Finally, I get to tell my story! For a few weeks now I have been doing everything to prepare my body for a semi easier labor, walking, eating pineapple, taking primrose oil, and drinking red raspberry leaf tea. All the things that are supposed to better prepare your cervix, uterus and make for an easier labor. I finally decide to self induce at 38 weeks. Sunday night at 5:45 after spending a long while at the gym walking, I decided to drink a little bit of castor oil (no judgement please, we all have our different points of view). I pooped a couple times after a couples hours of course, it's a laxative but after about 6 hours from taking it I starting having contractions about every 2-5 minutes, so I went to the hospital. Turns out contractions were consistent, i was dilated to a 1.5 and still a little thick and after an hour of being there I didn't dilate anymore so I got sent home. When I finally got home it was about 4:15, I fell asleep and woke up at about 5:30 to hard contractions, when I got to the hospital 10 minutes later I was in active labor and while checking my cervix, which by the way I was at 3cm,  my water broke (6:18am). Contractions hit harder than I ever thought imaginable and all I could think was how I'm gonna stick to getting no epidural.  By the next time I got checked  a little over an hour later and in full blown contractions, I was 8cm dilated and my body wanted to push! I dilated to 10cm within the following minute and I pushed for a total of 5 minutes. Rayne Marie was born at 8am exactly, 6lbs 10oz, 19in. FTM, I did this with no meds, no epidural, and I didn't tear at all. I am so grateful for the strength I was given. Props to all moms, epidural or not, csection or not, induction or not. Childbirth is a painful and extraordinaryly beautiful thing. Welcome to the world Rayne Marie 💗