Let me first start by saying...from what I have heard my birth story is atypical, especially for a first time mom. I was due September 13, 2010 but baby Michelle had plans of her own. She was born Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 12:50 AM. I had gone to the doctor the Wednesday prior and was slighty over 4 cm dialated. Saturday night around 11 PM I had a horrible pain in my stomach...didn't last long, but painful enough to wake me up. A few minutes later...gush...my water breaks and then the chaos breaks. My husband, whom I love dearly, starts running around the house packing the hospital bag (nope...it was not packed....I procrastinated, slightly because packing the bag meant reality and I was nervous!). While we had decided a drug free labor was the way to go, those first few contractions sent me spiraling into epidural mode! I could barely get dressed the contractions were so painful. Finally in the car, my husband starts speeding down the highway with the hazards on. For some reason I thought it was stupid to have the hazards on, so I turn them off...and the cop turns on his lights. Not kidding. After he declines to escort us to the hospital, he lets us go with, "Please be safe and try not to drive 40 MPH over the speed limit." Ha...ok. My husband is timing the contractions at a mere 3 minutes apart, driving like a crazy man, and trying to get in contact with his family...of whom no one, and I mean no one, was answering their phones. Finally in the labor and delivery room, the nurse gets my IV started and begins asking those mundane questions we all hate, while I wanted only to scream at her to hurry up with the epidural. She checks me...I'm 8 cm dialated. At this point there is no hope...the chance for that epidural is long gone. Over the next 15-20 minutes while waiting for my doctor to arrive, I spit out every word in the book and then decide it's time to push. I am about to hit the red button for the nurse when the doctor walks in, checks me, and says, "Ok...it's time!" The nurse tells me there's no time for the epidural and on the next contraction to push. I'm sure the look on my face was priceless. After what felt like a long 10 minutes (yes...just 10 minutes) of pushing, Michelle Love was born at 12:50 AM weighing 5 lbs. 13 ozs. and 18 inches long (good thing she was small!). And the little booger was posterior! Yep, coming out face up instead of the preferred face down. Evidently it hurts much worse to have them come out face up and they can get caught under your pelvic bone. So yes, my labor was less than 2 hours long! It was definitely the best moment of my life. The family was let in shortly after...and yes...they were all there (thanks to my husband's sister who went to everyone's house and woke them up!). My family and best friend traveling from San Antonio arrived not too long after everyone else. This was the beginning of many sleepless nights!
