I went into the hospital on April 14, 2002 for a scheduled induction for the following day. I had been having problems with PIH (pregnancy-induced hypertension) and the doctor was concerned about the baby's size. The following week he had done an ultrasound and had estimated the baby's size to be 8 1/2 pounds! Needless to say, I had no qualms about going in for the induction.

On Sunday night, I went in and they placed Cervidil next to my cervix to soften it. I was lying in bed, trying to go to sleep, but was having some serious trouble, as I was so excited. I felt something funny and stood up only to find some fluid running out of me. Now everyone says when your water breaks, you know it. Not true! There wasn't a whole lot of fluid, so I thought maybe it was just discharge or something. They had given me a sleeping pill about an hour before that happened, so I could have just been a little fuzzy.

Well, I got back into bed and rang the nurse because the Cervidil tablet had come out. I had used a towel to mop up the discharge and it was a strange, brownish color. She tested it with litmus paper and it came back as being positive for amniotic fluid. The doctor came in about 30 minutes after that and said that he wanted to go ahead and start the Pitocin as my water had broken. The IV was started and I immediately began feeling contractions. The nurse kept coming in and cranking up the dosage.

Pretty soon, I was having hard contractions that were back to back with no time in between. Every time she turned up the Pitocin, I wanted to strangle her. At this point, I was all alone and getting pretty scared. Just as one contraction would end, another would begin and man did it hurt! The only thing I can say to describe the pain of a contraction is that it's like having a very intense gas pain, quadrupled in intensity. The pain comes in waves, gradually getting stronger and then fades away. I am not one to be vocal when in pain; however, I found it a little easier to handle if I moaned with the contractions. No one was in the room with me, so I just let it rip!

Around 2 a.m., I called the baby's dad. I had wanted to let him get sleep, but I had had enough at this point and wanted someone with me. After what felt like a decade, he made it to the hospital an hour later. About the same time, the nurse's shift changed. The new nurse came in to see me and saw how intense my labor was. After looking at the fetal monitor, she described my contractions as being whoppers. She checked my cervix and saw that I was 4 centimeters dilated. She also said that I had another bag of water that had not broken.

At this point, she decided to turn off the Pitocin to give me a break while waiting on the anesthesiologist to come administer the epidural. After an hour of hard labor, any thought of having a natural birth went right out the window! I'm no martyr. If the pain relief is there, take it! Finally around 4 a.m., the anesthesiologist came to give me the epidural. I won't lie; it does hurt getting it; however, compared to labor, it's nothing and is over in a minute. After about 15 minutes, all the pain was gone but I could feel everything. I was lucky and got a fabulous epidural. I was able to move my legs and everything. The anesthesiologist admitted to having many a child named after him.

So the rest of the morning was spent dozing and watching TV. I was pretty wiped out after the four hours of hard labor. It takes so much out of you! Four hours doesn't sound like much to some, but when in constant, intense pain, it seems like a lifetime. At about 10 a.m., the nurse came in to check my cervix again and said that there was a lip left and wanted me to push to see if it would move out of the way. I had been stuck at 9 centimeters for about three hours and they were concerned about the meconium that had been in my water. The second bag of water broke at this time. With one push, the lip of cervix moved right out of the way and the baby's head moved down. The nurse smiled and said, It's time to push, Mom.

I pushed for about 10 minutes and was pushing so effectively that she went and got the doctor, as it was going very quickly. I never did get that intense urge to push that so many women talk about, but did notice that my body would continue to push even when I had stopped. The only thing I remember feeling was a lot of pressure on my tailbone. It was starting to get painful, so the anesthesiologist came in and gave me an additional medication that blocked the rest of the pain. After that, it was smooth sailing.

The doctor came in along with about 40 nurses. I pushed for about 10 minutes when she told me just to keep pushing and not worry about pushing with a contraction. The next thing I knew, my daughter, Isabel Grace, was born weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces with Apgars of 7 and 8. Tears of joy streamed down my face as I heard her first cries. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and both feet, but had not been wrapped tightly. They were a little concerned at first and brought in a pulse oxygen machine to make sure she was getting enough oxygen, but after a few minutes, she was just fine.

I was amazed at the fact that I did not even know that she had been born! I never felt a thing. I was shocked at how easy it was. The entire pregnancy I had been building myself up for this painful experience that turned out to be a breeze! The only advice I can give to would-be mothers is to get the epidural! It doesn't harm the baby and allows you to actually enjoy the experience. I was able to joke around and talk with nurses and doctors and remain in good spirits. Also, write up a birth plan. Most hospitals will follow it as closely as medically possible. My experience was a wonderful one and I would do it again in a minute.