So I woke up around 5 am having contractions but I thought they were just Braxton Hicks and nothing serious because I just went to the OB the day before and was told that I was only 1cm dilated at 38 weeks. The OB then proceeded to strip my membrane to help get my contractions going but I had no clue it would actually send me into labor. So while contracting I began timing them to see if they were real and were 7 minutes apart. Son started googling stuff and found something that said to take a warm bath to ease Braxton Hicks contraction so I did just that, it was no help and the pain was still intense but bearable. My husband woke up around 7 am and I told him what had been going on and he asked if I wanted to go to the hospital but chose to wait a bit longer to be sure.

By 12 noon we ended up going to the hospital, which was an hour away from our home. Once I got seen the nurses said I was still only 1 cm dilated and should go home and wait some more because they want to see the contractions get a bit more intense before admitting me. By this time it’s about 5pm and still having contractions. So we drove an hour back home to wait for the contractions to get stronger. As soon as we got in the house the contractions were so strong I could barely stand through them, I was on the phone with my mom and she was helping me breathe through them while in tears at this point. My husband and I went back to the hospital again and had to wait in the lobby for them to call me to the back. While I was getting checked in my water broke in the lobby, so now I’m sitting with wet pants and in pain.

Now it’s about 7 pm, so once they got me in the back and checked me once again I was now 4cm and was told that I would be admitted this time. The contractions were coming so fast and I was so uncomfortable I couldn’t stand it. I kept asking the nurse for an epidural but the anesthesiologists were all busy but she kept calling. I kept getting the urge to poop and told the nurse, she told me that was the baby and that I should hold it as hard as I can because I don’t want to have the baby in a triage room. About an hour later I was 7cm and the nurse called said that I was dilating really fast and needed a room. As the nurse was coaching me through the contractions, the anesthesiologist came in to administer the epidural and by this time I’m already 9cm dilated. I got the epidural and the nurse had to rush me, my husband, and my aunt up to the delivery room. Once we got in the delivery room it was 10:15 and after 4 pushes my son shot out, head arms and the entire body. He did not gradually come out as I expected lol and I ended up getting 27 stitches. However, it was a beautiful experience and I’m so happy to have my healthy 7 pound 6.5 ounce baby.