"Happy birthday Grace!" Jax exclaimed, raising a glass of wine in my direction. My friends and parents cheered, all raising their own glasses. I gave a little smile, sipping on my glass of water. Jax kissed my forehead as the chatter of the guests started back up. A sudden wave of pain jolted through my stomach, almost making me gasp in pain. I breathed through it, trying not to let on that anything was wrong. I puffed out a sigh of relief as the contraction faded. This one had felt different from the others. I was hit by a sudden, crushing urge to pee. Too late, a gush of fluid rushed down my legs. I excused myself, walking to the bathroom to clean myself up. As I walked, I realised this fluid was still leaking out of me. Oh god, I hadn’t peed myself, my water had just broken. I stopped dead in my tracks. What was I supposed to do?! I couldn’t leave my own birthday party, and I didn’t wanna make a scene! "Grace, you alright?" Jax asked, coming to my side. I swallowed hard. "My water just broke" I whispered. "What?! Hospital! Now!" he said, turning to face our guests. "Okay everyone, party’s over. Grace and I are going to the hospital, she’s going into labour" he shouted. We were met with cheers and "good luck"s as everyone piled out of the house. I gasped in pain as I felt another contraction. "Breathe" Jax told me, holding me close and breathing with me through the contraction. As soon as it faded, he frantically ran round the house grabbing the hospital bag and making sure things were locked up. He bundled me into the car, and we sped off in the direction of the hospital.

Our beautiful daughter Addelyn was born 2 hours later; at 10pm. Turns out I was already halfway through my labour when we arrived at the hospital. That’s how I learned I’m prone to fast labours. Precipitous labour they call it. She is the best birthday gift I could have ever gotten, and nothing will ever top my daughter as a gift.