What is often painful and looked forward to by mothers everywhere?

Shannon has a very interesting labor day meme going on over at her place… It’s about labor, like labor & delivery kind of labor. Like laboring for hours, “and you shall labor in childbirth” kind of labor. Like, squeeze your hubby’s hand until the bone snaps while yelling “it’s all your fault!” kind of labor. Though, I didn’t do that. Really. I didn’t even blame him. I had the happy drugs.

I couldn’t pass up participating on this one. Of course Shannon’s version is more.. to the point. But c’mon y’all! What’d you expect??

How long were your labors?

Kid #1, From the time they broke my water – a little over 5 hours. That’ll make more sense in a minute.
Kid #2, Um, I’m gonna go with 10 hours – though it began two weeks before that. That’ll make more sense in a minute, too.
Kid #3, a little less than 5 hours.

How did you know you were in labor?

Kid #1, I didn’t. I hoped I was. I wanted to be. That (Friday night) was easily the 6th (or 20th) time I had been in there in the middle of the night hoping and wanting – since I apparently have an irritable uterus that likes to have contractions every 5 minutes even when it’s NOT in labor. So on that 6th (or 26th) visit when I was almost 2 weeks overdo and scheduled for an induction the following Monday anyway, the doctor-on-call told the nurse to “go ahead and break her water – she’ll just be back anyway.” No joke, the nurse told us that.
Kid #2, I had been having mild contractions all day until they were regular and fairly strong. Given the aforementioned irritable uterus I wasn’t certain – but I did know one thing: I was NOT leaving without my baby! Two weeks earlier I had gone into labor — and STALLED at a 4 and 90%!! Since I was almost two weeks early and the baby was not in distress they sent me home with the conviction that my body would resume in a few days. So two weeks later I went back in at 11pm on a Sunday and at 9 am-ish the next morning I was holding my baby girl. I swear – it really didn’t SEEM like ten hours at the time. =) I guess it pales in comparison to the previous two weeks.
Kid #3, Thanks to the wonderfully agreeable doctor and the fact that my due date was the monday before Thanksgiving (and what doctor wants to deliver on Thanksgiving??), I was scheduled for an “induction” that morning (on my due date), but had been “in early labor” all day and night before that so it wasn’t much of an induction. They gave me one dose of pitocin to regulate my (predictably, as always) irregular contractions and it was all downhill from there!! They gave me pitocin around 9am and by 2pm I had my little boy.

Where did you deliver?

At hospitals. I like to play it safe.

Drugs?

Um – YEAH. Had some kind of sleepy something with #1 that made me drowsy and then after it wore off and things started to really hurt I threw my ideas of natural labor out the window, gave in to hubby’s begging and went for the epidural. Can I just say: good drugs!

But with #2, I had stalled after taking something to help me rest – I woke up and NADA. So when I went back in I didn’t even take so much as a tylenol until they guaranteed me that I was too far along in the process to be sent home. I got to the point that the nurse was telling me that it was “now or never” for the epidural before giving in. And by the time he arrived and got all set up, I was almost a 7. Sometimes, I think.. maybe I could have kept going without it. But then I think… nahhhh.

By the time #3 arrived I was all like, “Um, yeah, and once we hit about a four or so I’d like the epidural please, and don’t forget the little umbrella.” Oh, I jest. I didn’t really say that. But if I’d have thought of it I might have.

C-section?

Nope!

Who delivered?

#1 – the on call doctor. Not my doctor. Pooh.

#2 – My doctor! Labor was going so leisurely and nicely that at 8 am-ish the nurse said, “Ok, you technically could start pushing now. OR, if you’d like to wait and let the baby progress naturally, your doctor just arrived at the office and is on the way over.” I waited. All for letting babies progress and pushing less! By the time he got there, all he had to do was catch. I’ve only seen a nurse look that relieved one other time. That was with baby #3.

#3 – With #3, the nurse kicked my family out to check my progress (I think an hour before I’d been at a 6) and looked concerned when I told her I felt pressure and I wasn’t doing it. When she checked the baby’s progress her face went totally flat and white as a sheet as she said something like: “I need to go get the doctor. DON’T PUSH.” She reappeared a moment later, very nervous, waiting anxiously, checking this and that, all the while telling me to avoid pushing if at all possible (I wasn’t – I was sooo “chillin” with the epidural and she was providing some good entertainment). A doctor’s arrival and two pushes was all it took. Imagine my family’s surprise when they were called back in expecting to sit and wait some more but being greeted by the new little one.

So there ya go. All about labor. Though really, those snippets are just tiny pieces of the story. There are so many things that God taught me through those experiences. Especially #2. Makes me want to give them their own special posts. Hm. Maybe I will. Someday.

Happy Labor Day, everyone!