In Celebration of Labor Day . . .

We are back from the retreat at White Sulphur Springs. I need to download pictures off my camera before I post about it though, so I'm doing a Labor Day meme I found at In a Shoe to pass the time.

How long were your labors?
1. Nathan--started having contractions Sunday, walked around all day Monday, ate nothing Monday night, FINALLY went to the hospital Tuesday morning, and was 6 cm dilated. But he wasn't actually born until 5:24 P.M., so he wasn't all that eager to come out. Fortunately, the contrations weren't that hard Sunday and Monday.

2. Luke--9 hours? But I went to the hospital at 11:30, and had him at 3:27 A.M.

3. Caleb-- 7 hours--went in at about 9:45 P.M. and had him at 1:10 A.M.

4. Jonathan--2 weeks overdue and had to be induced--started pitocin at 8:00 and he was born at 2:40 P.M., so almost 7 hours.

5. Anna--4 hours--started pitocin at 11:00 (but was already 5 cm), and had her at 3:09 P.M.

6. Grace--9 hours--started pitocin at 8:00, didn't have her until 5:04. Grrrrrrrrr

How did you know you were in labor?

1. Regular contractions, although they weren't that strong. Even when I went in to the hospital, the nurse thought they would send me home because I was obviously not in pain and could easily talk through the contractions.

2. Regular contractions. We went ahead and went out to eat at Macaroni Grill with the L's. I jsut had a salad and some bread because I knew I would have the baby that night.

3. Regular contractions, which started as I was making dinner. It was fish (orange roughy), and I had a hard time making that recipe again for awhile because it just wasn't a good taste/smell for me after laboring through it.

4. That was the problem--I never went into labor!

5. Never really went into labor here either, although I had enough irregular contractions to dilate to 5 cm. Or maybe that was the castor oil that didn't really work for me? LOL

6. Never went into labor here, but the paranoid doctor wouldn't let me, so she induced me almost a week early, a compromise from the 2 weeks early she wanted to induce me. She would probably have a heart attack if she knew I was having another one (she was young and was terrified that I was going to rupture my uterus, since I had had SOO many babies).

Where did you deliver?

1. US Air Force Academy Hospital

2. The Springs Center for Women (but by AF doctors--USAFA closed their inpatient OB ward)

3. Wright-Patterson Medical Center

4. Wright-Patterson Medical Center

5. Reston Hospital, VA

6. Loudoun Hospital, VA

Drugs?

Well, except for the pitocin, no. I'm scared of needles and epidural headaches.

C-Section?

No, although the older and more experienced I am, the more thankful I am that I didn't end up with one with Nathan. I stopped dilating around 9 cm, and hung out there for awhile. They started pitocin, which made the contractions a lot harder, but I still never dilated to 10. (This is why the labor was so long.) Finally, the AF midwife, told me she would hold the cervical lip out of the way with her finger, and I just pushed past it. I never had any urge to push, though, and it was very hard. I am so glad she let me do that though. Having a c-section for #1 would certainly have changed how our family looks!

Who delivered?

1. An AF midwife named Suzanne, who was some sort of student. I really liked her.

2. A different AF midwife, but I can't remember her name. I never actually had any appointments with her.

3. Someone I had never seen before. In fact, I can't even remember if the doctor was a man or a woman. I have absolutely no recollection.

4. A nice Wright-State resident. I do remember some details about her--she was an African-American female. No name though.

5. Dr. Barrett, my first civilian doctor. I liked her.

6. Dr. Sidhu. My second civilian doctor. I didn't like her as much because of how she handled my having a lot of kids.

So there you have it--my labors, in honor of Labor Day. I think that deserves a holiday, LOL.