They say labor is different for every pregnancy and that was definitely the case for me. However, I have also heard that every labor after the first gets a bit easier and I can’t say that was true in my experience. Although quicker, labor itself was very difficult and painful, possibly more intense than my first time. Here’s what happened.

I began feeling mild cramps during the day on Sunday, December 6, 2020. I was just 2 days away from being 38 weeks pregnant. I went about my day as I normally would and thought nothing of it. Around 3pm I noticed the cramps were becoming more steady so I started counting them with my contractions timer app. By 8pm the pain was becoming more intense and my contractions were steadily 15 minutes apart. I told my husband I was having contractions but he took it lightly and said we should go to bed. (That’s a whole other story lol).

I put our daughter to bed and called the hospital around 11pm when contractions were 10 minutes apart. The doctor on call told me to call back when contractions were 5 minutes apart. By 2am my contractions were 5 minutes apart and the doctor told me to head to the hospital. I woke my husband and daughter, grabbed my hospital bag and we were off!

I was admitted at about 3am and my nurse told me I was already 4 cm dilated. By 5am I was 7 cm dilated and my water broke soon after. My contractions were strong but still manageable. I was not planning on getting an epidural at this point. The doctor on call came to examine me and decided to rupture my water (even though it had already ruptured on its own) to speed up the process. Once he did that, the intensity of my contractions went from 10 to 100! (In hindsight, I shouldn’t have allowed him to do that. My labor was progressing at a good pace on its own. Lesson learned.)

At that point, I could no longer stand the pain and requested an epidural ASAP! Thankfully the anesthesiologist was an angel and she did an amazing job with the whole process. They even let my husband stay in the room for support, which made me feel more at ease. Instantly I felt relief and I couldn’t feel my contractions anymore. Thank God!

It was about 6am and I was able to relax from this point on. The doctor examined me again around 7am and told me I was 10 cm dilated and ready to push!

The pushing phase lasted the longest. I felt like no matter how hard I pushed, nothing was happening. After what seemed like an eternity, my baby’s head started crowning. A few pushes later, our precious son was born at 8:57am, weighing in at 7lbs 8oz.

It’s so funny how no matter what you go through during labor, once you see your baby’s beautiful face, all is forgotten. To all my moms-to-be, may your faith be bigger than your fears. Keep your calm during the labor process and trust that all will be ok! Our bodies were made for this! We can do anything!

A few tips: Trust your intuition. Ask questions if you’re unsure about something. Don’t accept medical interventions unless absolutely necessary. Your body knows what to do if you just let it do its job. Lastly, if your pain becomes too intense to handle, get the epidural! You’ll feel so much better!