When our due date of October 24th came and went and I showed no signs of progress (my cervix was long, hard and completely closed), I started to panic. We selected an induction date for 42 weeks gestation: November 7th. My biggest fear was having a cesarean section. I worried inducing too early may lead to a domino effect of interventions that could eventually lead to a C-section even if my sweet baby wasn’t quite yet ready to meet the world (due dates can be fairly arbitrary, after all).

To help induce labor naturally, I kicked up my 2.5 mile daily walks to 5 miles, took evening primrose oil, and scheduled a set of three acupuncture appointments, which is the first of two ancient Chinese medicine practices we relied on for the birth of our baby (the second being placental encapsulation). Acupuncture is said to release oxytocin in the body, the natural hormone to initiate labor. I received three treatments over the course of four days at Hu Acupuncture and Chinese Herb in Arnold, Maryland and I can’t say enough about my experience. I could feel my body’s energy moving downward an outward but also felt deeply relaxed throughout each treatment. Less than 24 hours after my third and final treatment, I went into labor.

It was midnight on Saturday, October 29 and I had fallen asleep on the couch next to Alex while watching a movie. He nudged me awake so we could stumble upstairs to bed. When I rolled off the couch I felt an incredible weight drop in my pelvis. While I had felt similar sensations throughout the final weeks of pregnancy, this was much more intense. I went to bed with a lingering stomachache / backache complaining to Alex that this baby was never going to come! The stomachache / backache burned as I tossed and turned all night long until about 4:00am I realized this must be labor. I went downstairs and started to time the contractions, which were consistently about 10 minutes apart.

We had planned to labor at home as long as possible before heading to the hospital for my own comfort and to delay receiving an epidural. While I didn’t plan for a medication-free birth, I did want to allow my labor to naturally progress for as long as I could stand it before being offered the possibility of an epidural.

I knew we had a very long day ahead so I kept an eye on the contractions but allowed Alex to continue sleeping. I spent the morning blogging for work, playing with the cats, and making breakfast. Around 8:30am I couldn’t keep it a secret anymore and went to tell Alex our baby was on its way!

The contractions were now further apart – about 15 minutes – so we took a long walk around the neighborhood to help things progress. Things picked back up by the time we got home and we went about our day eating lunch and watching the Redskins play in London (okay, Alex watched while I labored on a birthing ball). I was still getting enough relief between contractions that they were uncomfortable but not too painful. Once they became more intense, I knew it was time to shower and get ready just in case we needed to head to the hospital soon.

I was styling my hair – taking breaks to put down the hot tools and lean against the wall when each contraction came on – when I realized my contractions had been about 3.5 minutes apart for 2 hours (I used the Full Term app to track them). As the contractions became more intense and dressing myself became a very slow process, I knew it was time to leave. It was about 6:00pm.

This is what I’ll refer to as my first moment of panic. Alex is packing the car and I turn to him and say, “I want to go back inside the house. I can’t get in the car.” What had made the contractions so manageable up to this point was my ability to move / sway as they passed. The idea of sitting stationary in a car – even for just 15 minutes – terrified me. It took some coaxing from Alex (“well you can’t have the baby at home!”) before I pulled it together.

At the hospital, the nurses checked my progress and I was 4cm dilated and 100% effaced. The doctor on call let me know that my body had made enough progress compared to a week ago, it was fine for me to get an epidural. There was only one anesthesiologist on staff and he was in the middle of a C-section so we waited until he was available. Once the epidural was administered everything seemed fine and he went on his way. It was during my next contraction that I quickly realized the epidural hadn’t worked at all – it had only numbed my left leg. I had read horror stories online about women whose epidurals never worked. My nurse had checked me moments earlier and told us she thought I was 5 cm dilated but my amniotic sac was in the way so she wasn’t sure.

This is what I’ll refer to as my second moment of panic. I was 20 hours into labor and only halfway there! I was only 5 cm dilated but the contractions felt intense! With one numb leg I’d have to labor lying down instead of moving / swaying like I needed to! The anesthesiologist came back to re-administer the epidural and THANKFULLY it worked. When my nurse re-checked me she said I was actually 7 cm dilated, so the pain I’d been feeling was intense because I was approaching transition.

The nurse turned the lights out and encouraged Alex and I to rest. I was pretty exhausted at this point so although I couldn’t sleep, I tried to rest as best as I could. At one point I felt enough uncomfortable pressure that my doctor came in to break my water. Sometime later I felt the need to push. After a couple “practice pushes” with my nurse, she told me to stop and listened for the baby’s heartbeat. Then she called in the doctor. Baby’s heart rate had dropped and the doctor explained to me that if I couldn’t push the baby quickly enough past a certain point, there was a chance I’d need a C-section or she would need to assist with vacuum extraction.

This was my third and final moment of panic. Cue the waterworks. After a quick pep talk from my doctor, I was prepared to push this baby out if it was the last thing I ever did. With a fresh wave of adrenaline and determination, I pushed baby far enough that we were in the clear. An hour and 15 minutes later, sweet little Dakota Raine arrived.

Alex and I are so glad the nurses immediately grabbed Alex’s phone to snap photos of Dakota’s first moments on this earth. We’ll treasure these photos forever. Next time around, we’ll consider having a birth photographer to capture more of the experience.

This was by far the most empowering and exhilarating (albeit challenging) experiences of my life. In these moments, I discovered a newfound awe of my own power as a woman: my own power to create new life. Of course, I couldn’t have done it without the support of Alex. He was by my side, holding me up while I swayed through each contraction and cheering me on in that final hour. By the time we left the hospital I hadn’t slept in 4 days (Saturday’s midnight labor wasn’t helpful and baby Dakota had a knack for cluster feeding from the start) and his continued care for mama + baby in those first few tiring days is what got our little family through it. Our sweet little babe has thrust us right into the uncertain throws of first-time parenting, and our hearts are completely full because of it.