Okay, let's start at the beginning- it seems like soooo long ago! On Friday I went to the hospital to be induced with the gel and began having contractions right away. That was at about 1:30 that afternoon, and they lasted all through that night and into the morning, causing me to have NO sleep that night. I went to the hospital again on Saturday morning to see if I needed more gel, which I didn't, since it had obviously worked and put me into labour. Because I had a lot of show and all those contractions I was checked and was only dilated to a 2! The obstetrician had to come in and break my water, which I wasn't happy about, considering I hadn't wanted much intervention. It hurt SO much! The midwives were so wonderful and scored me a private room with my own bathroom and tub, and dimmed the lights. Then the contractions became stronger and faster and I was having them every five minutes or so for HOURS until I went into the bath. It felt so wonderful to be in there- the baby was posterior and I was having a lot of back labour at this point. Mike was with me pouring warm water over my tummy and talking me through it.

I was checked again around two or so, after the bath, and I was told I was dilated to a full... TWO! I was so upset, I was in so much pain and exhausted from having no sleep the night before. I worked harder in the next hours than I ever have in my life- the contractions started every 3 minutes or so and lasted about a minute each. I bounced on the birth ball for a long time trying to get through them and wondering if I ever would. Then I looked out the window. I sat there dumbfounded for a moment when I realized it was snow coming down, soft and so beautiful. It never ever snows here, and I love it so much. That snow got me through the next few hours of labour- it became my focal point during the pains.

I finally broke down and asked for some medication- that pain scared me so much and I literally almost gave up. I was given some drug through an IV, I can't remember the name of it. It didn't work. By this point I was so exhausted I honestly couldn't see how I could get through it, and they tried the gas and air, which also didn't work at all. Apparently the machine was faulty and I wasn't getting any. I wasn't happy about that IV either; I had needed that originally to monitor me because of being induced or something. Same with the monitors on my stomach... I suddenly needed them continuously because when they checked me again at six, I was dilated to a full TWO.

By this point I was crying and fighting so hard... I had been in labour for hours with no progress and they offered me an epidural. I said that I hadn't wanted one- I wanted to feel it when I needed to push, and I was scared of all that medication. I was in so much pain and so exhausted and not progressing though, so finally I said that I would have one. I had to wait for almost two hours because there were ceseareans going on where they were needed, and by this point I was fed up and losing strength. Finally at around eight, the anesthesiologist came in and administered the drug. I wasn't supposed to move during the procedure for fear of paralysis, but my contractions by that point were so strong they were making my sick to my stomach and I didn't know how I could cope. The hardest part of my labour was this- trying to stay perfectly still while having two of those horrible contractions, unable to properly breathe through them. Mike had to leave the room at this point- he couldn't stand seeing that epidural going in. I didn't even feel it.

At this point I was accepting the fact that I would be frozen and maybe try to sleep a little. But the contractions kept coming and I felt every one of them. They called back the doctor, who then turned up the medication for me. I waited, as did everyone else, and still I was in tremendous pain and having a searing pain in my right side, down low. They couldn't figure out what this was, or why the meds weren't working and I started to panic. My mom came into the room and stayed with me to try to keep me calm- Mike and her were just amazing. I just kept looking out the window at all that snow still coming down.

The doctor finally came in again and put some more medication mixed with Novocaine into my spine and finally I was able to rest- I felt nothing. I was paralyzed up to the NECK. The nurses said that they had never seen that amount of medication for anyone. I wasn't happy about that, but I was able to sleep, and that felt wonderful. I once reached down and asked my midwife what I was touching until she told me it was my own leg.

Mike and I both got some sleep then, and the doctor came in before he had to do a surgery to check me... still at 2. He told me that if I hadn't progressed by 11 we would have to do a section. I think this was around eight. Basically we all knew I would have one by this point but may as well sleep beforehand. I had the shakes really bad, and still felt some of that pain in my side, but slept a little.

The doctor came back in at just after eleven to check me. He looked up and said, 'Well, you're not going to believe me. She's fully dilated.' Nobody said anything for a minute- we were all in shock! Even the midwife said that epidural was a good thing for me with that labour- it relaxed me and gave me the chance to open up and give birth naturally. I started to freak out though- pushing?

They wanted to wait until at least some of the meds wore off before I started- obviously I wouldn't be very effective otherwise. We waited and I got impatient. I finally could sort of feel my feet and a bit of pressure from the contractions, and because I was SO tired I think they decided to let me try. Well turns out I am a damn good pusher! This part was crazy- I got so out of control with the urge... I was mad and wanted that baby out. I've never felt anything like it. I wanted to squat and push but my legs were a dead weight and this upset me so much I almost gave up. Mike said that part affected him the most... he almost threw up to see me in so much pain. There was a nurse beside me monitoring my contractions and she kept telling me I couldn't push yet... I hated her! I pushed anyway... that pain in my side was extreme and pushing against it felt better. They set up the bar at the end of the bed and I pulled myself up with every push and gave it all I had. It hurt more not to push because of that pain, and I pushed that baby out in 45 minutes flat, dead legs and all. That pain was the baby's shoulder.

He is so beautiful I can't stand it. We have never been happier. We had a prolonged hospital stay because he is not feeding well and has some jaundice, but we are home now with all of us plus a breast pump. If you'd like to see pictures of my beautiful baby boy, check out his page.