When I found out I was pregnant I was very happy but nervous. You see my husband was 10 pounds 11 ounces when he was born, if that doesn't strike fear into an expecting mother. My pregnancy was very normal: sick the first few months, great the second trimester and very unpleasant the last. I was huge and I had contractions for about the last month on and off.

Leading up to my due date of March 13, 1999 I was very uncomfortable. At each appointment I would find out I was a little more dilated each time. I walked around 2-3 centimeters dilated for about three weeks. My husband and I run cows on the family ranch and calving happens to be during March. When the vet came out to do a Cesarean on a cow I asked if he had any Pitocin in his pick-up, he did but none for me, darn. Well anyway I had an appointment on March 15, being two days overdue I begged him to induce me that day, but no suck luck, the day was set for March 18.

At 6 a.m. Scott and I got up and headed for town -- we live about an hour from the hospital. They checked me into the hospital and got the Pitocin going. My husband and I agreed that natural childbirth would be best. The doctor had predicted that I would be having an 8-pound baby boy and I thought no problem I can handle that.

Around 10 a.m. I started feeling some contractions, they made me catch my breath but nothing too severe. I was already dilated to 3 so I was hoping this would go quick -- wrong. The nurses checked on me every hour with little progress. I was bored to death. Scott was wonderful, he sat by my side and tried to keep my mind off every contraction. The contractions started getting worse and my tolerance was not as great as I had hoped, but I hung in there. At about 5 p.m. the doctor came and checked me. He assured me that I would be having this baby today (thank God), that I was 5 centimeters and that he was going to break my water. I was so relieved to hear I was not going home with this child still in my belly.

When the doctor broke my water things started happening; my contractions got much stronger and I started getting less tolerant. Now up to this point I had been a trooper not getting agitated or anything, when I started snapping at Scott we both thought that I could use some medication. They gave me a shot of Stadol, things got worse, I started vomiting. I then started crying and it all went downhill. I was about 7 centimeters, it hurt and I didn't want to be there anymore. I begged my husband to make it stop and we would do it another day, I was not handling it well at all. Scott went and got the nurse and asked if I could have something else to help me relax.

The anesthesiologist came up and gave me an intrathecal. I am not sure what this was exactly but it was great, I could still feel what was going on but I could breathe not fearing the next contraction. The next thing I knew it was 10:30 p.m. and I was dilated to 10!!! The nurses magically turned my room into a labor room bringing everything into my room. While they were busy setting up I was starting to push. They told me that I would know when to push, I thought how in the world am I going to know that, but you know what I did, something in my body made me push when I had contractions.

The doctor showed up around 10:40 p.m. and then my husband disappeared. I knew this was going to happen. My husband who helps how many cows give birth each year could not stand to watch his wife go through it. Well, I pushed and yelled and yelled and pushed, it hurt like crazy but I got the head out and the doctor all of a sudden told me to stop. The cord was wrapped around the neck three times, I wanted to see so I tried to sit up and look while the nurses and my mother were telling me to lie back down. They got the cord unwrapped but that frightened me and I was very worried. They told me to go ahead and push my baby out, so I did with one last contraction.

I didn't get to hold my baby the first minute because they had to take him away to get him breathing. Fifteen seconds passed by and then he started to cry, what a relief. My husband charged through the door and was face to face with me delivering the placenta, wow what a sight that must have been. It took the doctor about a half-hour to stitch me up and then it was just us. Just a warning that nobody told me, recovering from the stitches is the worst part of the whole process.

Duke Gavin Darlington weighed in at 9 pounds 11 ounces. He was born at 11:11 p.m. on March 18, 1999. The doctor told me that I was made to have babies, it was an easy labor. I don't know about that, but I do know that the next day I would have done it all over again. Duke is now a toddling cowboy whose favorite thing to do besides give his mommy kisses is go help daddy with the cows.

Ladies, nothing can prepare you for the experience of childbirth. You will never do anything as exhausting and trying as it again, but I assure you the first time your little guy looks into your eyes with nothing but love, you will forget the pain.