Call the plumber!

at 4:25ish am.....we awoke to a flood....on the mattress....and it kept going! I immediately woke Dan and said, "look!" pointing to the newly soiled sheets. His response, "oh s@&%!" with a smile. We leaped from our bed, I to the shower and him to pace mindlessly throughout the condo. The waters flowed like the Amazon. I immediately texted my mom who responded with, "Call the plumber." Followed quickly with the clarifying text, "the doctor."
I put on a dress, long enough to conceal the towel I had wedged between my legs to collect the overflow and we were off to the hospital. We arrived, just in time for change of shift. The departing night nurse was especially pleased to see us 15 minutes before she was to leave. We were put in a room with no windows, with a bed facing the door in the first room on the left when you enter the delivery ward. All the other rooms had side facing beds with nice window views. Our room however provided an amazing view for anyone entering.
So it began. Our wonderful nurse left and the new one joined us....(insert name here)! She was amazing and comforting and completely what I would have hoped for for our first birth! They gave antibiotics, started Pitocin to speed up the process. By 12:30ish? the contractions were more painful so we decided to go ahead and get the epidural before it was unbearable. Dr. Keith Frazer, a coworker of mine from Interventional Radiology, administered the epidural. Felt like a hornet sting....that's it. Then the legs "went to sleep". You can see the "fake" labor pain pics below....we spent most of the time playing cards and just hanging out in what was to be our last moments....just the 2 of us!
By 6pm, the contractions were on top of each other, but I couldn't feel a thing. I only knew this by the spikes on the monitor and her increased heart rate. Dr. Rhona Magaril arrived and after an hour decided the epidural needed to be turned off so I would be able to more effectively push. When they told me to push, I think I was just clenching my jaw and squeezing my facial muscles because I couldn't feel anything. That quickly changed. By 7:30, I felt everything. I thought I was going to die. I looked at Dan, as if for the last time, and whimpered..."it hhhurrrttttsss". But, still no progress, so a Dyson 5000 was brought in. I wanted to avoid this because I did not want my child to have a severely misshapen head, but by 7:45 was willing to accept any course that lead to the extraction of this baby. Finally, on 7/22/11 (the hottest day of the year), at 7:57pm, with the aid of some suction and a few strong pushes, baby Josie emerged. She weighed in at 7lbs 12 ozs, and 20 inches in length. Her hair is dark and plentiful, with beautiful blue eyes. She was perfect. All the nurses in the unit said she was the cutest, naturally. It was a full nursery, a very busy weekend for the hospital crew. After 2 nights in the hospital (Dan sleeping on a fold out chair and I in a bed that constantly shifts), we were allowed to leave. Unbelievably, the only requirement when leaving the hospital with your baby is that you have a car seat.
We have spent the last week just bonding and getting settled. Our families have been a tremendous help and we were glad they were able to share in our joy.