Thanks for all the well wishes!
Our daughter, Anna Mary, was born at 10:57PM on Fri. She weighed 9lbs 1.5oz and was 20.5in long. It was quite a ride.
The dr was a total jerk, which was surprising because I had liked him in the office. It was really busy at L&D and as a result I didn't get checked for 7hrs and didn't get the pit until 4PM! From 4 until 9 I only went from 3 to 5 and baby was still at -1. At 9PM he threatened the c-section even though he had told me he would "let" me labor for 12 hours. I was really mad. At about 9:30 or so, dh, my labor support person, and I decided that if I agreed to an epi then he would let me labor longer than just until 10 or 11. So I told him I wanted it. I was really crushed at that point as I had hoped not to have one. Well, my nurse, who also was a jerk, got me in position on the side of the bed for the epi even though the anestesiologist (sp?) was not even at the hospital. I was dying sitting there with those pit contractions. DH got me a stool to rest my feet on, but I was dying through the contractions. I feel them in my hips (this was the case with dd#1 as well). A really good nurse had come in to help so she suggested some stadol just so that I could make it until I got the epi. This was great as I got to swing back into bed. Well, no more than 15 minutes after I got the stadol, my body started involuntarily pushing. I told the good nurse and she checked me and I was 7. A couple contractions later I was 10 and then about 3 contractions later she was born. I had some tearing and bruising probably because she came so darn fast. I was so psyched that I was able to do it without an epi.
The thing that was so crazy about the whole ordeal was that when I was trying to relax during the contractions nothing much was happening. Once I decided on the epi I just tried to survive through them so I was tense and that is when I dialated. I still wonder if the dr was being honest when he said I was only 5. After the birth he didn't say anything to me. I hope someone asks me at his office how it went, because I will have to tell them.
Beth
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: But YAY for a healthy baby and an epi-free birth!!! Can you post pics?
No one could look like that after giving birth and *I* could never look like that 
it happens entirely to much still.
