I found out that I was pregnant on July 20, 2005, one year to the day after I had met the baby's father. Needless to say, I was scared. Two months after that, he was gone and I was still scared.

I went to every doctor's appointment and everything was fine. I learned that I was going to have a girl and was so excited over that.

In my 7th month had a 3-D ultrasound done. I would highly recommend them. It let me see my baby girl's face and I fell totally in awe of her.

I had to be tested every week because my blood glucose test was high once and never again. I was due on March 15, exactly two weeks after my own birthday, and that excited me also. That date came and went and no baby. I tried everything that my mother and grandmother said would bring on labor and nothing.

I was to go back to my doctor on March 21 for a stress test because I had told her (my doctor) that I had been having mild contractions for about two weeks and I was only 2 1/2 centimeters dilated. While on the test, my doctor came in and agreed that maybe it was time to go and induce me and the relief that I felt was amazing. I wasn't scared at all, just ready to meet this little girl that I loved so much.

They started me on Pitocin at noon and I felt great. By 8 p.m. I was starting to feel the contractions a little more and they gave me Stadol. I recommend this if you are planning on not having an epidural or just want to hold out a little bit longer for it.

By 10 p.m. they were still upping the Pitocin every half hour and still it wasn't that bad, not at all like I had read about. At 11 p.m., they gave me the epidural and I went totally numb from the hips down. I could not move to save my life. By midnight I was just at 5 centimeters dilated and could feel the effects of the epidural wearing off. They came in and upped the dosage and I couldn't move at all. Expecting to be there for a very long while, I tried to sleep.

When I woke up at 2 in the morning, I was starting to feel the urge to push. The nurse said she really didn't think that I could be complete but checked me anyway. In two hours I had gone from 5 to complete.

At that point I had to wait for some of the effects of the epidural to wear off so I could push. So they turned it off. At 3 in the morning I started pushing, thinking that she would be here in maybe an hour, an hour and a half at most.

At 4:30 a.m., I started telling the nurse to get the doctor because something wasn't right. She was taking forever and didn't seem to be coming down at all. Plus it hurt so badly I thought that I couldn't finish. The doctor came in and at 5 a.m. she noticed that something really wasn't right. By this time I was begging for help because I was so tired. She informed me that she would have to turn the baby because her shoulders were trying to come out the wrong way and she was getting stuck. I lay there watching her get the forceps thinking, "Oh my God." She turned her and that hurt like crazy. At 6:33 a.m. my beautiful little girl was born, none the worse except for a spot on her head were the forceps had dug in a little.

I learned that I had a class three episiotomy done and that I would take a while to heal. I didn't care because I couldn't stop looking at her.

Seven weeks later I am still healing, but it is all worth it when I see her laugh at her mommy. I would gladly go through it all again for her.