11 hours of surreal pain, relief and in the end, a sweet reward. Maria Vang, editor I should have gone to bed early. If there is one advice I can give, it's just that. Go to bed early. Get all the sleep you can, because giving birth is like running a marathon. You are going to need all your strength, and then some. My labour started a Friday night, with my water breaking on the way to the toilet. I called the hospital after some time and some pain, and the woman I talked to e