The Whirl Wind

Last Sunday, October 31, I woke up at 2:15ish with contractions. They came every 5 minutes, but were short. Then they went to about every 10-15 minutes. All morning I kept getting contractions, but they weren't that close all the time. Finally around noon, I decided that I should keep better track of when they came and how long they were lasting. About an hour later, Dave says maybe we should call the doctor. That's when I realized that the contractions were averaging 5 minutes and lasting about a minute.

We called the doctor, she said to come in. And we sent the kids to Dave's mom's house. We left the house and arrived at the hospital around 2:00 p.m.

When we got to the hospital, they took me into a room to check me. I looked at Dave and said, "I hope I'm at least 4 or 5 cm. I don't want them to send me home." The midwife checked me and said, "You are about 8 cm." WHAT??????!!!!!!! I looked at her and said in a very matter-of-fact voice, "Can I get my epidural now?" And she said the words that I dreaded to hear, "I'm sorry. It's too late. And I think it's too late for any pain meds." WWWHHHHHAAAAATTTTTTT???????!!!!!!!

They quickly wheel me to my delivery room, hook up the monitor and my water breaks. Next thing I know, I'm yelling "I need to push". The midwife tells me to do what my body is telling me to do. So I scream and yell and push and at 2:25 p.m. (yes, 25 minutes after arriving to the hospital) my little JD was born.

It was so fast. A whirl wind! Dave barely got to text everyone to let them know what was happening.

I've been asked which way I prefer giving birth now, epidural or all-natural. E-P-I-D-U-A-L!!!!