minutes of pushing that felt like endless hours lol.

What really helped me during labor was music. It saved me when I thought I would lose myself.

For all you mommas that are still waiting, just know you can do it! C-section, Medicated, unmedicated.. doesn’t matter! We are all strong and we all go through hell to get our babies here safely! Do what feels right for you! Listen to your body! I wish you all the best of luck.