what was labor like?

Joshua was asking me some questions about my labor with Evalana, so I guess I didn't do a great job of describing it before. So I'll try now. Before she was born, I wasn't really nervous about labor since I figured it would be painful and we'd get a baby, but it ended up being a great experience. I am so excited for labor with Lazarus this December. I think it's just incredible to have God use my body in the birth of our baby. I didn't have much control over what was happening; I just got to experience the whole thing. And I know everyone has very different experiences with labor and each baby is different, but everything with Evalana's birth went so well. In the beginning, my contractions mostly felt like strong muscle cramps. My stomach was also upset. I had a really hard time just getting myself dressed to leave, so I was very glad for all that we had done in advance in preparing for our trip to the hospital; Joshua just had to follow the instructions I had hung up, and he got the car all packed up. We went to my dad and stepmom's house (since they lived close to the hospital), where I continued to drink water, throw up, and try to relax through contractions. The night went by so quickly. I had never gone to sleep, and we arrived at the hospital at 5am, but it didn't seem that long at all to me. Thanks to our Bradley class, I was really able to relax through and between contractions. Once I was hydrated with an IV, I was even able to sleep the few minutes between contractions. Then the pushing contractions started, which surprised me. I had no control over the pushing; it felt like backwards throwing up. I can't remember if my water broke right before or right after those started, but I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom, so Joshua helped me to the toilet, and then I heard a pop and realized my water broke. The part I remember being somewhat painful was the pressure when I was on my hands and knees pushing for a little bit. Then I got comfy on my side to work on pushing Evalana out. At that point, I kind of had to concentrate to know when I was having a contraction; they didn't feel nearly as strong. Although it was a workout pushing for 45 minutes, I was able to relax between contractions. And the pushing was very natural. I didn't have to think much about what I was doing; it just worked. And when she came out, I didn't feel anything at all. For me, labor was an amazing experience of feeling so close to God. The room was very quiet, other than my moans through contractions or grunting through pushes, but I knew that Joshua, my mom, and our doula were praying. And a birth day is a very exciting day!!