I went into labor four days over my due date.

It was 2 a.m. and I got my show, along with period-like cramps. My midwife came over at 10 a.m. in the morning and I was only 1 centimeter dilated.

I went all day with minor cramps three to four minutes apart. She checked me again around 3 p.m. and I was 2 centimeters.

At around 8 that night the pain was so bad and we met at the birthing home. I had planned a water birth so I hopped in the pool. I was 3 centimeters dilated.

After being in the pool and in and out of a hot shower I was only 4 centimeters, so at around 11 p.m. she broke my waters. They were dark green. She then left me alone in the room and went and had a cup of tea, while I lay in the dark worrying and crying, in intense pain. She came back later and at around 1 a.m. she took me to the hospital for an epidural.

I was 7 centimeters. She asked the nurses at the hospital to get me an epidural and then left to go to another birth. Just before she left, a nurse came and told her I didn't want an epidural, which was not true! I was so badly wanting one, but the nurse told me to suck it up and that she'd had seven natural births so I could too! I begged any one and every one that came into the room for an epidural but no one gave one to me. The pain in my stomach was so bad I was vomiting, and was so exhausted I would drop to sleep between contractions (two minutes apart).

Around 6 a.m. I had the urge to push, so they told me to go ahead, without checking my cervix first! The shifts changed and another nurse took over. So I pushed for an hour to no avail. My midwife came back, checked me and told me to stop, as I was only 9 centimeters and had swollen up.

I was finally given a low-dose spinal (low version of epidural) and made to rest to let my cervix go down.

I started pushing at 12 midday and pushed for nearly two and a half hours. They finally decided bubs was stuck and distressed and gave me a long episiotomy. A doctor put in one forcep and a lady he was training put in the other after a few painful attempts.

They pulled her out in two contractions and her head was 2.5 times the normal size from fluid, her cheek was cut and had clamp marks on her cheek and face. She was 9 pounds, 12 ounces. (We later had to take her to a therapist to fix her neck as they'd pulled all her muscles down her neck and she could only sleep on one side.) They stitched me up and sent me home.

Six days later I finally passed a bowel movement, which had thread in it from stitches, and burst my stitches. My cut got infected (despite salt and savlon bath and rinsing after using toilet). So I went back to the hospital for two days with a drip in my arm for antibiotics. They were adamant I was just seeing things when I told them about the string I saw in the toilet but I know what I saw and felt.

The hospital and staff's attitude and incompetence really let me down and knocked my confidence. My labor was 36 hours long and hard and painful. My daughter is 18 months now, and I love her to bits! I am contemplating trying for a second but still am scared to go through labor again!