I went to the doctor for my 38-week checkup on March 22 and had my first internal exam. While the doctor was examining me, he said, Wow!

I immediately got concerned and asked him what was wrong. He said nothing was wrong, but I was dilated between 3 and 4 centimeters and was 90 percent effaced.

Before I left the office, I asked the doctor if I would know when I was in labor, and he said absolutely. Well I would have to disagree with that. I went from 3 to 4 centimeters at 2 p.m. to fully dilated at 11 p.m. feeling only two contractions.

My blood pressure was up and my doctor said that if I didn't deliver over the weekend he would probably induce me on Monday or Tuesday. He told me to go home and rest (of course I went home and cleaned up the house), to stay home from work on Friday and to make an appointment for Monday for a blood pressure check. He also sent me to the lab to have some blood drawn to check for pre-eclampsia.

I got in the car and called my husband to tell him the news. He came home early so we could go run a few errands like put gas in the car, buy film and make sure we had everything we needed for the hospital.

While we were out, we decided to stop for dinner at our favorite local Mexican place. (I should mention that I also had Mexican for lunch.) I would certainly NOT recommend having Mexican food prior to giving birth, but hey, that's just my opinion.

We finally got home around 9 p.m. and I did a few things around the house and got ready for bed. I got into bed and felt really weird, and I felt a strange pop in my tummy. I told Bryan (my husband) that I was going downstairs to read for a while and I would be back up in an hour or so.

As soon as I got downstairs I had a few contractions – not too bad, just a bit uncomfortable. I went to sit in my glider and my water broke.

I immediately called my doctor's office. They told me to start timing my contractions, and when they were five minutes apart and about a minute long to call back. They said, It's your first baby. It will probably be awhile. They suggested having a cup of tea or taking a shower. Um, I don't think so, is what I was thinking.

I got my husband up and we started timing the contractions. After about 15 minutes they were one and a half minutes apart and a minute long. We called the doctor's office again and they told me to get to the hospital.

I told Bryan that I would try to get dressed, and he brought me my clothes; however, my contractions were so close together I couldn't even get dressed.

I was in quite a bit of pain at this point. With each contraction I really tried to employ the breathing techniques I learned in our childbirth class, but the only way I could get any relief from the pain was to push.

All of a sudden I felt a lot of pressure and put my hand between my legs and felt a little bulge. I called for Bryan and he took a peek and said, Its the baby's head! I squatted and pushed hard, and two seconds later my husband delivered our son right there in the bathroom.