Trust Your Instincts!

My first pregnancy was so nice and easy (sorry!)! My due date was May 29th, 2010 and when I woke up at 5am on the 29th with contractions, I knew this baby was coming. My midwife had told me throughout that I'd be in labor for at least 12, probably 24, hours because it was my first! At 10am I'd been having contractions, consistently 5 minutes apart, for at least 5 hours so I was sooo disappointed when I called my midwife and she told me to wait until they were 3 minutes apart. Lucky for me (and my baby!) I told her "NO, I'm coming in now for at least a check!". When I got to the hospital, she checked me and I was only 3 cm dilated so she told me I could go home (a 45 minute drive). Got home took a shower and felt like I was dying, so I called her back and said "I'll be there in 30 minutes!" When I got back I was 6 cm. I'd been admitted for 30 minutes when I felt like I needed to push but was told not to! Finally I asked someone to check me again before telling me not to push and when they did, the nurse was like " Oh, never mind! Lets have this baby!" All that being told not to push caused a huge complication though. My baby boy had turned his head up and was stuck in the birth canal!! So they lost his heartbeat and had to call in a TEAM of doctors to help get him out. Luckily, they were able to get him out and he is a healthy, beautiful baby!! Really scary for a first timer though! As it turned out I was only in active labor for a total of 3 hours! So the bottom line is: You know your body better than anyone else! Trust your gut!