Birth Story

I am a first time mom and I recently gave birth to my first son in July 2018. I was not prepared for what was about to happen next. I am the type of person that thinks that she knows everything so I thought that I had this in the bag and I was going to be the type of mom that had her life together, and it was going to be easy. The day I gave birth—my water broke at 3 AM and I didn't know what my water breaking would feel like, so I thought I had peed myself, changed, and went back to sleep. I woke up again to the thought that I had peed myself again. I got worried and sent my mom a text asking her what your water breaking felt like, and sure enough she assured me that my water had broke. I woke my husband up to tell him that it was time to head to the hospital and he decides to jump in the shower and start SHAVING!!!!! I was wondering why he decided to start getting ready like if we were going out and he said, "I have to get ready to look nice for the hospital pictures." I was so worried and scared that I couldn't even bring myself to laugh. I was ripping open the box that contained the car seat and stroller that we had not assembled yet. I was also sad cause I wanted to do my hair so that I could look nice in the hospital photos too. He finished showering and getting ready and we got in the car while I wrapped a towel around my legs and put it on the seat so I didn't dirty the seat, and we arrived at 4:15 AM. Once we arrived we were so confused, because nobody was around until we saw a nurse and my husband is very impatient and kept telling me to ask the nurse if I was in labor because he had to go into work at 8 AM the following day. Once it was confirmed that I was in labor I thought I was a badass, 'cause I kept thinking to myself 'I don't even feel any type of pain, I totally got this.' WOW!!! I was totally wrong!!! They gave me medication to speed up my contractions, and when I got to five centimeters dilated I was in tears because I could not handle the pain. I did not want to get the epidural but I really could not handle the pain, so I got it and when I tell you that saying it was the best four hour nap that I have had in my whole nine months of my pregnancy was an understatement. After waking up and feeling just pressure the epidural started wearing off, and I found myself trembling a lot. I kept getting asked if I was cold, but I wasn't—it was the fact that my body was starting to feel the pain. Finally, it was time to push, and finally my son came out and I could not contain my excitement—I was beyond blessed. I was crying because I could not believe that I was able to do what I just did. Being a mom is super scary, especially giving birth at such a young age and not knowing what's in store for you. I love being a mom and I have so much respect for moms now because of what they go through on a daily basis. We experience something so beautiful yet so dangerous, that I feel is amazing; women are amazing.