It’s been a wild ride to say the least. When I first found out I was pregnant I had spotting and I was given an ultrasound and they ended up saying that it was ectopic and needed surgery ASAP. I was rushed in and woke up in tons of pain and given medicine and then whisked away to my husband’s car. He was the one to tell me that they found nothing and that I was potentially still pregnant. My heart was so torn. Was I really still pregnant? Did the surgery that they just put me through maybe cause me to potentially miscarry? I refused anymore pain meds because if I was still pregnant I didn’t want my baby to have anymore drugs than what I was already given between surgery and waking up. I wouldn’t know until the weekend passed until I could be seen again. But sure enough after a weekend of tears and prayers, we got to the dr office and there was a heartbeat. During the first trimester I was so sick. Throwing up nonstop and I also was working at a very busy hospital at the time. But I knew that I was blessed to be able to still be pregnant. Second trimester got better in regards with throwing up however I did end up with kidney stones and that was miserable. I suffered and suffered and they kept saying to take pain meds but once again, I didn’t want my baby to be exposed to that. It was a rough time but it got better. Fast forward to the third trimester and things are looking pretty good. I feel great and all of that pain is behind me. Until my husband accidentally cuts off his pinky finger while on the phone with me. He starts screaming and telling me to come get him from the property we own. I’m only 32 weeks pregnant at that time and I am STRESSING. He begs me not to go into labor. I stayed strong for him and for our baby. He got it reattached and I was thankful. A couple of days later my mom calls me (she lives in another state and also has muscular dystrophy) and tells me that she fell and broke her pelvis in 3 places and won’t be able to come anymore to see me give birth. That completely crushed me because I had been looking forward to seeing her for so long. But everything happens for a reason and I believe God has a plan. I had to trust that because I felt like I was going to lose my mind. When I was 39+3 and it was 7:30pm, my husband was putting together our baby’s dresser and I had gotten up to use the bathroom and saw that I had some bloody mucus plug. I told my husband and he said not to get my hopes up. So I sat back down and relaxed but about 20 minutes later I felt something. I’m a FTM so I didn’t know what contractions were supposed to feel like. But I just started timing them. They started kind of slow and were about 20 minutes apart. After a while I told my husband that I had been timing them and that I thought that it’d be a good idea to maybe nap before things got crazy. I’ve read stories that labor can go on for a long time for FTM and I wanted to be rested. He had no idea that I had been timing them. So he took a shower and got himself ready for when I told him it was time. Even though it could still be hours away. And that’s if I’m even in real labor. About 2 hours of when I started timing them, I couldn’t lay down comfortably anymore. They were getting painful. I called my midwife and she said to call her again when they were 3-5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute. That was around 10pm. I tried and tried to get comfortable but nothing was working. I eventually got into the shower and the hot water felt so nice. When I got out and started timing my contractions again they were lasting 40 seconds but about 3 minutes apart. But again, I wasn’t sure if this was false labor or what. I called midwife again and she said to head the hospital. I was joking with my husband and saying that if this is false labor then I’m in for a real treat when the real thing comes because during my contractions I couldn’t talk. I show up and they check me and I’m 5cm and I’m in labor! Woohoo! I was so excited. I ended up laboring for four more hours and I tried everything to cope and do it naturally. My breaking point was when I was in the laboring tub and a contraction hit me so hard that I started throwing up. That’s when I tapped and asked for an epidural. I was at 7cm when I got the epidural. From there, it was amazing. I napped for an hour and then I felt so much pressure. I got checked and apparently my water was bulging out but it hadn’t yet broke. I was at 9cm. So they broke it for me and a little while later I started to push. I pushed for 20 minutes, I had a first degree tear and needed one stitch. My baby was born on 11/19 at 8:19 in the morning was 19 inches long and weighed 7 pounds 9 oz. She is a happy healthy baby and I couldn’t be more grateful. She was worth everything and more. Sorry for the long rant but I felt like it was time to share. 💗