My LO is 6 months old, but I didn't join HB until later on and I thought I would share for fun.

I had been told repeatedly throughout my pregnancy that my baby was "measuring big." I came to really hate those words. As we approached 40 weeks, one doctor told me that we needed to discuss a C-section and I told her absolutely not as I was very against induction or a scheduled C-section unless something was medically wrong me me or the baby. Thankfully, another doctor in the practice (and the one that delivered, yay!) told me that I could go to 42 weeks and she had no problem letting me see if my body could deliver this "big baby."

Fast forward to my exact due date and I woke up that morning and thought my water had broken. My husband called the doctor against my wishes because I was being silly and didn't' want to be that idiot that ran tot he doctor the instant I thought something was wrong :). I went in for a check and was told no, everything was the same and they would see me at my appointment next week. I left there and thought I felt a contraction, but went on to do some shopping and have lunch with my husband and go home.

I kept having horrible back pain all day. A funny side story too is that my parents had a scheduled weekend trip to NYC and were leaving the next day and kept calling me to see how I felt because they didn't' want to leave town. I kept telling them I was fine and just had a bad backache and go on their trip. Needless to say, the backache became worse and worse until about 6 p.m. I couldn't eat dinner and started Googling "backache and labor." I was still in such denial because I felt fine except for back pain, but my husband finally told me to get in the car and we were going to the hospital for a check.

I fussed at him the entire way to the hospital and told him this was going to be the 2nd time I was sent home today and I felt like a big idiot. I remember joking with the nurses as I went into the room to be checked that this was stupid and they were just going to send me home. At that piont, the nurse looked at me and said, "Honey, you are 9 centimeters and we need to get you into a room, NOW."

All I remember feeling was panic. The nurse was super sweet and kept telling me to breathe and they managed to get me into a room and set up and we were pushing within the hour! It was surreal. I had totally planned to have an epidural and they were kind enough to try (probably to just ensure I didn't go into a panic attack) but it didn't work. My husband was frantically texting my parents and sister to get to the hospital and it was go time!

Then my LO decided he'd get his big head stuck and 3 hours of pushing ensued. I don't' really remember the last hour because I spiked a temperature and had to have oxygen, but I powered through and pushed my 9lb, 14 oz big baby boy out! I remember my first words to my husband being, "We are never doing this again," haha. He was beautiful and alert and he best thing that has ever happened to us.

I have a new respect for my body and for trusting in it that it could do what it needed to do, even with my "big baby." And I always tell new mothers-to-be to go the hospital if they even feel a twinge and think they might be in labor and don't hesitate!