I went to my 39-week appointment and found I was still dilated only to 1 centimeter and at a -1 station as I had been at the 38-week appointment. I was disappointed when the doctor said she would arrange for an induction at my next appointment.

I was not happy about having to be induced for the simple fact that I was induced twice with my first and neither time took effect. She came 10 days late when she was ready, too.

On a side note, I have bad anxiety, and every time I went to the doctor it seemed to bring one on. So I decided that I would reschedule my next appointment for the following Monday. My due date was Saturday, September 30, 2006. So I made the appointment for October 1.

The night of the 29th I went to bed about midnight, feeling achy in my back as usual. Everyone knows babies don't come on their due date, so I wasn't worried. I woke up at 4 a.m. contracting to the point where I couldn't get back to sleep. Hubby had previously told me that when I thought I was in labor not to waste time in waking him up since the hospital was 45 minutes away. I decided I had better wake him up.

So I woke him up and he got dressed while I got my things together. He then wrapped our sleeping daughter in a blanket and carried her to his mom's house (which was next door). He was back in two minutes. So off we went to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital and my contractions are about three or four minutes apart. They put me on a monitor and checked me. I was still 1 centimeter dilated. I was so mad. So they said they don't admit people till they are 5 centimeters, but I was welcome to walk around the hospital till then. Well I am not a fan of the hospital to begin with so I decided to go home. I thought this was going to be awhile – at least a day or two.

We got back home around 9 a.m. and my contractions were still there but not regular. I tried to sleep, but of course I couldn't. About 11 a.m. my parents came over to visit and by this time the contractions were a bit worse but nothing I couldn't handle. My mom kept looking at me and saying, "Melissa, don't wait too long to get back to the hospital." I told her, "Mom, babies are never born on their due date. Don't worry!" She just sat there and gave me the all-knowing mom look. Of course I disregarded her.

They went home and I lay down on the couch and decided to watch some TV. The contractions were getting worse and worse, but still I told myself this was not going to happen today. Finally I decided to take a hot bath to relieve some back pain. I got in and the pain got worse. I stayed in the tub for all of five minutes before I told my hubby to get our daughter back over to his mom's.

He took his time getting her ready and finally took her. By this time my contractions were really painful so I called the hospital and asked them if they thought I should come in. With the price of gas these days I really didn't want to be sent home. So I called while hubby was still at his mom's and they agreed that yes, I should come in. Then the nurse asked if my water had broken, and I said "nope" and she said, "OK, see ya when ya get here."

As soon as I hung up I felt a gush of water. My water didn't break. It exploded. So I called my mother-in-law's house and told her to tell my hubby that my water had broken. Two seconds later my husband was home. We got in the car and got almost out of town and I started questioning whether we would make it or not. I told my hubby I felt like pushing and he kept saying, "No, no, no!" So I crossed my legs and tried my hardest not to. I could swear I left finger marks in the center console of our car, though.

The 45-minute drive to the hospital only took us 20 minutes. Once in there the nurse at the ER took one look at me and told me to go to the labor room. The lady at admitting asked me to sit down and fill out papers and I was like, "I need a room now please." And I kept on walking.

I got to the nurses station and of course she was on the phone. She politely asked me, "How can I help you?" And I was like, "Umm, I am in labor." She then proceeded to ask me if I had checked in at admitting.

By this time I was already walking toward the delivery room myself. The nurse that had taken care of me earlier that morning was right behind me. As I walked into the room I was taking my pants down. I hopped onto that bed and told the nurses I needed to push. Of course they told me not to. Easier said then done! They were trying to call my doctor (who had decided to go out to dinner that night in another town) and were trying to get the monitor on me.

By this time the pressure was so great that I had to push. So I warned them "I am going to push!" So I started pushing and the nurse looked under the gown and said, "The head's out." Then they suctioned and told me to push again and there she was, just as the doctor on call came in. The nurse was so excited that she got to deliver the baby that she stayed an extra four hours after her shift just to make sure my daughter and I were settled and doing fine!

In the end we got to the hospital at 5:45 p.m. and Kenzie was here at 6:15 p.m. She weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches long!