I’m a FTM and my baby girl was due March 24, 2018 so when I started getting frequent cramps on March 19th I was shocked! (Everyone, including myself, thought I’d go well past my due date). The contractions, which felt like hard period cramps, started at 6am on the 19th and continued to get more frequent throughout the day. Around 11pm I told my husband I wanted to go to the hospital. My contractions were lasting one minute and were two to three minutes apart.

Got to the hospital at 11:30pm I was 4cm dilated and 75% effaced. 6 hours later I was 5cm dilated and still 75% effaced. 3 hours later I still had not progressed so my doctor broke my water. Literally 10 minutes later the contractions got super intense and were one minute apart but after handling the pain for 2 hours I was STILL 5cm! I wanted only a natural birth and after handling the pain of contractions for 19+ hours I thought I could do it! But the pain was so intense after my water broke that I couldn’t imagine going through those contractions for another estimated 5+ hours (I was already exhausted). After 27 hours of early and active labor I begged for the epidural. I stayed perfectly still while they stuck my back with needles and loudly moaned/slightly screamed through every contraction. Eventually the pain subsided but I was still at 5cm 😫. I ended up needing pitocin which helped get me from 5cm to 9cm in 3 hours!

When it was time to push I pushed for 1.5 hours. My doctor doesn’t believe in episiotomys so she helped me stretch and massage my baby’s head out and let me pull her out of me and onto my chest. It was honestly the most magical moment of my life ✨ I felt like I pulled my clone out of me! I questioned so many times during labor why and how people could have multiple children but I’d honestly do it all over again after seeing her face.

I managed not to tear 🙌 and the postpartum recovery hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would. Just be ready to go through a lot of pads, sitting down slowly, and get used to filling a peri bottle with warm water every time you need to pee!! Also breastfeeding is super rewarding but I didn’t expect the pain of engorgement when my milk came in. Feed often and pump to help relieve the pain! And don’t let your baby sleep for more than 3 hours at a time or you’ll have a terrible first night home like I did lol. Good luck to all the mamas out there! We got this 💪

Carolina James Harris

6lbs 14oz / 20.5inches