Elizabeth's timely arrival

2am on April 10th (my EDD) I woke to some crampiness; I went back to sleep not thinking too much of it @ that point.  I awoke again @ 5am w/ the same crampiness & decided to get up to pee; when I stood up, I started to feel a trickle & by the time I hit the bathroom my pants were quite wet.  This was obviously my water breaking, so I decided to start timing contractions.  They were coming 5min apart, although still just mildly crampy & by 7am I decided it was time to call the hospital.  They told me it was time to come in so we finished getting our bag together, called our parents, made a stop @ the grocery store for snacks & arrived @ the hospital by 8:30.

After settling into our room, the nurse came in to check me; 1.5cm dialated 50% effaced, the same as my appt 3 days earlier.  My OB arrived @ 9:45 & they completely broke my water.  2hrs later, my contractions started to intensify.  After an hour of being uncomfortable, I was 75% effaced but only 3cm dialated.  We got into a hot shower for about another hour which really helped me relax but I hadn't progressed much.  My contractions were getting worse again, so I decided to get back in the shower but this time it wasn't helping.  I got out & with the help of DH used my patterned breathing techniques to get through the contractions.  Progress was slow & I was having a hard time with the contractions; i finally decided to get Nubane.  Instant relaxation although I could still feel the contractions & had to breathe through them.  I thought for sure as it wore off that I must almost be there; only 6cm!  I wasn't sure I could do it w/o an epidural.  I got a 2nd dose of Nubane to tide me over while I decided whether or not to get the epi. 

 The contractions were getting bad.  DH had to force me to focus on breathing through each one while the Nubane helped me relax inbetween.  I was so focused on getting through the pain that I couldn't think about the epi.  The contractions were coming about a minute apart.  I was slowly making more progress & finally it was time to push!  My 1st set of pushes weren't great, but after that I had them down pretty good.  Unfortunately, my contractions had spaced themselves out so it was taking longer.  I still only pushed for 45min though which I thought was pretty good for a 1st baby. 

When the head & shoulder were out, the nurse told me to look, but I couldn't open my eyes; I had to get through the pain & get this baby out!  A moment later they announced "It's a Girl!" She was laying on my stomach moments later & I was so thrilled my baby was finally here & that we had gotten the girl our whole family had been hoping for (all boys so far). 

I didn't do it drug free, but I always kept an open mind about my plan.  DH was absolutely amazing; doing things I never thought he'd do(like helping me in & out of those lovely disposable panties & huge pads).  And pushing out a baby wasn't as tough as I thought, although the labor got a little tough @ the end.  By the next day, I had no reservations about doing it again.  My recovery has been great & I have just 3lbs to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. 

Elizabeth Ann was born on April 10th @ 9:50pm weighing 6lbs 9oz 18.5in long.  She arrived right on her due date (rare I am told) & is the sweetest little peanut.