At 3 a.m. on Saturday morning, I woke up with a pain in my back. I was not due for another week and seeing that my first son was one week late, I didn't think much of it. However, by Sunday afternoon, the contractions were stronger and regular, and I knew this was it. I told my husband that we needed to go walk to get things going.

At 1:30 Monday morning, we headed to the hospital with my mother where I was told I was 2 centimeters dilated. I wanted to die. With my first baby, I had an epidural at 2 centimeters, and I couldn't imagine the pain being much worse.

I went home and returned to the hospital at 8:30 on Monday morning. I was still at 2 centimeters but was allowed to stay. I called my sister, who was also my labor support. I thought I was going to die, but my decision to have a drug-free birth was very important. The doctor broke my water when I was 5 centimeters. Suddenly the pain got so bad I thought I was going to tear in half. The urge to push was overwhelming. I was only at 9 centimeters, and my mom was screaming at me to blow.

Finally, I felt the nurse place the blanket on my chest, and I cried. I had missed holding my son right after birth with an emergency Cesarean section. I started pushing and was keenly aware of the voices screaming at me. After two days of early labor, five hours of pure torture and 19 minutes of pushing, our beautiful daughter, Sara, was born weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces and measuring 19 inches long. It was the most rewarding experience of my life, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in a VBAC.