My little one was born April 18th and I finally have some time to write this down, a bit later than anticipated...sorry for the long post!

My due date was May 10th but I always had this feeling he was going to come a little early (I figured by a week or so, I was really hoping for a Star Wars baby and have him born on May 4th). Around April 10th I started having this feeling that something was changing, it was hard to describe because it wasn't physical, it was more of gut feeling so I told my hubby we need to get the hospital bags ready this weekend just in case. So that following weekend we got our bags mostly ready (I still had some laundry to do and had a hospital gown that I was planning on wearing still had to be delivered). Sunday morning I had a couple of contractions but I just rode them off as Braxton Hicks or something.

That week I had a midwife appointment and we went over when to page for labor and what to do and pay attention to if my water broke (which she advised me was unlikely before contractions but possible) and when to page for contractions. We won't over pain options and she told me the worse part was when you get to the transition stage and most people say they can't do this anymore and they want the drugs. I said I just wanted to go with the flow and see how I felt.

I had planned on getting an epidural later on and hopefully making it through most of the labor without one and was going to labor in the tub in the hospital room. I had a plan, a flexible one but still a plan. That was a joke.

The morning of April 18th (my mom's birthday) I woke up at 5:30 to feed my cats and go to the washroom, then I was going back to bed, I figured I should try to go to the washroom one last time before climbing back into bed and give myself another hour of sleep. Well I got up and I didn't stop peeing, or so I thought... I then realized it was likely my water so I put a pad on and immediately soaked through. My hubby woke up to me muttering on the toilet about how it was too early and this couldn't be it.

So I called my midwife and she told me she had an appt but should be done around 11:30 and she would meet me at the hospital around noon- one ish to check me over and see if I should go home or get induced if contractions haven't started. She told me to tell her when I felt the baby move and to relax because I would likely be in for a long day and as I was a FTM would probably give birth the next day.

So I made some muffins and then went to sit down and relax for a bit (contractions had started but they were light). My midwife called around 9:30am to see how things were but I was having more intense contractions so I couldn't speak and my hubby talked to her. She told him when I got vocal for an hour to call her back and we'd re-evaluate.

So I decided I should take a shower because things seemed to be progressing quickly. My the time I got out of the shower at 10:30 I was in a lot of pain. I went to lay on my bed but ended up just on my knees trying to rock through the contractions that were now on top of each other. I kept thinking I can't do this anymore, I need some meds and I knew that he was coming soon.

We called my midwife at 11:15 and told her we needed to go so she said give me a 10 minute head start and then get in the car, it took me half an hour just to get off the bed and down the stairs.

As we drive to the hospital I can feel myself pushing and I almost tell my hubby that we need to pull over because he's coming but luckily we're pulling into the hospital when I open my eyes.

Because of Covid we have to go through emergency and they start asking me for my health card and what's wrong (as in screaming in a wheelchair), I advise them I'm in labor and please bring me to L&D. We get up there and I get wheeled to the delivery room where my midwife is waiting. She tells my hubby to go park the car and tries to find the baby's heartbeat but I can't stand up straight. Luckily my husband forgot the keys and came back for them because they tell him forget it you're about to have a baby.

20 mins later he was here.

Calvin Harrison was born at 12:47pm at 36 weeks and 6 days so we had a 24 hour hospital stay to monitor blood sugars but otherwise healthy with no issues.

Labor lasted 7 hours from water breaking to holding my little man. Next time I'm having a home birth.