The birth story of Baby Z

My little girl is 8 weeks old! Here is the beginning of her story!
My pregnancy was horrible. Don't get me wrong, I loved every kick and stretch and hiccup. I enjoyed every moment I could, knowing that this was the last time I would be pregnant.
I had migraines horribly for the entire 9 months. They got so bad that my neurologist finally took me off work early. I was at home from the middle of April, and I wasn't due until June 22nd. It was nice to be able to nap and hang out with my son and not stress out about whether or not I could be productive for long enough to justify the 30 minute drive to work. However, I was still in pain what seemed like all the time. I started to get really antsy about giving birth, even though it would have meant cutting my maternity leave short.
My sister in law came into town from Florida to be here for the birth. She wasn't able to be up here when I had Jack, so she decided to come visit for a month as not to miss it this time. She came prepared with her video camera and insisted that we call her as soon as we headed for the hospital. She wanted to be there the whole time... Not necessarily in the room, but in the building when Z was born. I agreed, though I thought she was silly for wanting to sit at a hospital for hours on end.
As the weeks passed, everyone seemed to get more impatient. All I kept hearing was "she's not here yet?! " I found it increasingly difficult to keep my cool and not be a complete smart ass. I was getting done with the whole situation. The last few doctors appointments, my OBGYN, whom I love, kept bringing up induction, which I declined. I had never heard of anyone who had a great experience with an induction... Only horror stories. I knew when she was good and ready, it would happen. I just wished that she would be ready faster!
On Saturday, June 11th, we got a sitter for JP and Matt took me out for dinner. I got a rare steak, which it what I had been craving for the entire pregnancy but denying myself. It was amazing! We then went to Sam's club and walked around a bit. Matt cracked me up when he took the bumpiest back way home he knew.
We got home and I got a migraine that came on so fast, I about lost my fabulous dinner. I curled up on the couch as much as I could and cried. At that point I knew she would come within the next few days because I felt so helplessly done.
Matt sent me to bed and at 2:45 on the dot, my eyes snapped wide open and I took off running for the bathroom, water dripping everywhere. I yelled at Matt from the bathroom that he should get ready. After getting in the shower, I tried to get dressed to leave. Everytime I stood up or changed positions, another gush of water splashed on the bathroom floor, our bedroom floor, in the toilet. It was insane! With JP, I had to look up in a book to see if my water had actually broke. With the baby girl, there was no question. I kept running between the bedroom and the bathroom trying to get dressed when I saw my father in law on the couch. I hoped that I didn't run naked while he was there and didn't realize it.
We got on the road to the hospital about 3:10am or so. I didn't have my first contraction until we were on the highway, but they started at 2 minutes apart, and super uncomfortable.
When we pulled up in front of the hospital, I was still able to breath through the contractions with some vocalization. Matt dropped me off and went to park the car. I walked in the front door of the hospital at 3:39am. I went to admitting and had another quite strong contraction, after which I asked the ladies behind the desk if they could have anesthesia waiting for me when I got to triage. They laughed at me. I was totally serious.
Matt walked back in just as they were getting me in a wheelchair and to the elevators. In triage, the nurse asked for a urine sample. I said I'd try, and waddled to the bathroom. I really felt like I needed to have a b. m., so I pushed for a few seconds. Nothing happened, so I went to stand up. I learned forward and had another contraction, and my body started pushing on its own. I screamed, cause I had zero control of the pushing and it freaked me out!
The nurse popped her head in the door and asked if I was OK. I said "No! My body is pushing and I can't help it! " She said "Well, don't do that! " (As a side note, that statement really irritated me! I already told her it was involuntary!) I handed her the cup and waddled back to the bed. One nurse went to put monitors on me while the other checked my cervix. The checker nurse said we were going to a room now. I asked where I was, and she told me I was in triage, but they would get me into a room. I said, No, how far am I dilated? She said very calmly that I was there and she could feel the baby's head. I panicked and said, Am I going to be able to get an epidural!?! She said, probably not and they wheeled me out into the hallway. My husband filled me in later and said the nurse asked who my doctor was so they could page him. The resident OB said it didn't matter, cause they wouldn't make it in time anyway.
As soon as we got into the labor and delivery room, I had the final contraction and pushed twice and she was born on the triage bed at 3:50am. I distinctly remember knowing when her head was out, and then I felt the rest of her slide out a few seconds later. Even though I knew I was done, I looked at the doctor and asked "Is that it?! " They asked my stunned husband if he wanted to cut the cord and then placed my perfect little girl on my chest.
It was amazing! I felt great!
Then they had to push on my uterus to get the placenta to detach. That was less than comfortable. They did give me a shot of morphine and pitocin since I didn't have an IV started.
The nurse told me, "They call that a stop and drop. "
They cleaned up Z and handed her back to me. I told them I was going to try to nurse her. One of the nurses asked which hold I was going to try. I shrugged, whipped out a boob and she was latched on within seconds (good girl!) The nurse was so cute. She said "I love seeing experienced mommys nurse! "
A nurse from the nursery came to give Z her first bath. She got her all cleaned up and checked her vitals. Z had some fluid left in her lungs since she was born so fast. They used the deep suction to try and get it cleared out.
When we got to the post partum room, nurses for me and Z filed in to check on us. They took Z for a chest xray and a consult with a neonatal doc because of her lungs. They were kind of vauge at first, which freaked me out, but once the doc came in and said it was super common and it would resolve itself, we were relieved.
My grandmother has been one of the administrators of the neonatology office for years and years. I told the neonatal doc that I was her granddaughter, he smiled and left.
He came back to the nursery 2-3 more times to check on Z, which freaked me out at the time, cause usually attention from a doc isn't a good thing. I found out later he was taking extra care to make sure Z was amazing, cause if he missed something, he said he'd have to leave the country or my granny would take him out. I don't think he realized how true that statement was.
Of course, Z coughed up all the fluid that was in her lungs and was ready to rock and go home on time.
She gets prettier everyday, and I'm so blessed that her birth was quick and nearly pain free!