I was pretty nervous going into labor and birth but it wasn't bad at all! Hopefully this story helps some FTMs worry a little less!

My due date was Sunday, 3/24 and I finished up with work on Wednesday 3/20. I also saw my doctor on 3/20 who checked my cervix and I was 1cm dialated, she said like most first time moms I'd probably go past due so I made some appointments for the next week and we talked a little bit about induction.

On Thursday, 3/21, I was enjoying my first day of spring break. I met my mom for pizza and shopping and while we were in a a store around 2pm I started to get some light cramping which I assumed were Braxton Hicks which I get all the time. I bought myself some water and didn't think much of it until I realized while driving home that they were coming in about 5 minute intervals. I wasn't in real pain so I figured I'd just keep an eye on things and ran a few more errands. By mid afternoon I realized that the cramps were coming about 3 minutes apart so I headed home and relaxed for a while, watched TV, unloaded the dishwasher, had a snack...etc. I texted some friends who are moms who not so gently suggested that I call my doctor 😂. The doctor said that even though the pain was mild I should go to the hospital, so I called my husband who was headed home at the time and added a few last items to the hospital bag. By the time my husband got home around 5:30 I was getting uncomfortable but as long as I was able to move during the cramps it wasn't so bad. We hit a ton of traffic on the way to the hospital and after sitting in the car for over 40 minutes with the cramping 2-3 minutes apart I wasn't a happy camper. It felt most like the cramps you'd get with bad food poisoning but all through my abdomen and pelvis.

At the hospital they checked me and I was still 1cm dialated, I was so disappointed and the midwife suggested that I walk the halls for two hours and try to squat during contractions to get things going. After an hour of waking the halls with my husband pressing on my back through each contraction I was very uncomfortable and I went back and asked for some kind of pain management. The doctor checked me and I was still 1cm but obviously in some pain, so they gave me benadryl and morphine so that I could rest a little but said if I didn't make progress over the next few hours that we'd need to figure something else out and I might need to go home. I was so discouraged but at least the medicine helped with the pain. After two hours I woke up when the medicine stopped working and the doctor checked me again, I'd made it to 3cm in that time so I was admitted to the hospital and was so relieved.

After I got to labor and delivery things were smooth sailing. I had the best nurses and got an epidural within about an hour which was amazing (1am). Once I was resting comfortably my husband and I watched some TV and slept. The worst part was the blood pressure cuff that went off every 30 minutes and woke me up! Around 3:30am the nurse let me know that the epidural had caused the contractions to space out a little so they gave me a little bit of pitocin which got them going again. At 7am the doctor checked me and I was at 9cm and almost ready! I asked if I could wait past 10cm and labor down for a while and they said sure. From the epidural I felt no pain but could still move around just fine and feel the contractions as pressure so once I started feeling the contractions super low I told my doctor and it almost felt like my body was pushing on its own. At 9am I started to push which wasn't bad at all. None of the TV drama with 100 people in the room and lots of shouting, just me and my husband plus a nurse and a resident, and the doctor came in and out. I'd push for 3 ten second intervals, then while waiting for the next contraction we'd chat about restaurants, weekend plans...etc. I was so scared of the pushing part but everyone was really calm and reassuring. After only 35 minutes baby Emily was born at 9:36am and we did some skin to skin while the doctor stitched me up. I have some second degree tearing which I was really scared about, but getting stitched didn't hurt at all (still had the epidural) and since then I've been taking Motrin and a half dose of Percocet and it's not so bad. The swelling is more uncomfortable than the stitches, but the pain hasn't been worse than a 2/10 so it's super manageable and I'll switch to just Tylenol and Motrin for day 2.

After Emily was born we were moved to a postpartum floor and we hung out and got some take out burgers. I took a shower, baby got a bath, things were good. The families stopped by around 6pm that night and we're glad we had them wait to visit, we had a low key day just the three of us and felt much more human by the time they came by.

I hope this birth story is comforting. It wasn't anything like movies and a few times during the labor and birth I even joked with my husband that we could start planning the second kid because this was so not a big deal.

Here's baby Emily. Born 3/22 7lbs 3oz and 21 inches long 😍.