Leila's Birth

Leila was due on Thursday, September 25. All that week I'd been having minor contractions off and on, but nothing especially painful. On Thursday Jacob and I spent the day with Bryon's mom, and I didn't have any contractions at all, so I assumed we still had awhile before the baby would come.
When I got home that evening I had a few contractions, but again nothing serious. Bryon and I were planning to go to the temple, but by the time the babysitter got there I decided I didn't want to risk being stuck if this was the real thing. So, Bryon and I went for a walk while Jacob played with the babysitter. My contractions were quite painful and strong, but not regular at all.
When we got back around 7:00 PM, we put Jacob to bed and my contractions virtually stopped. There was nothing, so I assumed once again that it would be awhile.
I didn't have any more contractions until I went to bed around 11:00. They were really minor, and I was able to go to sleep. I woke up every 10 minutes or so after midnight with a contraction, but they didn't last long and I'd go to sleep again. Finally around 1:00 AM they were too painful for me to stay in bed, so I walked around and tried to decide whether this whole birth thing would wait until morning, or if I should wake Bryon up and get going. By 2:00 AM my contractions were only four or five minutes apart, and continued to get stronger, so I knew waiting wasn't an option. I woke Bryon up and we got our stuff together, then loaded everything (including Jacob) in the car and drove to Bryon's parents house. Jacob was wide awake on the way, and very excited about going to Grandma and Grandpa's. We left Jacob there for the night and headed to the hospital. I quickly discovered that a car is probably the least comfortable place to have contractions, but luckily the trip didn't take too long. Also, my contractions were only lasting 10 seconds or so, so it wasn't too unbearable.
We got to the hospital at 3:00 AM. At this point I was in more than a fair amount of pain, and the whole check-in process just made things worse because all the procedures and questions were distracting me. I knew that the baby was pretty close, but I also knew it would be a whole lot easier if I weren't in so much pain, so I requested an epidural. My midwife arrived shortly after that was done (to a much happier patient than if she'd gotten there before!), and broke my water to move things along. By the time they'd laid out all their equipment, I was ready to go. I pushed through three contractions and Leila was born on the last one, at 4:56 AM. She came out looking big (much bigger than I expected!) and healthy. She had a beautiful cry (I'll try to remember that when I hear it in the middle of the night), and I was struck by her dark hair and big cheeks. She was beautiful!
Bryon cut the cord and after she was weighed and wrapped up we got to hold and admire her, and try to decide on her name. Luckily, Leila seemed to fit. The name is Arabic for "night" and means born at night and dark-haired beauty. Both are applicable to this beautiful baby. Additionally, we wanted to honor my Grandmother, Lila, and my mother, DeAnn (hence the middle name, Anne). So, this name was perfect. Stay tuned for more on Leila's namesake.