With the aid of acupuncture, Penny Healing kick-started her contractions. On her birthday the next day, she had Caitlin - her best present ever

My first baby was due on 15th August. I hadn't enjoyed the pregnancy, so by 38 weeks I was desperate for it to end.

The midwife had told me that my baby was completely engaged and weighed over seven pounds, so I decided to try various natural methods to get things moving.

At 38 weeks I started drinking several cups of raspberry leaf tea a day. I also used an oil burner with clary sage and jasmine essential oils. I felt lots of little twinges and regular Braxton Hicks practice contractions.

At 39 weeks I visited the acupuncturist I had been seeing on a regular basis during my pregnancy. She agreed to do a mild induction and then a stronger one the following week.

The day before my birthday, I awoke with bad stomach cramps. I went to the loo and had diarrhoea. I wondered whether this was labour beginning, but it felt more like a dodgy tummy. By 9am I realised that the pains were coming every five to seven minutes, but I still wasn't sure whether they were contractions. I decided to phone my husband as he works some distance away. I was worried that if I left it too late he would miss the birth.

He was unsure about coming home as there had been a few false alarms but, by the time he arrived, I was in agony. He suggested that I phone the hospital and the midwife recommended a warm bath for at least an hour. This would either make the contractions closer together or stop them completely. I stayed submerged for an hour and a half and the contractions started coming every four to five minutes. At lunchtime we phoned the hospital again and they said I should go in to be examined.

I was hooked up to a machine to measure the contractions and a midwife gave me an internal examination. When she told me I was only 1cm dilated, I began to worry - the pains were very bad and close together and paracetamol wasn't making any difference. The midwife said that I could stay in if I wanted to but I would have to stay on a ward, so we decided to go home.

By 10pm I was finding it really hard to cope so we phoned the hospital again to say we were coming in. I was examined again and told that I was still only 1cm dilated. I burst into tears as they said that until I was 3cm they couldn't give me any pain relief apart from paracetamol. Again we were advised to go home and come back when the pains were closer together.

We tried to get a bit of sleep but because my contractions were only five minutes apart it was impossible.

At 2am on 9th August I decided to have a bath to try and relax. It didn't help at all, so I went downstairs and tried to read to take my mind off the pain. At 3.30am I woke my husband as I really couldn't bear it any more and I was exhausted. We phoned the hospital to say that we were coming back.

The 20-minute journey took over an hour, as I had to keep telling my husband to stop when a contraction came. By this stage they were coming every two minutes. It took us ages to get to the delivery suite from the car park as, when I stood up, the baby's head pressed on my cervix and caused even stronger contractions.

When I was examined I was 4cm dilated and they gave me pethidine immediately. I had planned to have a natural birth with aromatherapy, possibly in a birth pool, with gas and air if I needed it, but by this stage all I wanted was relief. I managed to doze for a little bit as the edge had been taken off the pain.

Soon the pethidine wore off so I began to use gas and air as well. It made me feel completely out of it and really helped.

The midwife examined me again at 9.30am, but I was only 5cm dilated so she decided to break my waters. This speeded things up immediately as the contractions started coming one after the other with no let up. I asked for an epidural but the anaesthetist was in theatre. Suddenly I felt the urge to push but the midwife told me to wait as I wasn't quite 10cm dilated. As soon as she said it was OK I started pushing. My daughter Caitlin was born at 11.54am on 9th August and is the best birthday present I've ever had.

I don't have any regrets about the birth. Although it didn't go as I had planned, the outcome was good, as we are both fine. My advice to other mums-to-be is don't be disappointed if your labour is not as you imagined.