Monday, September 1, 2008

Who Put the Labor in Labor Day?

So...I saw Summer's and Cheryl's posts about Labor in honor of Labor Day and decided to join in! The original idea came from Rocks in My Dryer...if you want to check out other stories check out this post.

So...without further ado...

How long were your labors?

I'm just going to list how long I was in the hospital in labor before delivery...because I have no idea how to do it otherwise...
Big Sis...about 13 hours
Baby Boy...6 hours

How did you know you were in labor?

Contractions...contractions and more contractions.
With Big Sis, I was a week overdue and when I started having hard contractions, I was really hoping that I was finally going to have her! After a few hours and when I couldn't get the contractions to stop by laying down and they were about 5 minutes apart...
For Baby Boy...I was scheduled to be induced a week early. A week before that (so 2 weeks before my due date), I felt like things were changing and went in to be checked. The doc on call said...not only was I not even close to labor but that he didn't think I would be ready to be induced the next week. That night I woke up at 2 am with contractions that were strong enough to be waking me up...by 5 am and the contractions were between 3 and 5 minutes apart and I couldn't stand it anymore!!!

Where did you deliver?

Big Sis ... LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Baby Boy ... Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg, Idaho.

Drugs?

YES! Epidurals with both.

C-Section?

No.

Who Delivered?

ME!!!! With the help of doctors and nurses and, in the case of Big Sis, a very nice Medical student who said that my pedicure looked lovely (she was with me quite a bit of the time and was actually very helpful!). My husband was there and helped me both times and my Mom was there for Big Sis and was INCREDIBLE!!! Seriously...she knows how to help a Mom deliver a baby. They should have paid her...she did more than the nurses or doctor. Both times...they doctor came in time to catch the baby. The nurses never believed me when I told them that I know how to push..that is, until they see the head coming out and start freaking out! When Baby Boy was born...the nurse honestly yelled down the hall to get the doctor there. He ran in the room ...he got one whole arm in the blue gown before he caught Baby Boy's head!

Happy Labor Day everyone! Here's to all the Mom's who really do put the Labor in Labor Day!!!


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Six hours is a most excellent amount of time for a labor. Not too long and not too fast.

Pancake said...

I am SO jealous!!! You only had 6 hours! My last baby was 23 hours, and they said the time got shorter! HA!!!

Jeanette said...

What a fun idea for a Labor Day post!
The nurse I had when my son was born was amazing. I loved her. She even stayed past the time her shift ended because she did not want me to have to start working with a new nurse after she has been with me for so many hours. Perfect nurse for a first time mom. She listened to me and really helped make sure things went the way I wanted even when my doc was pushing for a c-section.
I've been thinking I need to record my kid's birth stories seeing as I have not done that yet and they are 3 and 1.

Leslie said...

Yes Summer and Pam (McEwens) - 6 hours was a lovely amount of time for labor.

Jeanette - I hope you will record the stories of your kids births! I would love to read them! Yours too Pam!

Cheryl said...

Loved this. My favorite part is that you said YOU delivered your babies. Amen, girl!

An Ordinary Mom said...

I love your answer to who delivered :) !!