I never wrote a birth story on here so I'm glad I get to do one 7 months later. It's really long and even if you can't make it to the end I at least felt good writing it.

I guess you can say that my labor was a good one. 12 hours start to finish.

I was due on 7/17/07. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to be induced, which was scheduled for 7/24/07. So on the night of 7/18/07 we went to the supermarket because I wanted to make some spicy chili, yes, the old wives tale that spicy food will bring on labor. Well, could have just been a coincidence but at 6am on 7/19/07 I woke up with cramping. I spent about a half hour in the bathroom. Go to wipe and there is the goop...sorry if TMI....but I believe that was my mucus plug or the bloody show. At which point i realize I'm in labor. DH was still sleeping at this point and I went in to tell him that I was having contractions. I tried to go back to sleep and surprinsingly I could. But woke up every 5 minutes between contractions. At around 8am I got out of bed to do some work e-mail (yes, I worked literally up to the end) and just wanted to tie up some loose ends and let them know I was in labor. I also called the doc because they were 5 minutes apart and lasting about 30-45 seconds. I sincerely thought I was going to be home all day before we went to the hospital but they started off coming often. They told me to go to the hospital but I really didn't want to because I hadn't showered yet and thought they would just send me home because it had only been 2 hours. So they said then just go to the doctor's office which is across the street from the hospital. So I go and wake DH up and told him I had to go to the doctor's office. His reponse...."do you need me to drive you". DUH!!!! I didn't find out until about a month ago that he didn't even know I was in labor. Apparently he doesn't remember me waking him up and telling him I was having contractions. Anyway, I got his butt up. We both showered, put my bags in the car, prepared the cats and off we went.

The drive was ok. Fortuntely we missed rush hour which I was afraid we might catch. Get to the doc and the labor was coming a little more often now and stronger. I was 3 cm so they sent me to the hospital to get going because I was already 2 days overdue. At this point it was real...this was it.

So we go to the hospital and we have to wait for a room. They were PACKED!!!! In the waiting room it really started to hit me. And strong. It was so painful in my back. Finally I get a room and they make me walk like a mile to get there. I was dying and ready to KILL the nurse. She was walking about 50 mph and I was struggling so hard to try and keep up. Yeah right!!!

Got to the room, undressed and started to cry because I was in so much pain. Doc came to examine me and I was 4 cm. I swear I hit the ceiling when she did the exam, it hurt SOOOO bad. They promised me an epidural and fast. Actually, I got it before I even was admitted and signed consent forms. The epi was wonderful, and I hate needles. There were a few pinches and some burning but nothing compared to the contractions, which were coming every 1-2 minutes by then. The doc came in, gave me pitocin to speed things up (which I thought was strange because I thought it was already going fast). Then she broke my water which had miconium in it (baby had a BM) so they needed the NICU there for the delivery to ensure that he didn't have any in his lungs and stuff.

At that point my MIL and SIL came to visit. Which was fine. We're cool. I didn't have a chance to do my hair or anything since I had to shower really quick so I had my SIL flat-iron my hair. I was so giddy! But after a few hours I started to feel the pain again. And throughout it I had really bad shaking. REALLY BAD!!! They had to get the doc in to give me more of the epidural at which point I was 8 cm. I quickly got to 10cm and started pushing. I was sort of sad because my parents were on their way from LI. Originally they thought I'd go by midnight so it gave my dad enough time to get home from work and leave. But now it happened quicker so they were going to miss it and I knew it.

I hated the pushing. it was SO exhausting. And I couldn't hold my breath as long as they wanted me to. Plus the oxygen mask they had me on made it so much worse. I probably pushed for about an hour and a half. All the while DH and the nurse were watching the news and judge judy in between. It was pretty funny. But I give the L&D nurses a lot of credit. She was up on the bed, holding me down. It seemed pretty exhausting for her too! Finally she let me take a break. I was SO thirsty and begging for water. I was miserable at this point because I thought it would never be over. I actually contemplated asking for a c-section which was ridiculous thinking back. But an hour and a half is a long time when you're laboring and pushing. She realized that I had spiked a tempurature which wasn't good because it meant that I may have developed an infection somewhere which was fine for me but worrisome for the baby. So we had to cool it until they could get me some antibiotic. Just to reiterate, I hated the pushing. Even with the epi I still felt some discomfort. I guess I expected to feel nothing. I even told DH that i never would do it again. A little dramatic looking back (to say the least.)

Anyway, once we started pushing again we were there. The doc came in, transformed the bed, stirrups came out, and at 5:58 pm Matthew was born. He cried when he came out. And then I didn't hear one peep out of him until they weighed him.

The NICU had to do there thing so I didn't get to see him right away which felt like an eternity. He was fine. I think he was 10 minutes old when they handed me to him. He just stared at me and it was the most amazing experience!!! I was so mesmerized by his beady brown eyes and cleft chin.

And now he is 7 months old. Time flies. I had a rough go the first few months. And he was a dream baby. Never a peep out of him. Slept through the night at 8 weeks. But within I had a rough time adjusting. The sleepless nights. Trying to be everything to everyone.

Ladies if any of you feel this way in the beginning please know how normal it is. I did a lot of reading on it because I felt as if I didn't possess that natural ability to love being a mother. I thought there was something wrong with me. Yeah, well its called hormones. Coupled with the anxiety issues that I have. But going to work at 3 months helped me a lot. And by 6 months, maybe a little before, it was sealed. I loved being Matthew's mom. Whereas at 3 months I'd tell you that I could never be a SAHM. Now that's all I dream about. It still will never happen but I just love spending hours with him. He is just so amazing. So I just wanted to add that because I was panicked about the whole thing. I never doubted my love for my son.

Thanks for reading if you're still with me!!!