The long birth story

So, on Monday I was having painless contractions ALL DAY, and I figured they were just braxton hicks...they were somewhat irregular and even though did seem to get closer together, they didn't hurt at all, and I didn't notice any for most of the late evening. BUT, I woke up at 3am with cramping with contractions and so I got up and started timing them...they were consistently about 6-7 minutes apart, and by 6 or 7am they were getting to be more painful. My weekly appointment was at 10am, so I called as soon as the office opened because by then they were pretty painful and coming every THREE minutes. But when she checked my cervix I wasn't dilated at all!! I was pretty shocked because the contractions were pretty painful and already so frequent. My doctor said it could be days since I started behind the start line, as I wasn't dilated at all before labor began, but we planned for me to go back to the office at 5 to get checked again just to see where things were. So we went home and I was prepared for a long few days. But the contractions became more and more intense and by 12 I could barely talk through them and my doula came over because by listening to me over the phone she thought I needed help. I tried many positions, but the contractions were so very very intense, I really had no idea anything could be so painful. Meanwhile my doula said it probably wasn't a great idea to go to my doctor's because since my water hadn't broken yet, and I had NO bloody show at this point, she also said it could be another day and didn't want me to be discouraged if I still wasn't dilated. I agreed, but could not wrap my head around being in that much pain and NOT being dilated at all. I was starting to talk about going to get an epidural after every contraction, because by 2pm or so they were coming every 1-2 minutes!! I never could have continued labor like that because I could hardly relax between contractions before the next would come. I was focusing on my breathing but it was almost impossible....the pain was unbelievably intense. I was vomiting and couldn't imagine doing this for much longer. My doula was still confident that I was probably not dilated much because I had no bloody show. I was insisting I could not do it any longer but Shane and my doula tried to encourage me. At 4:30 I pretty much demanded that I go get an epidural no matter how early I was....even if I was only 1cm dilated I wanted it because the pain was just too horrible AND TOO OFTEN. They gave in but they both seemed disappointed in me...I felt bad but I knew I couldn't continue. My doctor said she'd meet us there. The cab ride was as horrible as you'd expect, and by the time we got to triage, there were several women before me. They were all sitting calmly in their chairs while I was hunched over a trash can with contractions coming every minute. It really seemed at that point that they were getting worse with every contraction, and no one seemed to notice how much pain I was in. The only nurse who approached me was sweet, but said there were several people before me. I think my eyes probably popped out of my head. She was actually saying I'd have to wait behind these women who were obviously fine?? I was TRYING to talk and tell Shane that he really needed to get someone...that they were getting worse..they were so close that I could barely catch my breath between the contractions. At that point someone came and wheeled me into a room, where I immediately started demanding an epidural, even if I was only 1cm dilated. One nurse said she was sure I was further along "with contractions like that". Several people were in the room and I was told to get in the bed, which at home was the worst thing I could do. I just remember clutching onto the side rails, literally screaming in pain, saying that I was going to die, etc. I was TRYING to breathe, but it was the most difficult thing to do. When they checked me I was 6cm, fully effaced. I was still demanding the epidural....who knows how long it could be for me to dilate completely. They broke my water and there was a lot of meconium and apparently the baby was having late decels (I was in another world and wasn't even hearing any of this information...learned it later). About 15 minutes after being checked at 6cm, I was 9cm!! I went from 6 to 9 in 15 minutes! They rushed me to the OR because they thought I might need a c-section based on the baby's heart beat. My doctor rushed in at that point (she delivered the baby in her suede heels). As soon as I got into the OR I was 10cm! My doctor asked whether or not I wanted to epidural. She said she might be able to get the baby regulated, but if not they'd have to do a c-section and need to put me under general. I decided to get the epidural, and actually welcomed it. After getting the epidural (DURING A CONTRACTION!!!), the baby calmed down, and they got me ready to push. I was a completely different person as you can imagine. Pushing was great...even though I couldn't feel what I was doing, it was productive, and the baby was out in about 45 minutes. He cried right away, and his apgars were 9 and 9. So even though I had the epidural, I was lucky because it was for such a short period of time and I they didn't pump me full of fluids. So even though I basically did labor naturally like I wanted, things certainly didn't happen the way I expected.