On Saturday, I gave birth to my daughter 20 days before her due date. As I had written before, my doctors decided to induce me due to high blood pressure right after my 37 week appointment. So, I arrived at the hospital on Thursday and at 5pm, they started Cervidil. The baby was -2 and I was not dilated at all so we were prepared to expect a long labor. Cervidil was causing mild contractions, but overall, I felt pretty good. I was able to sleep some, until I woke up at 1:45am with my bed surrounded by nurses. They told me the contractions were causing my baby's heart to drop so they pulled the Cervidil and gave me a shot to stop the contractions. At that point, I had mentally prepared myself for the c-section that I was sure was to follow. However, in the morning, the doctor decided to continue as planned and started Pitocin. They started slow to see how the baby would respond. It wasn't long before I started feeling some contractions and was finally considered to be in labor. Since I had to be constantly monitored, I labored mostly in bed. When I felt a contraction coming on, I would just take deep breaths, close my eyes and count between breaths. This proved to be an effective coping tool for me and I was able to get through contractions relatively easily. After laboring all day without being checked, my newly arrived overnight nurse decided to check me at about 8pm. She decided before she told me my progress, she would get a second opinion from the charge nurse. Turns out, my nurse was correct - I was 4cm. She asked for a second opinion because I was too calm for someone who had not had any pain medication. That night, I slept off and on, even through some contractions. When the doctor checked me,  I was at 8cm and everyone was shocked I had slept through that big change! It was then they decided to break my water. I have to admit I was worried about this, just because of how painful I heard it could be at this point. My contractions picked up a bit, but I was still able to breath through them. Then, at about 8am, I felt a huge amount of pressure which felt extremely uncomfortable. I asked the nurse to check me and it turns out I was AC - almost complete. All that was left was a cervical lip. At this point, for the first time in my nearly 24 hour labor, I nearly lost control. I was begging the nurse to stop pressing the monitor down because it was so painful and begging to push. This is when my husband really stepped up to keep me calm and focused. At 8:30, I was finally given the clear to push and 36 minutes later, my beautiful daughter was born. Liliana Vivienne was 5 pounds 11 ounces and 19 inches long. The weight was a total shock as I had gestational diabetes. Even though I never had time to write a birth plan,  I was still able to have the birth I wanted - unmedicated, immediate skin to skin, delayed cord clamping and no episiotomy. Liliana is healthy and her and I are doing well. Despite the unexpected circumstances you may face, I hope that all of you are able to have a positive birth experience. Good luck to all of you September mamas!