Soren Nathaniel has arrived!

Around 1:15 am on 12/16 I woke up to some fairly mild contractions (at least in hindsight they were mild). By 4am they hadn't subsided so I got up and ran a hot bath, which felt wonderful. I went back to bed but continued having contractions, though I was able to sleep between them until about 8 am when I began feeling a lot of pressure. I called hubby and told him that while my contractions weren't horrible, I thought he should come home from work.

As it turns out, there was no rush. I contacted somewhat regularly through the entire day and decided around 3 pm that I should get checked to see if it was the real deal. I didn't want to drive all the way to the hospital just to be sent back home, so we went to the medical offices where my NP works. They did a cervical check when I arrived, 4 cm 70% effaced, and then put me on a monitor to check my contractions. An hour later, I'd dilated to 5cm, contractions were 3 minutes apart, and I was sent straight to the hospital, right smack dab in the middle of rush hour traffic.

Got to the hospital, immediately went to a private delivery room and I was pretty much left to my own devices for a while. I wanted a natural birth and I figured since I was handling the contractions so well throughout the day, it would easily be doable.

Hahaha what a joke. I got in a bath which helped a great deal but when I got out the contractions had intensified. I felt like I was being ripped apart and they were coming so regularly that I barely had time to catch my breath between them. Hubby rubbed my back constantly which helped a great deal but it still wasn't enough. I asked for the IV pain meds, which I was told would take the edge off, but apparently my edges were extra sharp because it didn't do shit! Lol by the time I reached 9cm, I was begging for the epidural. Before the nurse was able to put the orders in, my body was pushing on its own so it was too late. Went from 9 to 10 in the span of 5 minutes and it was time to push.

Long story slightly shorter, HOLY SHIT OUCH! Idk how long I actually pushed, it felt like an eternity, but Soren entered the world at 10:56 pm, weighing 7 pounds 3 oz, 20.5 inches, with an APGAR score of 9. He's perfect!

I'm very thankful to have had such an easy pregnancy, and a complication free delivery. Now, the fun begins!