Worst pain of my life but totally worth it!

We had quite the eventful weekend. It's amazing how quickly one can go from 0 to 60 with labor. WARNING: may be TMI!

When I woke up for church Sunday morning I had a bit of "show". At church I was having some minor contractions that weren't regular but kept coming. They slowed after sacrament so we decided to stay. After church we went to Travis and Hayley's for lunch. I started having contractions again around 3 and they were coming every 7 minutes for 2 hours. They weren't super painful but were in my back so they were definitely real. We still weren't sure if we should go to the hospital. When they started coming on stronger, but still only 5 or 6 minutes apart, I said we need to go.

Now, let me preface this next part with this: a few days prior to this I told TJ that I was worried that I wouldn't make it to the hospital in time for an epidural. He said I would be fine. I am a worrier though.

So we got to the hospital around 6. The contractions weren't really any worse and we were getting settled in our room. The nurse checked me and said I was a 5 and very thin. They asked if I wanted an epidural and I of course said yes! They had paged the anesthesiologist but he was in the next room giving someone else her epidural. 5 to 10 minutes later we heard a boom on the monitor and I felt a nice pop and gush. My water had broken. So the nurse checked me again and said I was at an 8. Then she turned to me and said, you understand what is happening, right? I said, you mean I'm not getting an epidural. She said probably not. At this point I decided I wanted to try to labor on my hands and knees on the bed. It truly "lessened" the pain of the contractions (but not by much). Within 10 minutes I was fully dilated and had this incredible urgency to push. The doctor, not mine, hadn't arrived yet but the nurses assured me they were trained to deliver if need be. TJ also thought about gowning up just in case. I pushed a couple of times before the doctor arrived but am so glad he made it so TJ could lend me his hand to bruise :) A few more pushes, strange noises/screams that I have never made before, and a couple of "I can't do this", we had a baby. All within 1, yes 1, hour. CRAZY!

Now for those of you who would like a little more info, it's not the baby coming that hurts so much. It's the stretching and preparation for baby that is the worst! And all for this:

Liam Taylor Moore, June 26, 2011, 8 lbs 6 oz, 21.5 in