It all started when we turned in for the day around 10:00 pm... As I layed in the bed for an hour with small little stomach cramps.. Brushing them off and not thinking much about labor since I never thought it was going to happen and had a scheduled c section 2 days later for St. Patrick's day.

At 11:30 pm my water soaks our bed.. I reach over and shove my fiancé out of his deep sleep and excitedly say "my water just broke" we jump out of bed and scramble together a few things we have yet to pack and wake up our 4 year old and explain to him the time has come for him to be a big brother. We take him to our best friends house right down the street for him to get ready to meet us back at the hospital once we find out where we were as far as labor progression. I knew it couldn't have been far.. My contractions were 5-10 minutes apart still and very tolerable.

Finally we arrive at the labor and delivery center... A 30 minute commute.. By then my contractions were slightly stronger.

I lay in a triage type room for 30 minutes being monitored and checked over and over before we were moved to an actual delivery room..

I labored without pain medication until 4am when I received an epidural and was almost 6cm dilated. The epidural made me super faint when I layed on my back so I was given lots of extra fluids.

After that I was able to rest for a little less than an hour.. But just enough to get me through.

My beautiful fiancé was there with me through it all. He was so much help.. We were even asked if we had taken birthing classes together because of how well we were both handling my labor together.

At about 6:45 our doctor came in to check me and told me we were going to get ready to start pushing. (Decided to try for a VBAC)

We were nervous..

Finally after all of the equipment was set out and I was set in position to push..

A contraction came and I pushed the first time and she was crowning!

4 pushes later she was laying on my chest and sucking her hands already!

We love her so much and our family feels complete!

Penelopy Iris Payne

6.8lbs 19.5 inches born at 7:12am Thursday March 16th 2017! 39weeks 1 day!

UPDATE:

Thanks everyone for your kind words!

We went home the next day (St. Patrick's day) around 11:00am. I recovered quickly and tomorrow she will be 1 week old. We love being at home and admiring her sweetness. We love her so so much! *Updated pics below