I woke up with a mild contraction at 4am on Monday 27th and pathered off to the bathroom to take stock of the situation, by which time I had created a little puddle of amniotic fluid!(hind-waters, as it turned out) DH was delighted when informed that his daughter had listened to his request for paternity leave to start this week!
Contractions were between 3.5 and 5 minutes apart right from the beginning, only increasing mildly in intensity as the day wore on. The midwife that visited at 11am warned me that I was still in the latent phase - she wasn't even able to do an exam yet - and that because the membranes had ruptured I only had 24 hrs before my home birth plans would have to be abandoned and I would need to be induced at hospital.
I tried going for a walk, the birth ball and hiking up and down the stairs, but although the contractions intensified a bit, things were still not really moving along. By 7pm I was relying on the TENS machine, but getting tired and impatient.
An exam at 8.30pm confirmed that I was only 1 - 2 cms dilated, and ready to cry with frustration. The midwife offered to rupture the fore-waters in an attempt to bring the baby's head down fully onto my cervix, which I decided was probably the best idea as I had nothing to lose. That is when things really kicked off!
Suddenly the contractions were much stronger, and coming in pairs. The TENS got cranked up, and DH was sent to get the birth pool ready.
By about 10.30 I was allowed into the pool, which was a massive relief, making it much easier to maintain good positions. I relied quite heavily on the G&A too, especially as the contractions began arriving in threes, although I maintain it was mostly as a distraction tactic 
By about 12.20 I could feel that baby had moved into the birth canal. The midwives were suggesting that they needed to examine me for progress - they wanted me to get out, go upstairs to the toilet, then return for an internal! I told them emphatically that this was not going to happen - luckily they decided to 'give me the benefit of the doubt,' because 15 minutes later my daughter was born!! 
It was an interesting second stage, as I never got the urge to push. I could feel her being moved along, and every now and then my body pushed by itself, but there was no bearing down at all. At first the midwives were encouraging me to push, but in the end could see that the delivery was happening, and in a gentle and controlled way.
It hurt like fury and took a while - perhaps because I'd been encouraged to deliver sitting up and leaning back ??
So Sally Aniela (pronounced An-yell-a; Polish for Angel) arrived very calmly at 12.45am on her due date, and didn't cry at all until she was taken away for measuring. Much better behaved than her Mother, who bellowed like a moose for four hours!
She latched on well and BF seems to be going ok.
Tonight is our first full night, and as you can see, I'm not expecting great things! She seems to have trouble settling to sleep, but I'm still quite happy marvelling at how lovely she is!