I planned to try a natural birth with no medication & no interventions that weren't necessary. I had a doula. But my doula was not a good match for my husband & I. She was rude to my husband & was getting on my nerves too. By 7pm, I asked her to leave and gave into the pain and wanted to try drugs. By this point, I'd already had 3 crying breakdowns because of the pain. My midwife offered an epidural or trying an IV drug called Nubain. I figured I would try that first because I really wanted to avoid the epidural. It helped at first but once it was almost 11pm & I still was only 7-8cm, I knew I couldn't keep going without something more substantial. I got the epidural around 11:30pm. & they broke my water shortly after. I was able to rest for a very little bit but then the baby's heart rate was slowing. They gave me oxygen & kept turning me in different positions to see which way the baby would like best. Twice, a whole hoard of nurses came in to help & it was a little scary. By the second time, the midwife checked me & said the baby was ready!

I pushed for 20 mins & then our big surprise arrived! We didn't know what we were having & we had a little girl!

The cord was around her neck, which is why her heart rate was dropping, but it wasn't around tight enough to cause any complications.

I'm slightly disappointed that my birth plan didn't work out. But I know that you can never really plan for giving birth & I'm just glad I was able to deliver my baby girl safely and that she's healthy.