Finley Michelle finally arrived on Monday, October 15! She was 10 days late and put us through quite an interesting labor. I had contractions that were 3 minutes apart for nearly 3 days. After lots of pain and no sleep we arrived at the hospital and everything seemed to happen at once. I was strongly advised by my midwife to accept some drugs so that I could rest before pushing. The epidural was AMAZING!!! Within minutes of hooking me up my water broke and my contractions started coming every minute! However, I didn’t feel a thing. Brian and I were finally able to relax. I didn’t actually end up sleeping though, because I was just so excited. A few hours later we were ready push. Brian and I practiced all the techniques that we had learned or read about over the months. He was the BEST birthing partner! He was so encouraging and hands on. After 3 hours of pushing, Finley showed no signs of descending into my pelvis so we ended up have a c-section. Labor was nothing like we expected, but the moment I held her I instantly forgot all the pain and work. Holding her for the first time was absolutely surreal.