Once I had arrived at my mom's house, we got in the car and drove over the hill to the beach. We walked along the beach shoreline. Near the end of our 2 mile walk, I had a CONTRACTION. A contraction that took away my breath. But I didn't stop walking because I knew if I continued to walk, that meant the contractions were coming. I hobbled back to car. In the next two hours, nothing happened. Maybe it was another false alarm. As we settled down for the evening, the contractions started 10 minutes apart. But instead of getting closer - they got farther apart. Ten to twenty even to thirty minutes apart. By midnight, the contractions were back down to ten minutes. Corey picked me up and we went home. I sat on the birthing ball through every contraction. The contractions got more intense every time. By 6 am, I was a zombie. I hadn't gotten one minute of sleep in 24 hours. Corey called the hospital and they said to come in because I had been in labor for about 12 hours. We grabbed hospital bags and off we went. We arrived at the hospital at 7 am. I was screaming with every contraction and had no clue how close or far i was from meeting our little girl. I was dilated at 7 centimeters! They wheeled me into room 7 and the real work began. My water still had not broken. When the doctor asked for the hook, a moment of fear set in. Next thing I knew, fluid was gushing out. Well that was painless! I freaking out over nothing like I usually do. I was offered an epidural several times, but I chose to have an all natural birth. From the moment I knew I was pregnant, I knew I wanted a all natural birth. I wanted to feel empowered. This is what my body is made to do and I was going to do it without any help. I was determined. I labored at the hospital for 2 more hours and then pushed for 45 minutes. Those 45 minutes were the most intense minutes of my life. I would do it all over again. Mia Elaina McGee arrived at 9:53am on September 3, 2013. It was the best day of our lives.
