I am at 4 cm at this point. Misses the first time and does it again. Finally in, but doesn't seem to be helping. After about half an hour, they inject another dose of pain killer, but that doesn't help either, so they determine that the tube was not positioned right and decide to do it again. Meanwhile, I am suffering through more terrible back labor.
Relief comes quickly.
My contractions slowed down a little once the epidural was started, so she also gives me a low dose of Pitocin to keep my contractions going. I decide to rest a while to try to get some energy back. She tells us that by looking at the pattern of the baby's heartrate during my contractions, she thinks I might be almost ready to start pushing. So she does an internal and asks me to try pushing during the next contraction. I can't feel anything, so she coaches me through it.