We were originally scheduled to be at the hospital at 7pm but had recevied a call the night prior saying the department was overloaded so we would be on call for the day.
We were thrilled to have my cousin Joan in town from California for the festivities. We'd spent the last two days sight seeing and getting things prepped, including our finger & toe nails. As everyone knows, pedicures are a must-do for labor prep.
I'd had a dr's appointment on Tuesday where we found out I was 3 cm and 80% effaced. Joan, Dan & I went out for a late lunch where I had ice cream sundae and fried clams. (this is an important fact for later on)
7am - came & went. I was extremely antsy, waiting for the phone call from the hospital
9am - Joan & I dropped off Nathaniel at his school. Dr Crandall called while we were in the parking lot and said he wasn't sure when he'd be able to slide me in, so I needed to start actively trying to get things going on our own at home.
9:20am - we bought some caster oil & ran the aisles at Hannaford. We spent the rest of the morning, googling caster oil and all the horrible things that can do to you. We decided against it.
11am - Michelle showed up to join our party at the house. Contractions were picking up on their own
11:30 - we sent Dan out to pick up lunch
12:15 - the hospital called, told us to be there by 1pm
12:45 - leaving for Elliot 
12:50 - arrive at hospital. Thrilled to find out we were assigned Pam, the-best-nurse-ever, as our L&D nurse. 
1:15 - Dr Crandall arrived & broke my water. I was now 4cm and 100% effaced. Guess those contractions at home were the real thing.
1:30 - started walking the halls. Contractions were picking up and becoming increasingly painful very quickly. Pam, the-best-nurse-ever, found a birthing ball, so we returned to the room
2:00 - contracting while on the ball. By 2pm, the contractions were 2 minutes apart but not lasting longer than 1 minute each. I stayed on the ball for an hour
3:00 - Dr Crandall came in to check progress. I was a little discouraged to find that I was only at 5cm. I stayed in the bed from here out. I wanted to get up & move around but the contractions were so fast & furious that I never got the opportunity. 
Those clams started to become a little unsettled:
It was at this point that I could feel Audrey decend with each contraction. The room started spinning and I needed to lay down for fear of passing out. I think it was around 3:40
As soon as I laid down, the urge came to want to push. I remember thinking how insane that was since just 40 minutes prior I was only 5cm. I had just said to Dan that I wasn't sure how I was going to make it through transition since the pain I currently was having was so amazingly intense. I was really thinking I had another 8 hours to go. I waiting another contraction to be sure before I announced I had to push. Pam, the-best-nurse-in-the-world, checked and confirmed that her head was right there & that it was indeed time. I could hear people scrambling to get everything ready and she told me to try to hold off pushing while they tried to locate Dr Crandall. Yeah, Right. I remember thinking I'd catch the baby myself before I'd try to hold off on pushing. There was no stopping what was about to happen. It got pretty intense, I don't think anyone thought it was going to be so soon. 
Dr Crandall arrived and 3 pushes later, at 4:00pm, Audrey Faith entered the world
Nathaniel joined us at 5pm and met his little sister for the first time. She got a bath, we had dinner and then by 7pm, we moved over to our new room as a family of four.
...to be continued....
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