Sometimes an epidural is needed, and that's okay
Mix of a vent and advice.
I had planned an unmedicated birth my whole pregnancy, but by the title you can probably guess that's not what happened. FTM, I was going to a midwife and birthing center in the hopes to specifically NOT go to the hospital. I wanted a more homey environment. I wanted the people around me to be a part of the team I was familiar with and to be confident I'd be listened to. I had a completely normal pregnancy the whole time and baby had been in position for weeks.
Fast forward to his due date, I started to go into labor at about 2am that night/the next morning. Contractions started at about 30 minutes apart, then slowly crept up to 10 later in the morning, then 7, then 4... then back to 7, then 10 again, then 7, then 4. I called my midwife that evening and she said when they're consistently 4 to call her again to come to the birthing center.
That night the pattern continued. She called me the next morning and decided to check progress. I was still at 2 cm. She said I was likely stuck in prodromal labor. She said she could manually dilate me and that could possibly kickstart normal labor. So she got me to 6cm and after that the contractions felt even more intense.
Fast forward to that night where the pattern STILL was the same. 10, 7, 4, 10, 7, 4. Nothing changed except for the intensity of the pain. I had called my midwife and couple times at this point and eventually in the middle of the night I basically begged her to see me. I had been in labor for over 40 hours with like, 4 hours of sleep since 3 days prior and needed an answer because I could NOT go through another night. I was exhausted in every sense of the word - physically, emotionally, spiritually. I could not go on.
She checked me again and said I was still at 6cm and that I had basically 2 options - continue another night like this or go to the hospital. I chose the hospital.
I got an epidural around 2am and was finally able to get some sleep. They put me on pitocin the next morning and by 6pm I was pushing. I was still so extremely exhausted from being in labor for so long I was falling asleep between contractions. It was fully reflexive, I'd just push, then pass out, then wake up to push again, then pass out again. He ended up being born after an hour of pushing (65 hours of labor) totally healthy.
The hospital staff was super supportive of my decisions. I wasn’t pushed into a c section. My whole support team was allowed in the room and allowed to help. I know it doesn't always happen this way in every hospital, that's part of the reason why I didn't want to go to one. But not every hospital birth is a battle to maintain your birth plan either. And sometimes, you NEED the hospital, even if it doesn't seem life or death. Looking back, I don't think either me or my son would have made it out unscathed if we hadn't gone when we did.
TL;DR I planned an unmedicated labor at a birthing center. Ended up needing hospital and meds after 2 days of labor. Hospital was super supportive and helpful and both baby and I ended up happy and healthy regardless.