Annabelle's Birth

I am going to post all my birth stories eventually, but I'm going to go in reverse order.
Annabelle's pregnancy was pretty routine, with very little morning sickness in the beginning and really no problems. I started having some mild, completely inconsistent contractions around 36 weeks, which is very routine for me. So, the next week, on Wednesday night, I started having them about 30-45 minutes apart, but pretty strong. So, the next morning, Zoe went to school and we took the boys to Moms Day Out and I headed to the doctor. She told me I was a little over four cm and since I was having regular contractions, I could go on to the hospital. I called Adam, who had just started his job on Monday and this was Thursday. He met me at the house and then we went and ate at Plaza del Sol, a mexican restaurant in between our house and the hospital. I was still having good contractions the whole time. We got to the hospital and got checked in and hooked to the monitors and, sure enough, I was having really good contractions in a good, regular pattern. I was getting to stay! We were very excited. Made all the necessary phone calls to family and friends and prepared for her arrival. Well, the contractions started to space out and, while they never stopped, everything slowed way down. My OB said if it stopped, she would send us home since I was still just 37 weeks...she didn't want to augment labor unnecessarily. My friends, Kim and Christine, came and visited and walked the halls with me. Then, they left to go have dinner and promised to come back. At this point, I was about 5 1/2 cm, so the nurse had mercy on me and brought me some hospital chicken tenders, which are some of the best chicken tenders! They tasted so good. Then, Kim and Christine came back at which point the nurse told me I was between 6 and 7 cm, which was good news because at least my OB wasn't going to send me home. Kim and Christine left around 11 pm, leaving behind a very tired and frustrated woman in labor. I couldn't believe how long it was taking! This was my third baby in three years - shouldn't she just fall out?? Anyway, labor began to pick up around 1 am and by four am I was having to vocalize through the contractions. My previous two births had been natural and I was hoping to have Annabelle naturally, too, but at four am, I was exhausted and asked for the epidural. She put the epidural in and I think she put a very low dose in, because I could still feel the contractions, but I was able to sleep in between, which was perfect. I hate to be out of control, which is why I was a little nervous about getting the epidural. Right before 6 am, I woke Adam up because I was feeling an incredible urge to push. My nurse came running in to check me. I had previously told my nurse that if my water breaks, she should not leave the room because there is usually a baby coming immediately. Right before she checked me, my water broke. She used the phone in her pocket to call the doctor on call. His name was Dr. Bolton and I had never met him before. I didn't care at this point. He came into the room, put on one glove and caught Annabelle. I pushed her out in one push! I pushed a second time, which I thought was the rest of her, but it was actually my placenta. I didn't tear at all, so Dr. Bolton left a few minutes later. She was born at 6:04 am, she weighed 6 pounds, 8 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. She didn't get squeezed enough coming out, so she sounded a little "wet". So she spent about four hours in the Special Care Nursery, which is not NICU. We could visit her anytime we wanted to and bring anyone back there. She came back to our room about 10:30 or so and was great!
I loved her birth, even with the epidural. I started labor around 9 am and she was born at 6 am the next day - 21 hours of labor. I couldn't believe it! My longest labor up till then had been about 11 hours, so she surprised me. The only thing I will do different the next time is to wait at home a little longer, but since I had two babies and Zoe to worry about, I chose to go a little earlier than necessary. But, it was great!