Upstairs, it didn't take long for the contractions to get into full swing. By 11 AM, she was in full labor. They were coming 2-3 minutes apart and she was in a ton of pain. I rubbed her lower back on each one which helped mildly, but this was definitely it. By noon, she was dilated 5-6 cm at which point the anethesiologist came in to ask her if she wanted the epidural, which was obviously a no brainer.
She started to feel relief about a half hour later, but everything sort of stopped afterwards. Family came to visit and comfort her and we just held tight for the next 8 hours. We waited in baited anticipation and I just wanted it to happen now. I was closely watching the monitors over the last 3 days and over this time the baby's heart rate would drop every once and awhile. Generally, it was at 140 but every once and awhile it would go down to 100. The nurses would come in and ask her to change positions, flipping her from one side to the other to better position the baby. This scared us, but they reassured us this was part of the process.
Around 7 PM, the ward shifted and we were informed that Ali's obstetrician would be the doctor doing rounds then. When we saw her it was a great relief b/c even though all the other doctors were great, we really liked her and trusted her the most.
Around 8 PM we were tired of waiting and asked the nurse what time she thought we'd delivered. She said the text book answer was that the cervix would dilate 1 cm/hour so we may run into the next day. Some of our family members at the hospital had been there all day, so we thought it best that they perhaps they go home a get a few hours rest.
About a half hour later while we were saying our goodbyes, the doctor and nurse came in with some urgency. The baby's heart rate had dropped a few more times and the doctor thought something might be wrong and induction might be necessary. Her cervix measured to be fully dilated and the doctor declared it was go time!