Unlike my first, this pregnancy and birth were completely textbook. Every appointment was uneventful, and she consistently measured right on track. Everything pointed toward a natural, spontaneous birth.

With a January 1 due date, I quietly hoped she wouldn’t arrive on a holiday or share a birthday with her cousin on December 28. Ideally, I imagined going past 40 weeks and welcoming her after the holiday rush. Instead, I found myself at 39 weeks and 2 days, but luckily, past those less-than-ideal birth dates.

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Saturday Dec 27 2025

Baby felt noticeably lower with more pressure throughout the day. I noticed a pink tint when wiping, with brown specks—signs of my mucus plug and cervical changes.

Around 10pm, contractions started. They felt like Braxton Hicks, uncomfortable tightness, but it felt different from the other nights. It was constant and slowly formed a pattern every 11–15 minutes. I drank the “cocktail” our doula suggested (magnesium + electrolytes) and tried to sleep through it in case it was false labor.

Sunday Dec 28 2025

The discomfort increased and woke me up around midnight. Still manageable with light breathing—about a 3/10 pain. Contractions were coming consistently every 10 minutes and lasting about a minute. I was still able to breathe through them on my own. Signs were pointing that this is early labor and I warned Chi and our doula.

Max oddly woke up in the middle of the night crying for daddy, so Chi stayed with him. Maybe his intuition that his baby sister was coming. Chi wouldn’t have been able to rest with me anyhow as I was breathing through contractions. He needed his sleep because I knew baby was coming at this point.

By 3am, sleep was almost impossible. Contractions grew more intense and closer together—about every 7–8 minutes—and the pain rose to a 5/10. I had to pause and focus on deeper and longer breaths. I tried to get power naps between contractions and I think I did get some shut eye.

You’re instructed to go to the hospital when contractions are 5 minutes apart, lasting a minute long over an hour period “5-1-1”. That’s also what our doula recommended. If you go to early, you risk sitting in triage or, worse, being sent home.

Around 6am, despite contractions still about 6-7 minutes apart, my gut told me it was time to go to the hospital. Contractions were growing more intense, lasting up to two minutes, with increasing pressure to push and I wanted to be at the hospital to get the epidural. My first labor was wildly fast, and second births are often even faster. I did not want to birth the baby at home or in the car. The final sign to leave was losing my mucus plug.

We arrived at the hospital at 7:36am and Chi pushes me in a wheelchair —contractions were harder 8/10 now. I would pause to focus on them. When we arrived at triage, the nurses seemed very nonchalant and unhurried. They asked for my information, and I explained that my contractions were about six minutes apart but intensely strong, lasting nearly two minutes each —They must have thought I was still in early labor. The resident MD checked how dilated I was between contractions. I was just hoping to be past 5 cm so they’d admit me into a birthing suite. 10 cm dilated. We were completely shocked. These contractions did feel lighter than my first induced birthing experience.

Suddenly, the pace of the nurses escalated threefold. They quickly sprang into action, wheeled me into the birthing suite and prepared to start pushing. It was 8:00am.

I debated whether it even made sense to get the epidural since I was already fully dilated, but I wanted relief. (Spoiler: I felt everything  because it didn’t kick in in time.) Chi knew exactly what to do—he played our wedding song. I got emotional and started crying. The epidural was placed at 8:11am, but it needed 15–30 minutes to fully work.

I could already feel her coming out and warned the nurses. My water hadn’t broken yet, so they suggested breaking it to start pushing. I hesitated, wondering if we should wait until I was more numb because I remembered how much more painful contractions felt after my water broke with Max… But they said once the water breaks, it might only take a few pushes for instant pain relief instead of waiting for the epidural to take effect in 15-30 minutes.

The pressure felt like a giant rock about to burst out. At 8:29am, I loosely decided: let’s break my water and hope that the epidural would kick in during pushing. Breaking the water didn’t hurt—I barely felt it. On the next contraction, instead of breathing through it, they told me to push.

So I pushed like I was having the biggest dump of my life. Unlike my birth with Max, where I had a fully effective epidural, I could feel her head coming out. It felt similar to a bowel movement—but rounder, larger, harder, and far more painful.

They said I might just need one more push. On the next contraction, I squeezed Chi’s hand as hard as I could and pushed. Everyone was cheering. My eyes stayed closed the entire time. I could feel her half way out and we needed a third final push. I screamed and I could feel her arms and legs sliding out. Intense, painful, yet completely magical.

Emilia was born at 8:36am—just about five minutes after my water broke.

Birthing the placenta and getting stitches took longer than birthing her. The placenta didn’t come out for another 20–30 minutes, and the stitches (done by a resident) felt like an educational session.

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Everything happened so fast. We arrived at the hospital at 7:36am, and by 8:36am, Emilia was on my chest. Overall, it was a beautiful and empowering birth experience—fast, intense, and unforgettable.

And now, it’s time for the next challenge: the fourth trimester, this time with a toddler.