continued...

Once we arrived at the hospital I was ready for my epidural and hoped that they would meet me in the parking lot and get things going.  Wishful thinking!  They did the routine check in, which seemed to take FOREVER but hubby told me later that they were very quick.  I was then wheeled into the birth center by a very kind and compassionate lady that worked at the the front desk.  She pushed easily over the bumps along the way and I was very grateful.  It's amazing how sensitive you get when you are in the thresholds of pain.  I was growing nervous that I was going to be having my baby soon and once we finally reach the laboring room I was ready to get hooked up. Drugs?  Yes please!  The nurses checked me and I was already 5 centimeters dilated.  Wow.  No wonder I was in pain.  They called my new best friend, the anesthesiologist, to get my epi started.  She started to explain how she was going to administer the procedure as I was breathing through my very painful contractions.  I didn't hear anything she was saying and I didn't care.  I was thinking... I don't care, hurry the hell up!  It didn't take long for the procedure and within five mintues I was starting to feel like myself.  I no longer wanted to rip out my honey's eyes and scream at my doctor for not being at the hospital. 

Well, Hell!  Kennedy is ready to eat again.  My new life revolves around her feeding schedule.  :-)

Early Arrival

Well, my plan to give the play by play was completely trashed.  I went into labor the early morning of March 27th.  I woke around 3:00am with cramping and a full bladder.  I got up to relieve my extremely bloated bladder and thought the cramps would go away.  As I lay there the cramping doesn't stop.  I remembered a post on the What to Expect forum that stated that her labor contractions felt like severe menstrual cramps.  I'm thinking... no way, but I can't sleep.  I decide to go downstairs because I didn't want to wake my hubby with my tossing about.  I look at the clock and it's about 4:00 by this time and I started having mild contractions as I went down the stairs.  I decided to time the contractions with my handy Contraction Timer app on my iPhone.  As I walk around downstairs the contractions do get stronger and they are averaging about three minutes apart.  I decide to bounce on my balance ball to see if I can get the contractions going stronger.  I wasn't going to be one of those women that drive 25 minutes to the hospital and be sent back home due to false labor.  By 5:00 I am pretty certain that I am in labor and decide to warn Clint even though I don't feel that we should rush to the hospital.  He decides to get up around 5:15 and make sure cameras are ready to go and his bag is packed.  Clint convinces me to go ahead and call the doctor to alert him that contractions have started.  I plan to stay at home as long as possible but Dr. A tells me to go in to the birth center.  We wake Riley to get his things ready to go to the hospital and I send my mom a text letting her know that we are going to the hospital.  (They had stopped in St Louis, MO to rest for the night.)
It is almost 6:30 when we finally have everything packed in the Tahoe and ready to roll.  I am walking around outside waiting for the guys and the contractions are really starting to hurt.  I alert the guys that WE NEED TO GO!  HURRY!  The drive to the hospital was pretty tough.  Contractions were about every two minutes and Holy Moly strong!  I am trying my best to not say anything at all and concentrate on breathing.  Riley is in the backseat and I am afraid that the only words that I could intelligently utter would be Oh shit, F%$K, and Damn this hurts!  So I don't speak at all.  Of course, even though there is very little traffic at this time of the morning we manage to catch EVERY red light between our house and the interstate! 

My little angel is ready to eat so I'll have to continue the story later....