Nothing "False" About This Alarm!!!

* Since "ramble" is what I do best...it may take a few days to get the whole story out. Here are some pictures for you all to enjoy in case my non-stop jibber jabber is too much for you to handle!!!

Kevin and I had been working around the house all day Sunday doing miscellaneous things. I was having some contractions, but didn't think anything of them since I had previously had so many false alarms. We went to bed that night, expecting to wake up Monday morning and get prepared to have our baby the next day (Tuesday was the scheduled induction day if you didn't know.)

Well, God had other plans. I woke up at 10:30 to a contraction that was so strong it took my breath away. I waited for it to pass, got up to use the restroom, only to realize my water had broken. We called the doctor who reassured us that this was really "it", and that she'd meet us at the hospital. The contractions were coming every 4 minutes, and were quite a bit stronger than those I was previously experiencing.

After dropping Kallen and Kubota (the dog) off at Grandpa & Grandmas, we headed to the ER to be admitted. Labor and Delivery was relatively slow that night, so we had all the attention and care we needed. We got admitted and all hooked up to the monitors at 12:30. Since the contractions were quite a bit stronger, and my water had broken, I was sure that we had made some progress from the 3-4 cm's that I was already dilated. The nurse checked me, and what do you know...4 cm. Are you kidding me? Well, we began to prepare ourselves for a long night!

My blood pressure was beginning to head towards the "high" end, and we were anticipating a slow labor from this point on, so at 2:30 we decided that it would be best to get an epidural. I was hoping to try and labor without medication, but God knows what we need best. I kept getting a strong feeling that I should get the epidural even thought I wasn't exactly sure I needed it yet. It's a good thing I ended up getting it, and you'll know why I mean a little bit later!

At 4:30 the doctor checked me again, just to see if we were making any progress, and to all of our surprise, I was fully dilated on one side of my cervix, and 8-9 on the other (I guess it was kind of oblong).

They rolled me into another position, hoping I would dilate fully, and sure enough, by about 5:15 I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing.............