We had an all too brief thunder storm, and when it was over, we lost our power. It wasn't yet cool enough outside, so the house just felt like soup. Thankfully, it's back on, now. We did have fun, though. After we determined there were at least some other houses in the neighborhood without power (they were all behind us) and that it wasn't just our house, we lit candles and the five of us played 20 Questions. When the power came back on, we shut off the lights, and kept playing. We did keep the A.C. on though, because we could.

It's raining again now, which means no window fans in the kids' rooms. The poor little things. It's really hot up there. I hope the cool air blows in there, soon.

So, how many times have space shuttles been hit by debris that caused damage? 15,000. No, really. (Most of those range from minor to very minor.)

Let's see if I can link directly to this: [link]

Ack! Suela, ouch.

My tear didn't hurt all that much, even after the walking epidural wore off. (I could feel it, but it was dulled, and I could feel the injection for before they stitched me, but that was also dulled.)

Oh, lord. How could I forget dry socket? Worse than back spasm (so also worse than childbirth), but not worse than stomach flu, because dry socket packing took the pain away quickly.

I was staying at my brother and SIL's when she went into labor and had the nephew. The first day she was home, there was a lot of bloodcurdling screaming when she went to the bathroom, courtesy of the episiotemy.

It's actually one reason she insists D with be an only. That and pregnancy was really miserable for her. My pleas for her to have another so the focus never turns to me and I have more kidlets to spoil goes unheeded. OK, not unheeded, she laughs in my face. And calls me an evil bitch.

Hmmm...I have to say I got a dry socket when I had my third extraction session (thank you marlboros) and, while it was uncomfortable and irritating, it was nothing compared to the previously mentioned infection. I think I'm permanently skewed.

a fractured coccyx during labor sounds unfreakingbearable to me. Was the baby sunnyside up, or something?

Nope, and he was the smallest of all three of them. Actually, I didn't realize it until two or three days later, when the L&D pain had begun to wear off and I realized I could *not* sit down properly without major pain. The doctor reasoned that I had cracked it during labor, and said it would heal eventually. Which, I guess, it did.

we lit candles and the five of us played 20 Questions

Fun! Do you ever play what we call the ABC game? You pick a category and go in a circle; if it's animals, the first person says aardvark, the second says bear, etc. No time limit and no clapping, though. We play it at dinner all the time.

How could I forget dry socket?

What is dry socket? Or do I not want to know, dental-phobic that I am?

Which shuttle was it that hit the paint chip at orbital speed and gouged one of the forward windows?

eta--found it:

With all the cosmic debris orbiting the earth, it's little wonder the space shuttles routinely get dings in their windshields. A tiny speck of space debris smashed into Space Shuttle Challenger's windshield on astronaut Rick Hauck's first mission in 1983, leaving a 4-mm crater, about 0.2 inches. Hauck spotted the small pit in the glass and alerted the crew.

The debris was later identified as a chip of white paint, likely a remnant of a previous rocket launch. Though small, the debris was estimated to be hurtling through space at about 10,800 mph when it hit the window.

"We end up replacing one to two thermal windows after each shuttle mission," said Nick Johnson, NASA's Orbital Debris Program manager. "It's the cost of doing business in space."

For added protection, the shuttle's windowpanes contain three separate layers of thick glass. Thus far, no debris has penetrated the glass to the pressurized crew cabin, only the spacecraft's outer thermal pane. Between 1981 and 1996, shuttle windows sustained about 300 pits and 55 panes were replaced, according to a 1997 National Research Council report....

[link]

AmyLiz, for years afterward I would still get a twinge in my buttbone from sitting on hard surfaces, but I was never certain it still dated from the fracture. Did you get that too?

while it was uncomfortable and irritating, it was nothing compared to the previously mentioned infection. I think I'm permanently skewed.

Gah. Okay. I WILL go to the dentist this year. I WILL go to the dentist this year.

Worse than dry socket? Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

And I had *mild* dry socket.

Twitch.

Did you get that too?

For a while, yeah. Not anymore, though.

Stephen just brought home the most incredible ice cream. It's a cheapo brand called Perry's, and the flavor is Piece of Cake. Tastes exactly like yellow cake, and has ribbons of chocolate fudge icing all through it. Yummmm.