Exactly how I expected it would be

by J. Alexis Johnson

My daughter's birth was EXACTLY how I expect it would be. As the due date was approaching my doctor was prepping me for signs of labor. Due to a high tolerance for pain, I told my doctor that my only concern was that I would have contractions and not know. Sure enough a couple of weeks before I gave birth I went for my routine check-up and was having a minor contraction on the examination table and didn't know it. Now knowing what it felt like, I knew what to look for if the contractions were to increase.

The morning of the day I was admitted to the hospital I got up to use the bathroom. I had just got back into bed and I felt a trickle of liquid run down my leg. I thought I hadn't wiped myself properly. As soon as I rose from the bed a gush of water came down, but I still thought it was urine. As I made my way to the bathroom it continued. To cut this short, I was admitted immediately because at the rate that the water was flowing my doctor anticipated the delivery would be sometime that evening. However, because I was not in labor, she had to induce. I still didn't go into full labor until 6 hrs later. 3 hrs of labor and 14 minutes pushing, with a natural birth (drug free), my daughter was born.