I was 37 weeks pregnant when I went to bed that evening thinking about something completely ordinary: clothes shopping. I didn’t realise that the little one in my tummy had other plans.
My husband and I were lying on the bed talking about our baby. We still needed a few more clothes, so we thought we would go shopping for them in about 20 minutes.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pulling sensation in my lower abdomen, followed by a feeling of something leaking. Initially, I thought it was urine, as leaking urine can happen during the third trimester. When I went to the bathroom, I noticed that the fluid had a little blood in it. So, we ran to the hospital.
As it was my first baby, I thought my contractions would start, the baby would come within a few hours, and that would be it. But what followed was almost 32 hours of contractions, waiting, an epidural, an unexpected emergency C-section, and finally meeting our little princess.
But that wasn’t the end of my birth story. It didn’t really feel like the story ended when she was born. The first few days brought another challenge I hadn’t expected: breastfeeding. This is the personal experience I want to share here, because it may help another mom who is preparing for her own birth.
A note before you read: This is purely my personal experience. I don’t remember every medical explanation the doctors gave me at the time, so I have only described what I remember and what I understood during labour. Every pregnancy, labour, and birth can be different.
At 37 Weeks, I Thought We Still Had Time
It was around 5:30 pm when we reached the hospital.
The midwife checked my cervix and told me I was only 1 cm dilated. They decided that I should stay at the hospital.
The doctor also did an ultrasound to check the baby. I was thinking, “Is my baby really going to come today?” At the same time, I thought the labour would probably take some time.
I just didn’t expect it to take almost 32 hours.
I was happy and nervous at the same time. I knew I was finally going to meet my baby, but I had no idea what the next few hours would bring.
My Contractions Started That Evening
From around 8 pm that evening, I started getting light contractions. They were coming more frequently, sometimes just a few minutes apart. They weren’t unbearable, but I could definitely feel that something was happening.
This was during the COVID period, which made the whole situation emotionally harder for me. My husband wasn’t initially allowed to stay with me because of the hospital restrictions.
So I was alone in the hospital room.
There was a bed, a birth ball, and, probably the most exciting thing for me at that moment, a little changing table beside my bed with a few diapers and some baby clothes. Seeing those tiny clothes made me so excited. I kept thinking that my baby would soon be wearing them.
But when I tried to sleep that night, oh my God, I could hear loud noises almost the whole night. I could hear women giving birth in the rooms nearby.
Those sounds made me even more anxious. I knew that eventually I would have to go through labour myself, but as a first-time mom, I had no idea what my own experience would feel like.
I remember lying there alone on the bed, listening to everything around me and thinking about my baby.
My Water Broke in the Middle of the Night
Around 1:00–1:30 am, I was having another contraction when I suddenly heard a sound that I can still remember.
It sounded almost like a big balloon bursting, and then a lot of fluid came out. I realised that my water had broken. There was so much fluid, but surprisingly, I didn’t feel any extra pain when it happened.
The midwife checked me again, and I was around 4 cm dilated.
The contractions were becoming more frequent, and I also started getting a strong feeling like I needed to poop. It was a strange feeling, and everything was happening so quickly.
The midwife who was looking after me gave me a gentle oil massage on my belly and kept encouraging me with kind words. Having someone there talking to me and encouraging me made me feel a little more comfortable during those difficult hours.
The Next Morning, Labor Became Much Harder
By the next morning, my contractions had become much stronger and more regular.
I wanted to stay standing the whole time. I couldn’t even sit down for a second because the pain was getting harder to manage. I told the midwife that I was struggling with the pain and asked about getting an epidural.
I actually asked for the epidural when I was around 5–6 cm dilated.
But I didn’t get it at that point. I still don’t know why it wasn’t given then, and at the time, I didn’t really understand what was happening.
The contractions continued, and by around 2 pm, I reached a point where I felt like I simply couldn’t take the pain anymore.
I asked for the epidural again. By then, my midwife’s shift had ended and there was a new midwife looking after me.
She told me that the anesthesia team would come.
But I still had to wait.
At that point, I asked them, “Please, can you at least call my husband?”
They told me they couldn’t do that yet.
I was already exhausted and in so much pain, and not being able to have my husband with me made everything feel even harder.
I Finally Got the Epidural at Around 7–8 cm
After asking several times, they finally called my husband, and he was allowed to come in. That made me feel so relieved. I had been alone for so long, and having him beside me made a big difference.
By the time the anaesthesia team arrived, I was already around 7–8 cm dilated. I remember thinking that I had been waiting for the epidural for so long that I was already very far along.
They gave me the epidural in my back, and finally, I had some relief from the pain.
My husband was beside me, encouraging me to breathe, while my midwife kept reminding me:
“Don’t push yet.”
But after so many hours of contractions, it felt like my body was doing things on its own. Even though I wasn’t intentionally pushing, I kept feeling a strong pressure as if my body wanted to push.
I kept telling my midwife that I wasn’t actually pushing, but I could feel the urge to push. She repeatedly reminded me not to push yet.
At the time, I didn’t even realise how many times I was saying it. Later, my husband told me that I kept repeating the same thing.
I Thought I Was Getting Close to Meeting My Baby
After the epidural, the contractions finally became more bearable. I felt some relief after so many hours of pain.
The doctors came and placed a small monitoring device through the vagina to monitor my baby more closely. After some time, they performed another ultrasound.
Then suddenly, everything changed.
They told me that I needed an emergency C-section.
I was so confused.
My first thought was:
“Why now?”
I had already been in labour for so many hours. I was around 8 cm dilated, and I had finally received the epidural. I thought I was getting close to delivering my baby girl vaginally.
I don’t remember the doctors’ exact medical explanation. What I understood at the time was that my water had been broken for a long time and my baby wasn’t progressing toward delivery as they had hoped. They felt that a C-section was the safer option for me and my baby.
There wasn’t much time to sit and process everything. At that point, the most important thing was having a healthy baby.
After going through almost 32 hours of labour, I suddenly had to prepare myself for a completely different kind of birth.
I just wanted my baby to be safe.
One Sentence From My Midwife Stayed With Me
Before I went for the C-section, my midwife, who had been taking care of me the previous night, said something I have never forgotten:
“Your baby decides how to come and when to come.”
At that moment, those words gave me some comfort.
I had imagined my birth going one way, but my baby had chosen another way.
I had to trust the situation and the people taking care of me, and most importantly, trust that we were doing what was best for my baby.
If you are preparing for your own delivery, I have also written How to Prepare for Labor and Delivery: What Actually Needs to Be Ready Before Your Due Date, where I share the things I wish I had understood and prepared for before experiencing labor myself.
My Princess Was Born at Around 10:15 pm
At around 9:30 pm, I was taken to the C-section room. I was nervous, exhausted, and emotional.
After almost a full day of contractions, I was finally going to meet my baby.
At around 10:15 pm, my daughter was born.
I remember the doctors lifting her up and showing her to me and my husband over the C-section screen. After all those hours of pain, waiting, and uncertainty, she was finally here.
They cleaned her and then gave her to my husband. We even had a beautiful picture of the three of us in the C-section room.
After that, they took us to the room. I finally got to see my baby properly, and I can’t explain how cute she looked.
She looked exactly like the 3D ultrasound image I had seen during my pregnancy. I remember looking at her and thinking, Is this really my baby?
It was such a strange and beautiful feeling, and I don’t think words can really explain it.
Finally, she was in my hands.
Our daughter. ❤️
The First Days After Birth
Once my baby was born, I thought I could finally relax. But I soon realised that I had another challenge ahead of me. I was recovering from my C-section while trying to figure out breastfeeding and learning how to take care of my newborn.
My First Breastfeeding Experience Didn’t Go as Planned
After I was moved from the C-section room to the postpartum room, the midwife came and encouraged me to give my baby her first feed.
But it didn’t happen as easily as I had imagined.
When I first tried to breastfeed her, she wasn’t able to suck properly. At first, I didn’t understand why.
Later, I came to understand that my inverted nipples were making it difficult for her to latch properly.
As a first-time mother, I didn’t even know this could happen. I remember wondering why my baby wasn’t able to breastfeed when I was trying so hard to feed her.
The hospital gave me a breast pump, so I started pumping my milk and feeding it to her. It wasn’t what I had pictured when I thought about breastfeeding.
I had imagined holding my baby and simply breastfeeding her. Instead, I was recovering from a C-section, pumping milk, and trying to make sure my baby was getting my breast milk.
It was tiring, but I kept trying.
Four Days in the Hospital
We stayed in the hospital for four days.
Those days were a completely new experience for me. I was recovering from surgery while also learning how to care for a newborn.
I was learning to understand her cries, trying to figure out when she was hungry, and getting used to feeding her.
My midwife suggested that I try a nipple shield to help with breastfeeding. I bought one and gave it a try.
Thankfully, it helped.
Within about a week, my baby started breastfeeding directly. Eventually, she was able to drink directly from the breast without the nipple shield.
I remember feeling so relieved.
After struggling with feeding during those first few days, seeing my baby breastfeed directly felt like such a big achievement for me.
I continued giving her breast milk from birth until she was 20 months old, and I still feel so proud of myself when I think about that journey.
Bringing Our Baby Home
After four days, we were finally discharged from the hospital.
Bringing my little one home was exciting, but honestly, it was a little scary too. At the hospital, there were midwives and nurses around whenever we needed help.
Now we were home with this tiny baby, and suddenly, everything was our responsibility.
I was still recovering from my C-section, so even simple things were not always easy. At the same time, we were learning to understand her cries, feed her, change her, and figure out this whole new life together.
The First Scare We Had at Home
We came home from the hospital in the evening, around 5:30 pm. After we got home, I fed our baby and she slept for a while.
Then suddenly, she started crying, and I couldn’t understand what was wrong. While changing her diaper, I noticed a small amount of blood.
My God, we froze.
My husband and I were both scared and immediately wondered if something was wrong. We called for medical help, and she was checked.
We were told that a small amount of vaginal bleeding can sometimes occur in newborn girls during the first few days after birth because of the withdrawal of maternal hormones.
Hearing that explanation was such a relief. I had no idea that something like this could happen.
When you are a new parent, you don’t automatically know what is normal and what isn’t. Sometimes you need to ask questions and get reassurance, and there is nothing wrong with that.
That experience taught me that when something concerns you, it is better to get it checked rather than sit at home worrying and wondering what is happening.
What My First Birth Taught Me
My first birth is very precious to me, but it was also very different from what I had imagined.
Before giving birth, I thought labour would follow a simple path: contractions, dilation, pushing, and then the baby would arrive.
My experience was very different. I was 37 weeks pregnant when it started. I went through contractions for more than 30 hours, waited for an epidural until I was around 8 cm dilated, and then had an emergency C-section. After that came breastfeeding difficulties, recovering from surgery, and learning how to care for my newborn.
There were so many moments when I had no idea what was going to happen next.
So, don’t assume your birth will happen exactly the way you imagined.
Labour may take longer than you expected.
Your plans may change.
You may need pain relief.
You may have to wait longer than you thought.
You may end up having a C-section even after many hours of labour.
Breastfeeding may not happen immediately.
None of these things mean that you have failed.
I needed help from my midwife.
I needed help with breastfeeding.
I needed reassurance when I saw blood in my baby’s diaper.
I needed my husband beside me.
And I learned that asking for help is not a sign that you are doing something wrong. It is part of becoming a mother.
Motherhood doesn’t start with knowing everything.
It starts with learning. ❤️
About the Author
Hi, I’m Bhavana, a mom of two and the creator behind Happy Mama Ideas. I share practical pregnancy, baby care, feeding, sleep, and motherhood tips based on what I’ve learned as a mother, along with information from trusted health sources. My goal is to help expecting and new moms feel more prepared and confident throughout their journey.
Please remember that every mother and baby is different. For medical concerns or questions about your pregnancy, birth, or baby, speak with a qualified healthcare professional.
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