The Most Amazing Thing Happened To Me The Other Day...

Thursday morning at 6AM, I awoke with a couple of more painful contractions than I had previously experienced. They weren't regular, but they were enough to make me think that this might be The Day. I went back to sleep.
At about 7:30, I noticed that I was having more regular contractions- they were about 5-6 minutes apart, so I told K I was going to time them, but that if they were regular for an hour, my doctor would probably have me go to the hospital.We were very calm, knowing that labor could last hours or even days, so he rolled over, planning not to go to work that day. I was feeling contractions mainly in my back, so he would press on my back every time I felt one coming on.
Hubby went downstairs and watched some TV while I ate some cereal. The contractions were regular but manageable: I made the bed, packed a few more things in my hospital bag, and timed contractions.
At 8:30, I told K that I was going to call my doctor and that we would probably be leaving in 10 minutes- he decided to take a shower. I called my doctor, and they told me to go to labor and delivery, it sounded like labor. Oh yes, and my bloody show had been increasing in quantity for the past few days, I forgot to add that part. Moving on.
K was in the shower for twenty minutes and I started to get irritated. I was in labor, after all! What in the world is taking you so long??!! He got out, packed up our stuff in the car, and we were off. We taped a little of us in the car, hoping today was really labor day and not a false alarm.
Scene: Triage at the hospital. I am two centimeters, and not happy with this news. Am told to walk around the hospital for an hour and see if I progress.
We walk. Each contraction is getting worse, I am having to bend down and hold onto the rails in the hallway while K presses on my back. Ugh. I am definitely going to be one of those back laborers. I have contractions the whole time-3.5 minutes to 7 minutes apart. I pee three times in this hour.
We go back to triage, hoping for progress. I cannot imagine days going on in this much pain every five minutes.I am checked.

No progress. They call my doctor, who says I can stay and be induced if I wish. I don't wish. I plan on no epidural, and I don't want induced (harder) labor that could stress my baby out for no reason. "How long can this go on?" I ask. "your a first time mom. You'll probably take a while.Could be days."
Nice.
We go home. Pain is getting worse. I get in the shower, and let the hot water run on my back to ease the pain. It does. K stays in the bathroom with me, and I take a bath for a little while. Baths always bore me, so I decide to get out and try to take a nap between contractions. Yeah, right. I know. But I was so tired from not sleeping well for the past few nights that I was desperate.
We get into bed. K presses on my back. He falls asleep as we lay there for about an hour. I have a particularly bad contraction and feel a little pop.
"what was that?" I say to no one in particular. K obviously couldn't hear/feel what that was, but I knew it was significant. "what was what?" K asked.
I felt a little gush. " I think my water just broke!" K looks for me. A bigger gush. He smiles a little bit..."yep."
Holy crap my water just broke! I was a little frantic, even though I always wanted my water to break. It makes everything so much easier- you know you're in labor. It also didn't trickle out...it gushed. Since I didn't have any pads in the house (thinking I wasn't part of the ten percent of women whose water breaks,) I grabbed a towel from my bathroom and stuffed it in my pants.
On our (second) exciting drive to the hospital, one hour after being sent home, mind you, my contractions were getting stronger and harder to manage. I do remember at the end of one offering my husband the apple in my purse if he wanted it. ha.
I got wheeled into triage in a wheel chair when I got there. ("poor thing," said the administration girls when they saw me back again.) I was 3 centimeters dilated.
From then on, time kind of got a little hazy. Before I knew it, I was in my room, meeting my nurse, getting an IV...and I begin to think I was dying.
truly dying. My back labor was so intense, I would move from the labor ball, to the bathroom, to the floor, to the shower...all the while vaguely hearing the nurses saying how good I was doing. K was an awesome coach: kissing me and telling me I was doing a great job and that our baby would be here soon. He pressed on my back, rubbed it, let me push up against him and pull on his arms. Suddenly I felt like I had to go to the bathroom, and a nurse came with me. I remember telling K to stay out there (in case I had to really go to the bathroom-I actually kept a little of my "dignity" and feminine mystique, haha) I sat on the toilet and nothing happened. I thought I was going to throw up. I was shaking. I kept saying "I am going to die." I told the nurse I thought I was in transition.
"I really don't think you're in transition," she said. I had been there maybe two hours, and had only been 3 cm when they checked me.
"in that case," I said, " I need the epidural." I didn't know how long I could take it. I didn't want the epidural originally, but if I still had hours left of back labor, I was going to need it. My contractions were coming fast and hard, one on top of the other, not even one minute apart.
Of course, they couldn't find the anesthesiologist for a half hour once I begged for it. I kept yelling to them that I needed it now. I had to sign the paperwork to get it (no idea how I did that) and K said my eyes would roll back in my head between contractions. I went to another place, and no one could get through to me. I couldn't expend any energy answering the questions they kept asking me, ("how much do you weigh, how tall are you" seriously? I am in LABOR. Can't you read my chart?)
I don't know how they got the epi in me. I didn't have a break between contractions, so I don't know how they kept me still. I don't even remember if it hurt, but I do remember a sensation of cold running through me.
It took 15 minutes to take effect. I asked if I could take a nap when it started working. Sure, they said. Let's check your progress.
I was 9 centimeters dilated. I had already gone through transition. They said I would have my baby in an hour or so.
3 to 9 In 2.5 hours.
Yeah.
No nap for me!
No one could believe "how well" I was doing for a "first time mom" who just went from 3 to 9 in no time. It didn't feel like I was doing so well, but I appreciated the support.
I still felt every contraction, and some were hard enough that I had to really work through. Since I was progressing so well, even with the epi, my doctor wanted to see how far down I could labor the baby without pushing. I was at +4, and the nurses almost thought they would have to deliver the baby without the doctor. I did a few practice pushes. So surreal. For the next two hours, I chatted with the nurses, called a few friends and family, and received ice chips and love from my hubby. The lights were low, my nurses were great; I focused on the soft light over the bassinet station, thinking about my baby lying there in just a short time.
When I felt pressure in my lady regions, They called the doctor. The baby was crowning.
Pushing with the epidural turned out to be confusing and a blessing. I felt contractions enough to work with them, I wasn't afraid to push, but I couldn't really feel to push. Apparently, I ain't a bad pusher....my little sunshine was born after 20 minutes of pushing.
Oh, the emotions. The crying, done by all three of us. The pain, the years imagining, the miscarriage, the nights wondering if it would ever happen...all coming to fruition with a beautiful cry from a healthy baby.
With my nose.
Everything. Was. Worth it. And I feel like super women for giving birth to her.

We spent one night in the hospital, not sleeping...checking on her to see if she was real and if she was still breathing. I had to get one stitch from an episiotomy, and yes, the 'roids were fun too. My tail bone was extremely sore from my back labor. And I was sleep deprived.
But it is amazing how fast the body heals and how someone so little that you just laid eyes on can be so worth it.