After 31 hours of early labor and another 4 1/2 of active labor, I gave birth to my first child on Monday, August 24th. 😍 Early labor began at 6 pm on Saturday 8.22, with minute-long contractions every 10-15 minutes. By 7 am they were every 3-5 minutes apart and 1 1/2 minutes long and had intensified to the point that I was unable to speak or move during them. My husband and I checked into the hospital at 9 am and found out I was barely dilated a 2. We got some lunch and headed back home. I continued to labor, with contractions spread out 10-15 minutes apart again. These continued all day through Sunday and by 1 am Monday I was feeling VERY discouraged that even though they were much more intense, they were not any closer together. I had been planning and hoping for a totally unmedicated birth my entire pregnancy, but by this time, after not sleeping since Friday night, I was a little nervous that I would be too exhausted from lack of sleep to make it without an epidural. At 3 am I got into the shower to calm myself down. By 4 am, contractions were 3 minutes apart, extremely intense, and up to 2 minutes long. We headed back to the hospital and when we were admitted at 4:45 am, I was dilated 5-6 cm. The l/d floor was totally empty and very quiet.  I labored in the tub for an hour and was examined again and at this point I was nearly to an 8, and the OB nurse told me to let her know if I began to feel the urge to push. The next contraction I had an overwhelming urge to push, but breathed through it. Contractions were now about 4 minutes long with 30 seconds between. I had to stand completely still with my head against my husbands chest to focus my way through each one. I cannot even begin to explain how intense the need to push was! It was by far the most challenging part of labor for me. By 8:15 am my OB had gowned up and had me lay on my side, with my leg pulled back and prepared to push. My water broke spontaneously at this point.  I began to push at 8:26, and she was born at 8:44 am. The most amazing part was when I was able to guide her out of me once her shoulders emerged. I will never forget the perfect, squishy slimy wiggly weight of her on my chest for the first time. Baby ended up being perfectly healthy and I had no vaginal tearing. I am so incredibly grateful to have been able to have the exact birthing experience I had been dreaming of the past 9 months. She was born the day before my 25th birthday, and I couldn't have imagined a more perfect birthday gift!