After spending an entire day in the hospital with contractions only to be sent home I'm glad to say that 5 days later we went back but didn't come home empty-handed!
I knew something was going on when I woke up throwing up more than I had since they put the Zofran/Reglan pump in. It was uncontrollable and the contractions I had while I was hunched over the toilet were piercing to say the least. We got to the hospital around 11pm Wednesday (7/14) night and I was 1cm dialated but the contractions were very strong and about 2min apart so they decided this was going to be it. I begged for something for the nausea and my back pain (from the car accident...it's STILL there) so they gave me Phenergran and Demerol. Talk about feeling "floozy!" The best way I can describe it is I felt like I was talking to all these people and no one was talking back...weird, WEIRD dreams when I could doze off for a minute or two in between the contractions.
We talked to the anesthesiologist about an epidural and he said they would do it. There was apparently come confusion about when my spinal fusion was done. They thought it was done in April because of the car accident but it was actually done in Oct '02. Anyway, they were willing to do the epi right then but I was scared it would slow things down and I'd have a long, miserable labor so I told them to hold off...the contractions weren't that bad...yet.
Around 7am the next morning my doctor came to check me. I was so disappointed when he said I was only 1.5cm and 50% effaced. I just knew he would send me home because I hadn't reached the magic 38th week yet for him to induce. God must have been looking over me that day because my doctor said "you've been through enough...it's time to get the ball rolling and get this baby born so we're going to start a Pit drip." YIPPPPPPEEEE!!! I was finally going to have this child out of me was all I could think!
They started the Pitocin about 7:30am that morning. They checked me again around 11am and I was just 3cm. My doctor came back to check me at 1pm and decided that because the external monitor was no longer picking up my contractions (trust me, they were there and they were strong!) that he needed to put internal monitors on to keep in check with things. Ok, fine. No big deal, right? WRONG! And I though the pelvic exams hurt!!! I literally thought I was going to pass out when he was putting the monitors in. My husband was probably close to losing his right hand from me squeezing it so hard!
So the doctor gets the internal monitors in and I'm dying of pain. Not 2 minutes after those things were in did my water break and at this point I'm screaming for the epidural because the back pain is so bad. At 2:15 they check me before they start the epi and I was still just 3cm. 2:40ish they finished with the epi but I'm still hurting and I forgot to mention the nausea is really getting to me.
Around 2:50pm I tell the nurse I have to push. She quickly says no but decides to check me again. I'm at 4cm. Ok so we're making 'some' progress. 3 to 4cm and my water has broken...surely I'll have a baby in my arms in the next day or so, right? Well, I'm screaming at the nurse I can't NOT push...I HAVE to. She pages the doctor to tell him to come back as she checks me and at 3:00 I'm at 10cm and fully effaced...ok so I WAS needing to push she says. She fratically transforms the bed into the stirrups and tells me I can start pushing. At 3:05 she pages the doctor and tells him to RUN not walk. At 3:11pm it's all over with and Madeline Lacey is in my arms. About 3 minutes later my doctor arrives to "put everything back together again." Yes, I went from 4cm to 10cm in all of like 15 minutes! Ok, I tried to tell my doctor I delivered that quickly with my first child and that he should induce so I don't deliver in a car pulled over in the 7-11 parking lot.
The epi never kicked in. How do I know? Let's just say I jumped about 3 feet off the bed when my doctor started to repair things. Oh well. I guess a quick delivery is better anyway.
Our precious bundle of joy who caused me so much pain and agony over the 9 months is here. It wasn't an hour after she was born that the nausea was gone. The feeling I always had in the back of my throat like I was going to throw up was gone and I was S-T-A-R-V-I-N-G!!!! I must've fallen asleep while my doctor was finishing up but about an hour after she was born I woke up and there wasn't a soul in the room. I'm like "um, hello...I just birthed a child and puked for 9mo straight...now I'm starving and there's NO ONE here to give me food!!!" I knew then the HG was over with because I'd never been so hungry in my life!!!!!
So, Madeline's here, the nausea and puking are gone and I couldn't be happier! HG really does have an end! Oh and here's the scary thought...I'm already thinking I CAN do this again!
Oh I almost forgot! 2 weeks early and she weighed in at 8lb 3oz!!! She's 100% healthy and looks just like her daddy.
And my care provider (mid-wife) didn't make it into the room in time to catch my baby, either! And the bed was not completely broken down, yet 
Only she (my mid-wife, that is) had just stepped out into the hallway to write a note when a nurse unwisely told me to push, and even the nurse barely made it to the end of the bed in time to catch him! The only other person in the room (besides Ryan, of course) was the baby nurse, getting things ready on the other side of the room!