Ellie's Arrival and now I know how babies are born in the car!

So, I've been wanting to write about Ellie's actual birth (one week ago today) and finally have a minute to sit and do it. Starting last Monday or Tuesday - i started having this crazy itching all over - the worst part was my hands a feet. I talked to the nurse at my school but we couldn't figure out anything new I had eaten or medicines I was taking so I was like - maybe it's in my head? I had a dr's appt Thursday so i was going to talk to her then.
Anyway, Wednesday night - the itching was so bad - I literally could not sleep and Chris couldn't either because i was scratching so much. He actually went to the store twice to get me benydryl and hydro cortisone - once about midnight and once about 2 am (that is love!). After the last trip - bout 2:30 I started having some contractions -really strong ones that were lasting a minute or longer and coming about 8 minutes apart. After the false alarm last week, I wanted to make sure they were real before I woke him. So, I got up and walked around a little - drank as much water as I could stand which was no a lot. They got worse - I woke up Chris about 3 and he started timing them - now they were consistently 4 minutes and lasting over a minute - serious pain here - nothing like the ones I was having the Friday before.
So about 3:30 or so, the contractions weren't letting up and we decided it was time to call my mom to stay with Chloe. I decided to get in the bath tub to maybe get some relief - it didn't work much and then it was almost impossible for me to get out. I was in there and I realized that I needed to be ready to go when mom got there. I basically hobbled to my bed and laid there until my mom arrived - by them my contractions were about 2 minutes apart and lasting over a minute. My mom took one look at me and said - you guys need to go now. Chris was trying to help me breathe and tried to touch my back and I said, very nastily, "Don't touch me". Somehow i got dressed and barely made it to the car - by now it felt like there was hardly a break in the contractions. I could not believe how strong they were.
I was not being very nice to Chris the whole drive but I couldn't help it - I felt out of control and started to panic that we would not make it in time for me to get an epidural and maybe not in time to have the baby. One thing that was comforting me was that my water hadn't broken - so I was thinking ok - I can't be as far along as it feels like I am if my water isn't even broken - hopefully we have at least a couple of hours for pain medicine to kick in and get settled at the hospital. We called the dr's office on the way at 4:40.
We arrived and I could barely walk in - I hardly remember signing papers - I couldn't even talk or attempt to be pleasant to the staff. I guess they could see that i was in "real labor" b/c we skipped triage this time. Somehow, i got in the labor and delivery room and on the table - i was literally screaming, "I want an epidural and can you please put something in my iv or give me a shot?". I wa that crazy lady you see on tv. I remember the clock sad - 4:55. It was not my plan to go natural with this birth - I had planned on an epidural the moment I walked in the hospital - no trying to be brave for 10 hours, like with Chloe. The nurse check me and said I was at an 8 1/2 almost 9. This set me over the edge and I lost it b/c I knew it might be too late for medicine and the baby would be here before it could really kick in. Chris said when the nurse announced how dilated I was that the room "kicked into overdrive". More nurses poured in, the dr arrived, and they were preparing for the birth. I asked the nurse how I could be so dilated if my water hadn't broken and she said, "honey it's broken." Somehow, I hadn't noticed this? Anyway, I was still screaming for medicine, one nurse actually had to get in my face to calm me down and help me remember to breathe b/c I was shaking and starting to hyperventilate. Thank God, they got my iv in and the anesthesiologist arrived very quickly and did the epidural in about 2 minutes. That made me a little nervous - after all he was shoving a tube in my spine but I was focusing on the fact that my pain would be gone soon. At one point, the dr said, you've already gone through transition with no medicine - you might not need he epidural but I was insistent.
I could still feel my contractions but something did kick in enough to let me get on top of the pain and get control of myself. About a minute later, the dr said are you ready to have a baby? I was like, yes, let's get this show on the road. So, I pushed 3 times and out came Ellie. No cuts, no tears - easy cheesy. I was yelling during the delivery, "I can feel this, I'm not supposed to feel this!. But, in hindsight - it was super quick and I see how people can do it without drug if it's that fast. Although I am eternally grateful to Dr. Young (anesthesiologist) for easing my pain.
So, we called my dr about 4:40, arrived at the hospital at 4:45 - got into the l and d room at 4:55 and Ellie was born at 5:29! 3 hours from first contraction to baby - crazy! I knew second babies came faster but from 15 hours to 3 - that's a lot faster! Thankfully, we made it to the hospital in time - if we do this again - we'll have to be a lot quicker getting there! Oh, about 20 minutes after Ellie was born, I asked why my legs were going numb and the nurse said, "that's your epidural", lot of good that did now. I spent the next 2 hours unable to walk or move my legs! They had to lift me from the labor bed to the hospital one.
Sorry for the super long post with no pictures - guess I needed to write my story :). But, I see now how people don't make it to the hospital - sometimes, it's that quick! I still haven't figured out when my water broke - apparently it can just be a trickle sometimes if the head is really low. With Chloe - it was a gush so that's what I was expecting. No worries - all went well!