Update

Yes, it's a little late, but here's what happened:

On the 4th of July, the midwife came over and checked me at 8pm--just in time for the fireworks. She said I was only 2cm but was fully effaced (from zero effacement the Thursday before) and was just entering "real" labor. She decided to stay.

Around 10pm I began to get very nauseous. I couldn't eat or drink anything and was suddenly having a really hard time relaxing. I'd had no problems with the contractions, but the nausea cut right through my concentration. Luckily my friend Laura arrived (from her home over an hour away) who had volunteered to step in as my birth partner at the last minute when my original partner backed out.

At 3am the midwife checked again and I was at 5cm. She said several times how impressed she was with my relaxation and how well Laura did as my coach. :-) I labored through the day on Thursday and the contractions seemed to plateau in the afternoon. The midwife checked me at 6pm and I had only progressed to 6-7cm, but the baby had dropped significantly. She had me change position several times--until now I had been laboring primarily on my side since that was the most comfortable with my hip and back pain. She also had me take a shower and walk outside up and down my patio steps (my poor neighbors are probably scarred for life).

I'm not sure what time my water broke, probably around 7:30pm, but things immediately got much more intense. I labored on hands and knees and was fully dilated by 8pm and ready to push. My "ahh" breathing got a little more like "AAHHHHH" yelling at times and there was one "ahh" that turned into an "ahh, f#@$k!" but luckily that didn't get into the video. :-)

It was maybe 4-5 contractions to Augusta crowning. Despite my plans to watch her in the mirror and feel her head and catch her myself--I was fighting so hard to maintain my concentration that I ended up with my eyes squeezed tightly shut. The baby's head was halfway out when the midwife told me to stop pushing--that was the hardest thing I'd done, but I did it. She had me "grunting" Augusta out, little by little. After her head was out, her body was easy. I finally opened my eyes as they lifted her to me. She was slimy and dark purple and almost immediately peed and pooped on me. It was love at first sight!