I'm now 12 days PP and want to make sure I write this all down! I'll try to keep it brief.

Wed 10/24: Due Date. Nothing happening. Went to Dr, and she did a membrane sweep, and we set up an induction date - I was so upset about that! I was 2 cm, 50% effaced, and a -2 station.

Thurs 10/25: Working from home - eating pineapple (ha). I had been off & on crampy since my appointment the day before. Around 3:30/4pm the cramps were more constant. At 5pm I realized these might be contractions as they were coming & going. My husband got home at 6 and I had been timing the contractions for about a half an hour. My husband was psyched and started running around the house like a nut. I moved around, sat on my exercise ball for a long time (felt great) then as they were getting more intense, moved to our family room, needed the dark, did A LOT of pacing back & forth. I called the doctors around 7/8 and let them know what was going on. The doc on call told me to labor at home as long as I could, which was my plan anyway.

So the hours of 9pm-2am are a bit of a blur. My husband kept trying to get me to eat, but I couldn't eat with the pain. I had some back pain that I think was caused by my whole body tensing up - so three different times I got in the shower - which was great, and totally relieved the back pain each time.

Around midnight/1am the contractions started getting really bad. No more talking through these, I was leaning over my bed mostly. Or leaning against my built in closet and stuffing my arms into clothes... Sitting or laying was brutal, SO much more painful.

So finally at 2am I said he we had to go to the hospital. I was dreading the car ride since I would have to sit. But luckily, it was 2am, and there was NO ONE on the road - so we cruised to the hospital and got there in record time - I had three contractions in the car and was gripping my husband's shoulder and the car door. When we go there we had to park in the garage and walk in, and on the walk into the hospital I had one bad contraction about 25 feet from the door and just stood there - brutal!

Got up to L&D - the unit was SO quiet - they said they had been waiting for me - I guess no one else was in labor which was crazy (not the norm for a big hospital like Mass General) so there were tons of doc's/nurses around - they checked me and I was 4cm, 80 or 90% effaced and a -1.

I got my epidural about 20 minutes after they got me hooked up to the IV - again, so quiet at 3am in the hospital! - I was nervous getting the epidural because my whole body was shaking from the pain from the contractions. I had one contraction then they got going, and I didn't have another one until the tube was already in. I was holding onto a nurse and the anesthesiologist resident to stay still and just breathing.

So 3:15 am - sweet epidural relief. My husband got a cot in our room, and we went to bed! So bizarre right?! I managed to get a couple hours of sleep. At 7am they came to check me and I was only 5cm, they wanted to start pitocin, but asked if we could just wait one more hour, so we did. At 8am they checked and I was 7cm, fully effaced and the baby had dropped even more. Then each check after that I was 8cm, 9cm, then 10cm!

10:30am - Start pushing!
I was so nervous to start pushing, I don't know why, I was just so excited an anxious and worried I wasn't going to be a good pusher. So me, my husband, and our AWESOME nurse Cat started the pushing process. Me & DH totally thought, great! Our boy will be here by noon! Umm... no.
I pushed.
and pushed.
and pushed!
Around 1:30 after 3 hours we brought the mirror in. SUPER helpful ladies. I didn't think I'd want to see, but whatever - at that point, I just wanted to get this baby out. His head was right there but he was stuck. I tried pushing in about 5 different positions throughout, but the one I liked best was having my feet up on the shoulders of my nurse and husband and grabbing their hands.
The head OB, and the residents and everyone kept checking in on me - telling me I was doing a great job pushing, which was encouraging. My nurse also kept saying I was doing a great job, but it didn't seem like it! It was taking SO LONG.

At this point my contractions started spacing out a little too much, where they had been 3 min apart, now they were up to 6 min apart - so we had to start pitocin to get the contractions closer together to make the pushing more effective. We started at 2, then 3, then got up to 5. This was a teaching hospital so there were SO MANY docs & residents in to see me - I must have had 7 different sets of hands feeling the head while I was pushing.... but everyone said I was doing great - and luckily the baby was great - his heart rate was steady the whole time, and just like the whole pregnancy, he was moving around the entire time. The nurse said she could see him wriggle his head a few times while he was just starting to push out!

OK - longest story ever -- finally after a few good pushes I started to really see more & more of the head. The doctors suited up and got the warmer & everything ready. My epidural had really worn off at this point, but I didn't even care. It was good to feel the contractions and I was getting SO exhausted, and just wanted it to end - I was worried if I added more medicine it would slow me down. So with the team of docs all suited up - me laying there with my legs splayed waiting for each contraction - FINALLY at 3:23pm I felt his head come out, then one push later his whole body came out!

8lbs 3oz, 19.5 inches - 9 & 9 apgar scores.

It was SOOOO INCREDIBLE. He was squirming around, my husband was crying, I was in shock, and they put him right up on my chest as he was crying. Such a miracle. I laid with our sweet baby boy James for about 45 minutes or so (I think) as they stitched me up (one 2nd degree perineal tear)... I finally started crying realizing I was holding the little guy that had been kicking me in the ribs for the last few months and was just in total awe of what we had both just been through.

It was truly the most incredible experience of my life and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

I feel really lucky that they let me push for that long without any interventions (like episiotomy, vacuum or forceps) and it was just lucky that the baby did so well through that whole ordeal.

Serious props to all the mommies out there who do this without an epidural. You are all my hero.

I know for sure if I hadn't had the epi and gotten those few hours of rest there is no way I could have pushed that hard for so long.

Still at the end of the day I feel so proud and so much love for our sweet baby James.

(here's a pic of him 9 days pp)