I was at 2cm dilated - I was so relieved that all the pain I had been having was actually labor and not just a gas bubble or something stupid that'd make me feel like an idiot. The nurse told us she'd come back and check in an hour to see if I had made any progress. If I had, they would admit me, but if not it would be my choice if I wanted to stay or if I wanted to go home and come back, as early labor can take quite a bit of time for first time moms.
That first hour was...horrible. I was in a lot of pain, and the only thing that helped was pushing around a tall office chair and then leaning over it when a contraction was coming. Did I mention my darling husband was snoring on the couch during this hour? Oh yes, see picture below. To be fair to him, when I'm in pain I prefer to be left alone, and there wouldn't have been much he could have done to help me.
(NSFW) At one point, the pain got so bad that I went in to throw up, but realized I also had to poop, and had a contraction coming. My poor body was in so much pain, while throwing up and simultaneously pooping I couldn't even breathe. All I could do was choke out "Chris" and he came in - somehow he stills love me after what befell him in that bathroom (-5000 sexy points).
I got myself cleaned up and the nurse came in to check again a little around 830am and voila - 3 1/2cm! So they went to work getting me admitted and hooked me back up to the contraction counter and baby monitor for another 20 minutes. Once she was finished, I was able to get into a hot whirlpool bath and that helped immensely. The contractions were still mind-numbingly painful but the hot water and jets really helped. The nurse came back around 10am to check me again, and I was at 6cm! I couldn't believe how quickly I was progressing so we started talking pain meds, and when the window would pass for an epidural. She said there was no deadline, but because of how quickly I was progressing the medicine may not catch up to the contractions if I waited much longer, so we agreed to get out of the tub and get an epidural. Once I exited the tub I was in immense pain - I can only describe it as having an out-of-body experience. They got me situated on the bed to administer the epidural - the whole process from start to numb took about 30 minutes, but somehow I had managed to still throw up twice from the pain of contractions (-150 sexy points).
I was somewhat disappointed in myself that I couldn't make it without an epidural; I really wanted to go the whole nine yards pain medicine free, but I also really wanted to remember the labor, and be present in the moment and not writhing around in pain through the remainder of the experience. And let me tell you what, that disappointment vanished very quickly once that epidural kicked in. I was a whole other woman; joking with the nurses, telling stories to anyone who would listen, and just...comfortable. Chris said I was loopy but whatever, I was having a great time. Once I was "numb" she checked me again and I was at 8cm. The doctor came in an chatted with me a bit and she said my labor was textbook in how it was proceeding. When the nurse came in again around 2pm, I was fully dilated! Since everything seemed fine, they weren't in a huge rush to break my water, so I just got to hang out for a couple hours. I texted family and friends and just waited for the strange sensation of a bag of water breaking and running down my leg (-10 sexy points).
It happened around 2:30pm and the nurse came in around 3pm. I told her I was ready to get started on pushing so she called the doctor and had her come in to the hospital for delivery! Stay tuned for the rest...
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