How long were you in labour?

merlot123

DD - 2 hours (had an epidural) 7lbs 8oz
DS - 45 mins (natural birth) 8lb 13.5oz


My Sister was 48 hours in labour with her first before C section was given - she was simply too shattered and labour wasn't progressing much.

Everyone is different, some find it easier than others as everyone has a different pain threshold.

Enjoy your pregnancy.


merlot123

spaghetti_monster

Janepig wrote: »

I remember my home midwife used to say all the time not to have your waters broken unless it was absolutely necessary as the waters help cushion the pain, and I think she was right, because from that moment on, every contraction was so painful and I didn't cope at all. DD was face up (which is more painful) and I just completely failed to progress, so by 10pm it was decided to go for a section and she was born at 11.30pm.

There was a thread about sections on here afew weeks ago, some report a very painful recovery, others were fine. I fall into the second camp - afew hours back from theatre I was up and about and in the shower, no ill effects.

Jx

I had a very similar experience - more than 24hrs of not so painful but quite frequent contractions. Then I had my waters broken and it was then pretty much a tsunami - maybe it was all suddenly too painful and too frequent as I didn't cope too well either. DS was also face up and with his chin tipped back (which didn't change even with stronger contractions) so after 7/8 hours of the heavy stuff it was off for a c-section.
I also found the recovery OK. Actually the most painful thing was trying not to laugh in the first few days. The worst was when OH admitted that one of the first things he thought of when he saw DS was that he looked like Grandpa Simpson....

blossomhill_2

I was in labour 22 hours without pain relief (by choice)
Laughter helped subdue the pain of each contraction
I was frankly more worried about 22 hours without food than 22 hours of pain! I was hallucinating every food stuff under the sun!

Ginger_Poodle

Woke up with low level back/tummy pain and went Christmas shopping. Hospital by 6ish, gas & air and a lovely baby by 11.40pm so about 16 hours all in and probably only 5 hours of active labour.

Don't try to be a hero...there are no awards for bravery in childbirth. I was only limited to gas & air by the speed things developed towards the end. Still, all personal choice so good luck and try not to worry. And tell your other half to get a grip.

Pisces

In total mine was 12 hours, and just an hour and a half for the active 'painful' bit (which flew by). No pain relief at all here as I didn't find it too bad, but it's not a competition and you should ask for whatever help you feel you need.

Everyone's different so try not to worry. And ignore your OH!

Lilium

I had SPD with both pregnancies but didn't notice any pain from it during labour. First labour was 24 hours from first noticeable contraction to holding my baby, second labour was 9 hours.

sharronej

ds1 6 days - he was very prem and they were trying to stop the labour
dd1 8 hours completely text book
ds2 24 minutes - induced with nothing happening all day until suddenly bang and there we go, son almost delivered in the lift up to the labour ward

Birth number 3 although it was the most intense had the best recovery

Good luck
xxxx

debtfree27thmay

I had SPD with both my pregnancies, plus sciatica and with my second I also has Cholostasis(sp?). Second pregnancy was a nightmare, not only because of the spd, sciatica and cholostasis, generally not feeling well, but I had a rather naughty and constantly active DS1 to contend with, there are 21 mths between my 2 and that didn't help with my second pregancy.

DS1 labour 5hrs 30mins. gas and air, pethadine, and epidural, however I still felt everything during the later stages of labour.

DS2, induced due to cholostasis, good job I was in hospital as labour was 1hr 28mins and I just made it from the ward to delivery suite in time. No pain relief just a quick blast of gas and air. Although I kept pleading with the midwife to give me an epidural, I remember her saying " I'll be lucky to get my bloody gloves on let alone give you an epidural before you have this baby!" DH made it with 7mins to spare before I had DS2, which was a much better labour, partially due to me being in shock at the speed, but also because I gave birth leaning over the back of the bed, gravity is a godsend!:j

jackomdj

DD1 was 26h from waters going till she was born. After about 8h I went in and they sent me home, at 11h I was in agony and being sick. Went back to hospital, dd was back to back, couple of hours later had epidural. After that it was relatively easy although I could still feel the contractions. She got stuck for about 30mins but came out naturally with no stitches needed.

DD2 was about 5 days! Went for sweep at surgery and she said inwas a couple of cm dilated, next day I had hosp appointment (going due to high bp) they did another sweep and said I was jumping to 4 cm. The following Monday my waters went big style, hospital said to go in right away, when we got there I was not in pain but baby was very low and about 5cm, they told Oh not to go as when it started it would be quick. He slept on 4 chairs in my room, I did not sleep as waters gushing. Next mowning we went for his breakfast and walked round and round the hospital... Each time we went back to the room they were commenting on how odd I was as inhad no pain! After I think 18 hours they had to hook me up to antibiotics so started giving me hormones to get things moving, 2h later she arrived. Then we had to stay in as she had not had enough of the antibiotics!

Both times they were 2 weeks late. Both times the hospital staff were fantastic.

System

17 hours start to finish...all bar the last hour were fine and that would have been better but for getting really annoyed with the trainee midwife who kept looking at her watch because she wanted to add me as a 'notch' to her shift and I wasn't being quick enough! Guess the fact that I was able to get annoyed means the pain wasn't that bad lol. But if you can, get the OH in there with you and squeeze his hand ( or other part of anatomy) really hard until he squeals