Labor Day

Continuing the idea from Kelly's post, here is my Natalie's Labor Day info from Sept. 22, 2008. If you want to join in, please leave a comment and tell us where to find yours!

How long were your labors?
3 hours

How did you know you were in labor?
As a first timer, I didn't know I was in labor initially and just wondered what I had eaten the night before that was making my tummy upset. I actually started contractions a couple hours before I was scheduled to be induced and realized I was in for-real labor as I showered in prep for my early morning hospital appointment.

Where did you deliver?
CEMES Clinic, La Paz, Boliva. Think- the hospital your parents were born in, but in Spanish.

Drugs?
Was hoping to not need them. However, my Bolivian doctor decided I still needed to be induced because I hadn't progressed after an hour and a half of contractions (hello! first baby- could take longer...). Those of you who have been induced know what kind of pain there is. Zero to Ten in less than 2 hours- ouch. I was begging the nurse for an epidural almost from the moment the first drop of pitocin (or whatever it was) went into my vien- but, alas, the doctor had gone to his office a few blocks away and the nurse couldn't administer the drugs until he returned. So, when he got back, I was at 10 and they still gave me the drugs...which made for slightly ineffective pushing, as you can imagine. No surprise that...

C-section?
I ended up with the big surgery. This is where I whine and stomp my feet and blame everything on my doctor. I fight wishing I could go back in time and demand things differently, but then wonder if I would end up in the same situation, knowing that my doctor really does know more than me about delivering babies. So, I will continue to pray that God will remove my bitterness and I will trust that in His sovereignty, He allowed things to unfold this way.

Who delivered?
My German/Argentine/born in Bolivia Dr. Koziner. Nice man, very warm. Known as the "King of C-sections". Maybe that title should have led me to look for a different doctor. Except they all live in his kingdom.

That said- Natty was extremely healthy- fantastic Apgar scores for being born in such high altitude. Although the C-section was very hard to recover from, especially given the lack of drugs in Bolivia, I do thank God for the perfect little girl He gave to us, no matter how she arrived in the world.