Since I enjoyed reading birth stories on here, I thought I would share mine. On Tuesday, November 22nd, around 7 pm I started feeling a mild cramping feeling in my lower abdomen that would come and go about every ten minutes. On the 23rd I would be exactly 39 weeks along. Soon the mild cramping went to what I knew had to be contractions. I could usually tell when one was coming on. They were pretty painful at first, I couldn't sleep that night because the pain would wake me up. I breathed through them by taking deep breaths and counting down from 10. I tried to stay relaxed through the pain so that I could dilate and push baby down. I'd been praying to feel these though since it meant I'd be that much closer to meeting our baby, but man it was pretty painful for me! Not as excruciating as I thought it would be, but bad. 

Wednesday November 23rd: I had an appointment with my doctor at 8. On Monday (the 21st)  I had high blood pressure and so the doctor told me to take the day off of work on Tuesday and then we'd see what it looked like on Wednesday. My husband and I went ahead and packed our bags, he took the day off because we thought this was it, and headed to the hospital for the appointment. I was checked and my blood pressure was back to normal and I had only dilated to a 2. Now at this point for some reason my contractions were further apart from each other than they had been, so this made some sense to me that I was only at a two, but I had been having these things all night long!! My doctor told me to go back home, come back when they're closer together, today might not be the day. At this point I'm scared because I'm not sure how I can just cope with these awful contractions! So we go home disappointed... 

At home the contractions started getting more and more frequent, and closer together. They were pretty inconsistent though. They'd be three minutes apart... then 7... then 2 minutes... My mom came over to check on us and all of the sudden the contractions went from 6 minutes apart to 3 minutes. My mom was hilarious. She got all excited and said those were really close together!! After another one she told me this was it and we needed to go! She ran outside and got my husband who was just doing things outside around the house. I heard her yell "it's time to go!!!" And from then on we kicked it into overdrive and went to the hospital. I'm not sure how much longer I would have labored at home if she hadn't been there. 

When we got there, we went to the labor and delivery floor and checked in. The receptionist lady tells us to have a seat... I'm thinking "have a SEAT? This baby is coming!!!" So I stayed standing while this lady is asking for my license and insurance. Contractions are PAINFUL at this point. People in the waiting room are probably staring as I take deep breaths and am like sweating.  The receptionist cant find my freaking insurance card that I JUST HANDED TO HER and I'm about to just run through the hospital doors and beg someone for an epidural and get this baby out!! She finds the card and this nurse has me take all my clothes off and wear the gown. I throw my clothes off and I'm dilated to a 7. She starts asking me if I want an epidural and at this point I'm begging for one. They send me to a room and the anesthesiologist is busy, he'll be here in 20 minutes they said. NOPE I waited an hour, squeezing my husband's hand through each contraction. I was so thankful for the breaks after each contraction... when I finally got the epidural, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I couldn't feel the contractions. I started letting family and friends in and we just laughed and talked while we waited on baby. Baby's head was pressed on my rectum, causing some gas that I couldn't feel coming due to the epidural so I'd be talking and just all the sudden pass gas and we'd all laugh. 😂

We get to a point where I'm feeling some pressure in my bottom. The nurses gear up and I start pushing. I pushed for about 30 minutes before baby's heart rate would start dropping during contractions. That's when they got the doctor in the room. They put an oxygen mask on my face and we did tug of war trying to push baby out. Doc was strong! Finally, after what I think was another hour, the doctor was getting concerned with her heart rate so he told me he was either going to use forceps to get her out, or we'd need to do a c-section. I was terrified of a c-section so of course I chose forceps. She finally came out after the forceps and she had pooped in the womb so they rushed to get anything out of her lungs. I had to get stitches and an episiotomy, but it was so worth it to finally be able to hold my daughter. We welcomed Claire Elizabeth into the world at 8:56 pm November 23rd, a week early. She was 5 lbs and 4 oz. She is a teeny tiny baby! We spent thanksgiving in the hospital but didn't care one bit. We love her dearly, we've been doing just fine breast feeding, and we're so glad to be home from the hospital! 

The nurses, doctors, and staff at my hospital were absolutely amazing. There was also a lactation consultant there on Thanksgiving day-without her I'm not sure I'd even be breastfeeding now.  I have a whole new respect for what they do each day at their jobs. 

To all the moms that go all natural - PROPS TO YOU. Those contractions are rough!!!  

To all the moms patiently (or impatiently) waiting on your loved one to arrive, the time will come sooner than you know it! You might be exhausted from pregnancy but I promise there is an end, and it's a beautiful one. ❤️