My Labor Story

So, you can totally skip this post if you want, but I needed to record it!

I woke up on Tuesday August 26 morning at 4:30 with some contractions. I started timing them using both cell phones (I would use Rob's to call mine and then look at the call log) and they were about 7 to 10 minutes apart. This lasted all day. Finally, at about 8:30 that night they got to 3 minutes apart--Hallelujah! So, we went to the hospital and got checked into maternity triage. The nurse came and "checked" me and I wasn't dilated hardly at all and it was extremely painful for her to check me because Lily was so high. So, after some rude comments from the nurse about not coming to the hospital unless you are in "real labor" (I thought 3 minutes apart for contractions was real!) we got sent home. I labored all night at home with contractions 3 minutes apart.
The next morning we were supposed to start calling to see if we could get in for an induction. We called at 5 and they told us to call back at 8am. So, I made Rob call right at 8 and they said we could come in. I almost started crying.....by this point I had been in Labor for 28 hours! So, off we go to the hospital again. We had to go to the check-in place and they had to bring a wheelchair in to take me up to be "induced" even though I was already in labor.
So, we get to the room, they give me some mild pain meds, check me and give me one round of gels. After one round of gels I was ready for Pit and for an epidural. They gave me an epidural and then the Pit......Gotta say, BIG FAN of the epidurals! I labored with the pit, the epidural and the big BEAN until about 5pm. My doctor came and checked on me and was very pleased with my progress. He thought it would take way more gels and pitocin to get me as far as I was, so I was glad about that.
At about 8:30 my nurse checked me and I was at an 8 so she thought it would be another 2 or so hours until I could start pushing and then 2 hours of pushing. I was gearing up for that. At about 9:00 or so she checked me and said I had progressed and asked me to try a push and see what I couldo do. I started pushing and right as I did my doctor walked back in and came running over and said "Hold on, she is coming out. Stop pushing." So, I had to stop pushing for a few minutes while he got his scrubs on, and a million nursery nurses came in. I pushed for a few minutes and then our friends called and said my mom was in the parking lot and could be up there in like 3 minutes. So, I stopped pushing again and we waited about 5 minutes for my mom to get in the room. Once she got in there, I kept pushing and out came Lily at 9:35pm. I only pushed for about 15-20 minutes total-----but after 40 hours of labor, I still feel like it wasn't "easy" which I have heard from some women because they pushed for a lot longer than 20 minutes!
I was very glad my mom was there for the last few pushes because she stood at my head to encourage me while Rob was holding one of my legs back. It was an amazing experience....not as bad as I imagined. The day I labored at home was way worse than anything that happened in the hospital. Anyway, we stayed at the hospital for the next 2 nights and got to bring her home on Friday morning...I was very glad to not be stuck in the uncomfortable hospital bed any longer!