I'm going to try and keep this short and sweet...

My first labor started with the bloody show on a Friday and I ended up delivering my son in a Tues. It was a long and tiring process with many interventions that left me pretty scared to give birth a second time. I decided to hire a doula and try my best to make this birth as little like my first as possible...

Well it was 100% different!

I was due January 3rd and my doctor gave me the option for induction on Dec 30th. I opted not to be induced in hopes of my body and baby knowing when the time is right. When he wasn't here a week later we scheduled another induction for January 7th at 6:30 a.m. I was a little disappointed because I wanted a spontaneous birth but I was ready to meet my baby. I was super swollen and could barely sleep.

My baby had other plans....

At 12:20 a.m. (6 hours before induction time) I woke up to a lightening contraction that shot me out of bed. Figuring it was nothing, I got up to get a drink and go potty. While in the bathroom a felt a little gush but paid no attention to it because I figured it was urine. As I was walking back to my room I had another STRONG contraction and that's when I knew this was the real deal. I woke my husband and told him I was in labor and his response... "How do you know?" 😂 I replied with "because I'm not stupid!" Lol. So I called my doula and she recommended getting in the tub and timing my contractions. I took one look at the tub and knew that if I was getting in there that I would not be getting out! At this point, 20 mins after my first contraction, they were now 3 mins apart and intense! I started throwing up so I told my husband we need to get to the hospital asap. We arrived to the hospital 40 mins after the first contractions and barely made it to the room. The nurse checked me and I was at a 7! Holy crap! I was so thankful that I wasn't at a 2 and being dramatic 😂 So the next contraction comes along and I get the urge to push! I told the nurses and they had to page the ER doc because my doctor hadn't made it there yet. It was blizzarding of course so she was on her way slowly. After one more contraction the nurse checked me and I was at 10! I breathed thru a couple more and finally my doc came running in dressed in pajamas and slippers and delivered my baby in one big push!

Total labor/delivery time was 1 hour and 15 mins! Exact opposite of the first birth!! I couldn't believe it! My doula never even made it in time lol.

The two things I believe helped was having a doula and taking Red Raspberry Leaf capsules in my last trimester!

If you made it this far thanks for reading!! 😊😙