Hunter's Birth Story

The Story ***TMI ALERT***
I'm writing this down for me. If you want to read it, feel free (I like reading other people's stories), but don't say I didn't warn you!
Okay, so I guess I should write this down before I forget the whole story (ha...like I could forget it, 14.5" head is all I'm gonna say. ouch!). Well, it started Sunday night around 11pm (to everyone who told me not to worry "I'll know when I'm having a contraction"...thanks for nothing). My back was uncomfortable and they were coming regularly..but that's it! So, I decided (after an hour or so of timing them, they were 6 minutes apart) that if I could sleep through them then they must not be "real". So I went to bed, waking up as Joel was about to leave. I had some more contractions...a little stronger, about 3 or 4 minutes apart, but I still wasn't convinced...until my water broke. Then it clicked "I've been having contractions every few minutes apart and my water just broke, I think I should get to the Hospital, and soon!" So I called Joel and told him to come back home. The contractions still weren't bad, it was pretty easy just to breathe through them. In the car they were 3 minutes apart and walking into the hospital I had to stop in the parking lot to breathe thru them, but it still wasn't too bad. Then they took me to triage (about 7:30) where they started coming on faster (like every 2 minutes, or closer..I'm not really sure) and a lot stronger. She checked me pretty much right away since they were so close, and I was already at a 7. She hurried and tried to ask me questions but there wasn't much time. She asked if I wanted an epidural and I said "no" (I knew that this was the transitional phase and wouldn't last too long), but then I started to get scared because, while I had been saying I wanted a natural birth, now the reality set in that it was actually going to happen. Holy Hannah. She quickly wheeled me to the delivery room (right next door) and more nurses came in. They told me to move to the other bed...hahaha...right. I stood up (barely) and rolled onto the bed where I stayed sideways clutching the rail. Then the urge to push came and it was so intense that I can't even begin to describe it. And it hurt....a lot. I remember being extremely cold and thirsty (and mad because nobody would get me any dang water!). I remeber not getting into the position they wanted me in, but staying on my side thru it all. I remember screaming for someone to help me, and my sweet husband telling me not to worry that the doctor was there now while he stroked my back. I remember looking into my nurses eyes as she told me to breathe in and out and "blow away the pain" and I remember another nurse telling me to "Push like I mean it" (which she was promptly rewarded with the look of death, I'm sure). Then, just like that it was over. And I was exhausted, cold, thirsty, and completely in love with my new little boy...all 8 lbs 9oz of him and even his giant head. I was bleeding more than "they would like to see" so they gave my pitocin which didn't help so they gave me a shot of something else (which worked). From the time I realized I was in labor (6:30 am) to the time I had him (8:24 am) everything went very smoothly and I couldn't have asked for a better experience...except if I had to do it again, I would bring my own dang water.