Everyone loves a good birth story................

It began like any other saturday night in Meridian. Jake and I had gone to walgreens to rent a 5th redbox movie for the week; I got accused by a walgreens cashier for stealing a diet sunkist; the usual. Jake and I were back at the house watching "Hot tub time machine" starring Chevy Chase when I started feeling what some girls would call painful menstrual cramps ( I have never experienced bad menstrual cramps so I just assumed these were it). I told Jake "I think these are contractions--we should time them b/c I know im having this baby tonight." I was pretty certain what I was feeling were contractions but I called a friend anyway to confirm. So around 11 Jake and I started seriously timing them--5 minutes apart. At this point I was in agony and desperately wanted to forget the natural birth plan and haul-A to the hospital for the epidural. However that wasn't happening. Jake wanted us to wait until the contractions were 3 minutes apart (ensuring that we wouldn't be sent home etc). So every 3 minutes I (with jakes coaching) breathed through contractions until I demanded that we head to the hospital. We arrived around 12:30 am. (We might have been there earlier but I could only walk between contractions so it took us a while to get to the OB floor). Once we arrived everything progressed as smoothly as it could go I guess. The nurses started an IV in me and asked if I wanted pain meds---it took all my determination to refuse it. The contractions were coming quicker and stronger and I could hardly stand it. Jake helped me breathe through each one while we paced around the room. Then I started screaming to the nurses that "I am having this baby NOW!" But no one was believing me! I yelled at them again to call Dr. Purdy. When they called him I was 4 cm dilated and when he arrived 30 minutes later I was 9 cm dilated and ready to push. All I can remember from this part is pressure and feeling like my butt was splitting in half. With every contraction I let out a horrifying loud scream until Jake pulled my attention back to him and helped me to breathe. Then 4 pushes later I felt this amazing release and I heard the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard--our healthy screaming son! Dr. Purdy placed him on my belly, while Jake cut the cord. As far as childbirths go, I couldn't have been more pleased. Now we are home with our precious miracle and we couldn't be happier!