On leap day i had my bloody show, All day. I went to bed thinking, "don't get my hopes up".

At 3:30 i woke up to contractions that were painful enough to know that this was it. And on the day we were throwing my soon to be 3 year old's birthday party nonetheless. I took a bath and drank water but the contractions continued to come every 10-15 minutes.

By 6:30 my son and husband awake and i tell them that Eli really wants to join the party with contractions every 6 minutes. We cancel the party and arrive to the hospital at 9 am with contractions 4-5 minutes apart and dilated to a 5.5

At noon my contractions have not picked up, nor have i progressed and talks of breaking my water begin. During these talks, my contractions get stronger and back to back. I opt for the epidural before they broke my water at 3:30pm, which turned out to be the best idea i think ive ever had as it took away my back labor and contraction pain BUT not the vaginal pressure and pain; that was unfortunate. My contractions were every 1-2 minutes and my vagina was on fire with every one as i felt my sons head move down through the vaginal canal.

At 5:02pm i began to push. I screamed that he was coming out of my butt and he was ripping me apart. By 5:09 he was completely out and proved me wrong. Zero rips or tears. Big brother Owen came to visit and is very uneasy with both me and Eli but hopefully he feels better about us tomorrow.

Eli nurses like a champ and sleeps really well. So thankful my boy is healthy and perfect.