The long awaited event (Very Long)

I am a long time lurker first time poster I have spent the last 9 months reading everyone's birthing stories so I thought I would post my experience.

To begin, after 9 months of anxiously waiting and planning, my due date was approaching. My husband and I spent each passing day thinking every twinge of pain that I had was a sign that labor was imminent but, to our dismay, it always ended up just being gas.  We had planned for his sister's to come down (one living in Washington the other up in Humboldt) a few days after my due date so that they would be here either when our baby had already entered the world or that they may be here for the delivery. Well my due date came and went and his sister's came and went and there was still no baby   At a week passed my due date my OB recommended scheduling a induction with hopes that I would go into labor before the scheduled date.  The scheduled date was 10 days past my due date and as each day passed I prayed that I would spontaneously go into labor but it never happened.  I think that the whole induction experience was very surreal knowingly walking into the biggest event of my life which would also most likely be the most painful was a very strange feeling.

I was scheduled to go in on Friday morning at 4 a.m. Trying to sleep the night before was impossible I think I got maybe two hours. We woke up grabbed our bags which had been packed for weeks and headed to the hospital.  Once we arrived I was checked in and asked a series of questions (even though I had pre-registered) i was hooked up to and IV and a Monitor.  The nurse did an internal and noted that I was 2 cm dialated (which I had been at for the last 3 weeks and 70% effaced) then inserted a vaginal suppository which she said would begin the induction by softening the cervix and intiating contractions.  After a few hours I began to feel the contractions and the monitor reflected that they were very close together almost right on top of eachother but they were not extremely painful just slightly uncomfortable.  After another hour or so my OB came to check on me, he said that they would normally insert another suppository but because my contractions were so close together he wanted to start me on the Pitocin.  Once I was hooked up to the Pitocin the contractions moved from uncomfortable to painful.  At this point my family members began to arrive. I had planned on having just my Husband, Mom and Mother-In-Law in the room but somehow it quickly turned into quite the party.  During a majority of my laboring I had my Husband, Mom, Dad, Sister, Mother-In-Law, Father-In-Law and Grandma all in the room.  At first it was a nice distraction to have the background conversation.  I say background because at somepoint I completely disengaged from what was going on around me and entered what I will refer to as a meditation state.

I went into my labor hoping not to need an epidural. I did opt for pain meds via my IV.  Though these meds did nothing for the actual pain of the contractions they took the edge off in between and allowed me to rest in between. For the majority of my labor I did very well in my "meditation state" it was a very mentally internal experience.  I used controlled breathing and visualization (visualizing my cervix dilating and my son moving down).  This worked quite well until my nurse came in to do an internal she said that I was between 6 and 7 cm dilated but she would like me to lay on my side to help turn the baby a bit. THIS IS WHEN THINGS GOT WICKED.  Up to this point I was laboring siting upright in my bed when that nurse turned me on my side it was the most excruciating pain I have ever experienced. Not only was it EXTREMELY painful but it made my contractions so close together that they were one after the other with NO break at all.  I quickly turned into what could have been a scene out of the exorcist movie.  The Nurse asked everyone to leave except my husband.  This was my breaking point I begged for the epidural.  The nurse explained that because I had declined the epidural for the last 12 hours that Anesthesiologist on call went home and he would have to be called back to the hospital so it may be a little while. I freaked out and I remember yelling something like "I am going to die... I am going to die before he gets here."  Well I didn't die and the Anesthesiologist came and administered the epidural it was painless relative to my contractions.  Though it was difficult staying still given that I had no rest period between my contractions.  Once he got the Epidural in it took several doses of the medicine to get to where I was no longer in pain.  He said that this could be attributed to how far along I was at 7 cm and how intense my contractions were.  Eventually there was relief.  I had no pain and I could still feel my legs though they were tingling and heavy (I was very worried that I wouldn't be able to feel my legs with the epidural so I was glad that I could still move them and wiggle my toes).

Once I got the epidural things progressed quicker.  I dialated to a 10 in the next 3 hours. At which time my epidural began to wear off and I began to feel everything again.  I felt the urge to push and my OB was called in.  Pushing was the strangest part of the whole experience.  I was pushing so hard I felt like the blood vessels in my face were going to explode and it felt like my pushes were doing nothing.  My OB kept telling me I was doing a great job and that he could see the top of the head.  I remember yelling "No you don't! Your lying! He's never coming out!" Then a while later he said "I see him push hard I see him you can do it" and I yelled "THEN PULL HIM OUT, PLEASE JUST PULL HIM OUT". Well of course they can't just "Pull him out" so I kept pushing.  At some point I tore and my OB did a episiotomy none of which I felt.  I also pooped on the table (which was one of my biggest fears) and I didn't care.  After 45 min of pushing my beautiful baby came into the world.  I was so tired but as soon as they put him in my arms I cried and cried. I have never loved something/someone so much in my life. 

In total I was in labor for 16 hours and after it was all said and done it was worse than what I imagined, but it's over and it's been almost two weeks and besides a bruised tailbone my stiches are healed and I am a mom.  The only word that I can use to explain is that is all was and is so surreal

I don't know how to enter a picture here but I have a few pictures in my gallery that he just had done.  He had a little photo shoot at 9 days old.