Used to love reading these when I was pregnant, so I’m finally getting around to writing one. I started getting contractions while Thanksgiving grocery shopping on Saturday (the 17th, which was my due date). I decided to go home and sit down to see if they would stay consistent. They were coming every three minutes for a few hours but they weren’t painful, just uncomfortable. I called my doctor because of the whole “5-1-1” rule to see if I should go in, even though I wasn’t in pain, and she told me to go. I went in and was at 2 cm and 80% effaced, and they had my mom and I walk for an hour to see if I progressed. I didn’t, so they sent me home. They stayed the somewhat consistently the same until Monday around 6, when they started to get more uncomfortable and came every seven minutes. I wasn’t sure if it was the real thing or not and I didn’t want to waste my time going to the hospital just to get sent home again, so I sat at home and waited it out. Around midnight, I decided to bounce on my yoga ball to try and speed things up and almost immediately, my contractions sped up to every three minutes and got very uncomfortable. I called my mom and boyfriend and we went to the hospital, and I was at 3 cm. They told us to walk for a bit but as soon as we got a couple halls from the birthing place, my contractions got BAD. I ended up laying on the floor every thirty seconds crying (I have a terrible pain tolerance) until we just decided to go back early. They checked me and since I only ended up walking for like five minutes, I hadn’t dilated more, so they had me sit in the jacuzzi to see if relaxation would help me progress. They HURT and the jacuzzi did not help me feel better whatsoever, but it did help me progress a centimeter, so they decided to admit me. At this point, I was in so much pain and my contractions were coming every minute, so I immediately asked for laughing gas to help alleviate the pain before the epidural. It mildly helped, but it more-so just made me feel high, so I asked for the epidural. They told me I had to get my IV in first, but they would get that started immediately. Here comes one of my least favorite parts of the whole experience: my veins were quivering so between the nurse and IV therapy, they ended up blowing TEN VEINS before finally getting it in (my arms are still all bruised up). But minutes later, the anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural. It really didn’t hurt at all, only felt the numbing shot, and I had instant relief (100% would recommend, I can’t even imagine how painful labor must be naturally, because I felt like I was dying 4 cm in). Before the epidural, I was so uncomfortable and grumpy, and anytime my mom or my boyfriend would look at me, I would snap and tell them not to look at me, or give them the death glare. After about an hour without pain, I started feeling extreme pressure in my vagina, but I still had a half hour till they were gonna come back to check my cervix. My mom didn’t take me seriously because of my pain tolerance and assumed I was at about 6 cm, so she went to go get lunch while the nurse was checking me. I was at 9 1/2 centimeters and fully effaced, and the nurse told me it would be about thirty minutes. I panicked because my mom was my main support person here and I really wanted her in the room when my daughter came and she wasn’t picking up the phone, so my boyfriend sent his family on a full-on man hunt to find her to make her come back. By the time my mom came back, I was bawling and screaming asking for the nurse to come back because I needed to PUSH!! they rushed in and checked me, and I was at 10 cm, so they called my doctor and had me start pushing while we waited for her. It was BAD, the ring of fire is REAL. But finally, about thirty seconds after my doctor got in the room, my little girl was out. I ended up with a second degree tear, but you really don’t remember the pain or feel anything once you hold your baby for the first time. She was 7 pounds 12 ounces and 22 1/2 inches long (tall dad). ❤️