I started having contractions at about 4 am but wasn't sure if they were the "real" thing until about 7am. I took a shower and called my best friend and she drove me to the hospital. As I was getting out of the car I ran into my doctor - who was just ending her shift. She saw me and got very excited - "Is it time?" I was almost 2 weeks late and was getting VERY big. I had an appointment to induce in a few days. She brought me upstairs and got me into a room and told the nurse she wanted to check me before she went home. My contractions were 10 min. apart. She determined that I was in labor and she said - "Well, we're not going to wait anymore. You're here and we're going to do this today." she then took a giant crochet hook and broke my water. I was unsure about the epidural but after a couple hours I rethought that decision and decided to give it a try. I had the epidural and my labor was not progessing - my contractions stayed a 10 min. They started giving me pitocin (sp?) I watched my contractions go crazy on the screen but with the epidural I felt almost nothing. I could feel the contractions but they were not at all painful.

I was in labor for most of the day - I spent the entire day just chatting with my friend and anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new little girl. I started pushing at 3:30 - with a nurse who was not unlike a drill sargeant. At 5:03 my sweet little Cassidy Renee made her way into the world. My first question was "Is she a girl - Is she ok?" She was fine. The nurse kept yelling at me to eat but I could not take my eyes off her. She weighed 8lbs. and 1/2 oz and was 20 inches long. She had bluish gray eyes (stilll blue now - not like me or her dad!!) and lots of dark hair. She still has all the hair but it is much lighter now. It was such an amazing day and my life changed so much. It was the day that I really knew what love was.