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Hi Susan, sorry about your pumpkins.  These plants have female and male flowers.  The females have a very small ball (ovary) at the base, the males have none.  Early in the year there may be no female flowers, or they fall off very quickly as the plant seems to sense as to when it has a root system and leaves enough to support reproduction (Pregnancy??).  Once the plant seems large enough, and when the blossoms start to have female blooms, DO NOT MOVE the blooms or stems as this changes the angle of the blooms and bees and other pollinators don't seem to want to enter for fear of entrapment.  You can control the direction by gently moving the stem in the direction you want it to go, as it is growing, and stake it gently down to the ground before it blooms. If you have to move it, or if you want to further assure pollination, early in the morning take a freshly opened male bloom and gently put it over the freshly opened female bloom and shake.  I even leave the male bloom there.  If there is too much rain, this also inhibits pollination.  If you begin to see the leaves wilt during the day, then perk up at night, for a few days you probably have the dreaded squash vine borer!  But these awful things can be controlled if you don't let the plants go too long.  They also affect zucchini, etc. Google squash vine borer, U of Minnesota. Page all the way down for the treatment method I use. Best of luck!  Elise