XP: Birth story - Awesome induction experience!

I just wanted to share my birth story with you all.  I know we hear a ton of negative induction stories but mine was fast and fairly easy.  Dont let everyone's story scare you as your body is different and you will have your own experience. 

I went in at 530 am for my induction on March 8th.  I settled into the delivery room and was hooked up to an IV and the monitors.  Around 630 am the pitocin was started and I was still at 3cm like I was at my doctor's office on Thursday.  I could feel the contractions starting but they were pretty mild and very tolerable.  My doctor's partner came in around 730am to break my water.  I was at a 4.  It felt really strange and came gushing out but also continued to gush out every time I had a contraction which was a really weird feeling.  The doctor also noticed there was meconium in the fluid which really freaked me out.  The first contraction after she broke my water was really intense and I asked for my epi.  It took about 45 minutes for the doctor to give me the epidural and the contractions were extremely painful.  Not at all like the period like cramping BH I had experienced.  My entire uterus was contracting and I was in a ton of pain.  There was a lady that was 9 cm and screaming in the other room so she was ahead of me.  I asked for some medicine to relieve the pain until the epidural could be inserted and the medicine they gave me to "take the edge off" didn?t really help it just made me really loopy and tired.  Finally, they gave me the epidural at around 9am or so.  The epidural was pretty painless and I immediately felt sweet relief.  I could still feel contractions on one part of my body so the doctor had to up the dose.  They checked me shortly afterwards to insert the catheter and I was already at a 10!  WOW!! No one expected that.  My doctor was still quite a bit away and LO's head was still at a 0 so they let me labor down for an hour hoping her head would drop on its own.  At 1030 my doctor came in and said it was time to push.  Her head still hadn?t dropped so we had some work to do.  My DH had one leg and the nurse had the other and they told me to push like I was having a bowl movement.  It's really weird when you can't feel anything.  I just bore down and pushed and hoped what I was doing was right.  The nurse said I was doing great and we also played "tug of war" for a while.  She grabbed one end of a towel and had me grab the other end and pull as hard as I could.  We did this several times and finally her head was descending.   I pushed for 8 seconds three or four times while I had each contraction.  I felt really strong at the time like I could keep going and I was hoping to get her out fast so I wouldn?t lose my strength.  Every time I pushed I prayed that should would be healthy.  Finally at 1135 am Avery was born.  She was screaming and looked great.  DH cut the cord and she was handed to the NICU team because of the meconium.  She had not inhaled any of it thankfully and scored 9's on her apgars.  She weighed 6lbs 4oz and was 19 inches long.  She had a full head of dark hair just like her Mommy!  It was such a relief to be done and to have her here.  I did tear on my own and recovery hasn?t been as bad as I anticipated.  I was nervous about being induced and so glad that I had a fairly short labor process.  The nurse and my doctor were great and really coached me through the entire process.  It was an almost surreal experience and I couldn?t believe it was me in labor and that I was having a baby. 

Let me know if you have any questions about induction or the vaginal labor process.