I had my bloody show yesterday at about 7pm, just some unusual pink discharge. Nothing major but I was also having slight cramping that eventually became more and more regular. We decided to go for a short walk to get things going if it really was labor! My contractions went from every 17 mins, to every 10 mins, to every 5 minutes, to every 3 minutes. To be honest with you, they just felt like mild period cramps. 🤷🏽‍♀️ I thought of I went in I’d get sent back home. I decided that maybe I should go in since they were consistently so close together, so off we went! They got a little worse in the car but still bearable. When the nurse checked me at the hospital I was 5cm 80% effaced. The doctor wanted to check me and break my water, but I told her no. I knew that water was cushioning me from pain. 😂 so she refused to admit me and told me I was not in active labor. She said my contractions were inconsistent and not painful enough to be active labor, so I needed to walk so we could see what happened.

I didn’t walk. I bounced on a ball 3 times and told the nurses about 10 mins later that I needed to push. 😂 I felt her head! So they checked me and sure enough, I dilated from a 5 to a 10 in 10 minutes!!!! Doctor came in, I was already pushing involuntarily (the 2 contractions I had while pushing HURT. I didn’t scream, I didnt cry, but I did say “ow it hurts” and almost passed out bc the doctor was trying to manually stretch me. I grabbed her hands and threw them off of me and said “don’t touch”. I knew I wasn’t to push bc I felt the burning, I knew I would tear if I did anything other than take a moment to relax. My body relaxed fully, almost like all pain went away. My water gushed EVERYWHERE and the head popped right out, and then the body.

Ladies, let me tell you, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. not letting that doctor break my water saved me an immense amount of pain. Her water protected me and her all the way until the end. Not having my doctor stretch me manually when I knew I was to stretch on my own saved me from tearing. I had a few very painful contractions that I really had o breath through but not once did I think I was dying. I knew the end was near and my body was working so hard. You can do it! Eva Marie was born at 5:30 am, an hour and a half after arrival to the hospital, weighing 7.14lbs. No tears, I’m in no pain, and I’m happy. Baby is healthy and calm. 💕