First Labors Aren't Always the Longest

By Melissa Hampton

I was in labor with my first child. My contractions started about 10 minutes apart and very irregular. When I first got into the hospital, they were 5 minutes apart and not very strong until the nurse broke my water. I was in A LOT of pain then. My family was present at the hospital when I was 5 centimeters dilated. The nurse told my brother and sister I had at least 2 more hours to go, so they left to eat.

Ten minutes later, I started screaming! The nurses came in to check as I yelled, This baby is coming! Needless to say, they didn't believe me. Here I was only in the hospital for a few hours with my first baby. There was no way I was ready yet! Well, that's what they thought. They come in to check me and I was completely dilated! Two pushes later I had a 7 pound, 8 ounce little girl.