At the hospital. . . .

So, we got to the hospital at just after noon today. Got checked out and was between 1 1/2 - 2 cm. My water broke on it's own about an hour after that and contractions really started picking up. Did my hour of monitoring and was allowed to get up and walk, then the contractions picked up even more. When I came back to my room for my 20-30 minutes of monitoring they were right on top of each other. Went back to walking, contractions were lasting longer. We came back to the room and I asked to get checked, now it is 5 pm, and I'm only 3 cm. The pain was constant and unbearable so I decided to get in the tub I labored in there for about an hour but once again, it wasn"t taking the edge off at all. I ordered an epidural.
Not too bad going in, a weird experience, now I feel excellent. And they checked me right after I got it (2 hours since I was at 3 cm) and I was still at 3 cm. The best part was at that time there was a shift change so now my nurse is awesome. I'm getting ready to try and get some sleep now that I feel better. She just came in to give me a 2 hour check and I'm to 4 cm, so hopefully things start progressing faster while I'm sleeping! I'll update again when I get the chance! Pray that the rest of labor speeds up and that delivery is fast and smooth!