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I had my baby girl on Monday--Imogen is her name--it's Gaelic for maiden or daughter and is a character in a Shakespeare play. As for the labor....I started having contractions in earnest right after midnight. They were 15 min apart for a long time, though I would have the occasional that would sneak in at 5 min. They got closer together as the night progressed. I could not tell if they were getting that much worse or I was just getting that much more tired from lack of sleep. For the early part, I was doing the crossword puzzle in between contractions. At some point in the wee hours of the morning I stopped thinking about anything else. I only felt halfway comfortable going through the contractions by sitting on the toilet (where I got rid of the contents of my bowels). I tried a bath for a while, but could never get warm enough. When they got really bad, i started chanting a sound and focusing on a spot on the floor. By morning, around 8 am, they were getting closer and not very bearable. I had no idea of the time, the weather, where I was. My husband timed the contractions at 3-5 min apart, and we headed to the car to get to the hospital (a 5 min drive away). It took me about 10 minutes to get from the 2nd floor bedroom to the car, stopping to sit for contractions. When we got to the hospital. It took another 10 min to get out of the car. They wheeled me up to labor and delivery. All I wanted to do was sit on the toilet. It was so hard to get onto the bed for them to check my dilation. The nurse said 7 or 8 cm and growing. By the time the doctor got there a few minutes later, I was 9-10 cm. No time for an IV, for meds, for anything. No water break yet, so the doctor suggested breaking it manually. I said to wait. When the doulah got there, we discussed the option. Soon, it broke anyway and I was crowning. The doctor returned and I started pushing on a birthing stool. We were making good progress (so I was told--I had no idea--I was purely instinctual at this point). However, the doctor saw some meconium in the water and wanted me on the bed for suctioning the baby. On the bed, I made very little progress. I felt like I could not feel the push as well nor push through as much. So, back to the stool. Luckily, I had a spry doctor who could squat down to my level and handle the delivery almost on the floor. The baby came out at 11:26 AM, 1/23/06. 6 lbs, 3 oz, 2 days early, perfect health. Hope you all have such a great outcome.