Two years ago today

Two years ago today, I went into labor. Please note the date: July 11. Jacob was born on July 14, after 75 hours of labor. If you're a pregnant, first time mom, you may not want to read this. Be warned. My contractions started on Sunday, July 11 at noon. They were 15 minutes apart. I didn't tell Nathan what was happening because I didn't want him to get all excited if nothing was going to happen. We went to church, but only stayed the hour + for sacrament meeting because I was getting more and more uncomfortable, and the contractions were still regular. Fast forward to 10 pm. Nathan now knew what the deal was. The contractions were between 5 and 7 minutes apart. We expected to go to the hospital around midnight. I remember lying on the couch thinking that "hey! This hurts, but I might totally be able to get through labor - without pain meds. I'm tough, I can do this!" Re: the toughness that is me:This is me on July 3, 2004, at 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant, in the middle of an 8ish mile hike, the last mile that was JOGGED. "Insane" could easily replace "tough". Anyhoo...Monday in the late afternoon (July 12) we finally went to the hospital. I was hurting very badly and my contractions were out of control. I had gone through the entire pregnancy swearing I would not be one of "those" women who were sent home from the hospital because their labor was so early. Ha. Ha. Ha. I was only a 2. My contractions were still 5 minutes apart. The nurse didn't care. She told me to "take a Tylenol PM, and hang in there!" I cried the entire way home, contracting the whole way. By the way - it was a 40ish minute drive to and from the hospital, and we passed 3 others on the way. By the way - Tylenol PM is a joke in situations like these. After 24 more very, very difficult hours, I decided to go back to the hospital again. The decision was made about 4 am on July 14th, and I didn't care if they sent me home again. I just wanted them to give me enough pain meds to let me sleep for a few hours first. But surprise! A wonderful young nurse named Geraldine (same name as my paternal grandmother) let me stay! I was *almost* a 3! And even better - she raced another nurse, pushing another patient back, to get me my epidural right away. I love her still. The hospital labor wasn't much better. I still couldn't sleep - not even a nap with the pain meds. I was stuck at a 6 for 3 hours and when I heard the nurses whisper "possible c-section" in the hall I absolutely freaked out. This much labor to have a section? Now I have all my senses about me, and am removed from the experience, I strongly believe that the best labor and birth experience to have is the one that ends in a healthy mom and baby - drugs/no drugs, vaginal/C-section - whatever ends in two healthy people is all that matters. But at the time, a C-section freaked me out. Jacob was born at 2:50 pm on Wednesday, July 14th, after only 15 minutes of pushing, 74 hours and 50 minutes after my labor started. But you'll have to wait until July 14th for those pictures.