My due date was this past Saturday, October 21. Early, around 1:30 AM on Friday the 20th, I started having contractions and went to the hospital around 5:30 that morning. I was in active labor from about 7 until 7 that night, where I was stuck at 7 cm! I had caught an infection that day too, and me and baby's heart rate's were elevated because of the stress my body was under. The docs decided it would be best to have a c-section, and later that night, my son was born. Nothing went according to my birth plan (I had wanted to go natural but my contractions were so painful, I got an epidural around 5 cm, I wanted to do skin-to-skin and breastfeeding immediately, but he was taken right to the NICU because of my fever and infection, and I definitely wasn't anticipating a c-section!) but I'd do it all over again for him. His birth was the epitome of "when man makes plan, god laughs"-- a good first lesson in parenting!

We're all home now, healthy and doing well! I just wanted to share my story because I know emergency c-sections can feel so jarring. To all other mamas who went through this, we are warriors! I hope your recoveries are going well too :)