Baby Hazard 2nd Edition/Addition

Leo James Hazard was born at exactly 11:30pm on July 21, 2011. He weighed in at 7 pounds 4.8 ounces (rounded up to 5) and was 19 3/4 inches long. I'm gonna get this birth story on here before I forget! It's already been three weeks which is blowing my mind.

It was around 1:30am on the 21st when I was woken up by pains in my lower back. I wasn't sure if they were contractions, but then I noticed they would come and go about every five minutes. They were tolerable, but I couldn't really sleep, so I just sat up in the living room. I sent my mom and Adam a text message saying I thought things were starting to happen, which is funny because he was just in the next room...hey, I was a lazy and very pregnant woman wondering if she was in labor. He came out to the living room and wasn't much help as he just said, "ok I'm going back to bed." I managed to doze of for a little bit before Adam had to get up and get ready for work. The contractions had the same intensity (all in my back still), but they had spread out to ten minutes apart, so I was starting to think it was false labor. Adam went to work and my mom said she would head to my house around lunchtime. I worked through contractions all day and timed them every now and then...still about ten minutes apart, but never ceasing. My mom got here around 2pm and could see that my contractions were pretty regular and wanted me to call my doctor. I was hesitant because my doctor said to call when they were five minutes apart for three hours straight. My mom was frustrated that I wouldn't call, so I said I would in an hour or two to see if they got closer together. So we timed them until I called. They got a little closer together, like 8 minutes apart and then 7. The doctor said to go ahead and get checked out at the hospital; it couldn't hurt. We packed up the car just in case and got to the hospital around 4:30pm with Julian in tow. They checked me and I was just 2 centimeters, which is what I was at my prenatal appointment a few days before. I was sure they would send me home because it seemed like these contractions weren't doing anything. I was worried because if these weren't doing anything, then what did the ones that will do something feel like!? While they were tolerable, they were indeed painful and even more so laying in a bed or sitting down. Anyway, they monitored me for about an hour and there was no change. Then they had me walk for an hour from 5:30pm to 6:30pm. My mom, Julian and I walked around like crazy on the rooftop garden and I was hustling up and down stairs. The contractions I could feel getting stronger and would stop me in my tracks and I'd have to breathe and work through them. By 6:30 it was clear to me that things were happening happening. I got back up to triage and I made it to 4 1/2 centimeters in just that hour! So it was time to admit me. I remember wanting to get out of that bed so bad because the pain in my back was horrible and it seemed like forever for them to admit me! My mom called Adam and said to head to the hospital after work. I broke into tears when he got there as it all sunk in that this was it! Things turned so fast, so I was just in disbelief. They finally got us to our delivery room around 7:30pm. That's when things REALLY got going. Long story short, my nurses were awesome and very supportive of me trying to do this without any meds. They got me on the birthing ball and put pressure on my forehead to help me focus on something through each contraction. Adam was a wonderful support and said all the right things surprisingly haha. In the end, I went from 2 to 10 centimeters in 6 hours, so it was a pretty short labor. And the transition from 8 to 10 centimeters was only 12 minutes long, but I have NEVER felt anything like that in my whole life. I couldn't handle it and felt like the baby was going to split me in half. I felt like I was going to lose consciousness, so I had an epidural right when it was time to push. The doctor said I could've sneezed and that baby would have popped out, which makes me think I should have tried harder to focus and relax. It was easy enough to do knowing I was getting an epidural. After that, I rested for about 45 minutes and then decided I would like to try to push. I think it took 6 contractions or 45 minutes before the nurse ordered me to stop pushing because Leo literally slid out unexpectedly. She had to call the doctor fast because as silly as it is the nurse can't deliver the baby. It was so awesome to have that baby placed on my chest immediately and feel how warm he was. I felt good and I had done it! And I got to eat finally..some mac and cheese! More to come on the hours and days that followed.