How long in labor? Definition!

lilhotcandie69 · November 2010

When individuals ask you how long you were in labor what do you say? My contractions started tuesday night at 9pm I wasn't admitted till Thursday at 12am and between those times I had contractions the whole time. DD was born at 9:17pm on thursday. I have a hard time telling people how long I was in labor for cause I'm not sure where to start. Any ideas?

BMenz · November 2010

when you first had "real" contractions that were time able, consistent and didn't go away when you tried everything (lying down, drinking fluids)

mine started at 30 weeks. ds was born at 40w1d

lilhotcandie69 · November 2010

Tuesday night the day after my due date my contractions started and all that night they were 15 minutes apart...the next morning they kept getting closer and closer.

hilwithonelary · November 2010

Well, my water broke first, so I count from that even though I never had contractions on my own. My water broke at 5 am, and I finally had to start Pitocin at 1 pm because I still wasn't contracting. I had DS at 8:47 pm. I was only in what I would consider true, hard "labor" for about 4 hours, but I still count from when my water broke.

808to619mama · November 2010

I count first real contraction, for me stared at midnight... By two we found out he was breech, at six we had the Csec

BellaAmor215 · November 2010

I say 11 hours. My water broke at 4:50 AM and DD was born 3:57 PM. My contractions started pretty much right after my water broke and they were 5 minutes apart.

Ivana_Stolichnaya · November 2010

I count when they went from uncomfortable to unbearable. I had BH's all day which were stronger than normal and uncomfortable but by midnight they all of a sudden got painful enough to put me in a fetal position and were happening every 3-5 minutes. The difference in pain was enough to get us to the hospital. So I count my labor starting at midnight, I started pushing 9 1/2 hours later and she was born 2 hours after that.

BellaAmor215 · November 2010

Ivana.Stolichnaya:
I count when they went from uncomfortable to unbearable. I had BH's all day which were stronger than normal and uncomfortable but by midnight they all of a sudden got painful enough to put me in a fetal position and were happening every 3-5 minutes. The difference in pain was enough to get us to the hospital. So I count my labor starting at midnight, I started pushing 9 1/2 hours later and she was born 2 hours after that.

My contractions weren't unbearable until 2 hours before she was born, which was when I got the epidural. I feel like I was in labor well before that. I guess really it's different from person to person. Honestly, OP, I think this is something you need to determine on your own. I know a few people who say they were in labor for however long they were pushing for.

mbgreenwalt · November 2010

I was induced so I count from when I was hooked up to pitocin to when I gave birth. It was 14 hours.

celiabwatson · November 2010

I just tell people what happened. So in my case I say "From the time my water broke until he was out was 12 hours, but I only really felt contractions for about 5 of those hours."

TMDMJAOCT07 · November 2010

Were the contractions timeable and uncomfortable from Tuesday night on?

My water broke around 9:40 am on a Thursday morninng, pitocin was started at 5pm because I still wasn't having contractions, they were on top of each other and lasting 90 seconds at about 9pm, dd was born at 9:45 am on Friday. I tell people I was in labor for 24 hours, because of when my water broke, and it probably would have been less but we ddin't get to the hospital until 4pm, because I couldn't get ahold of my doctor and my dh was downtown in a big meeting, so I wanted to wait for him to get home. I just sat still at home, per my drs orders.

BrittKav · November 2010

That's hard for me too, because I was induced. They put in the cervadil to soften my cervix, which started contractions at around midnight, but they weren't painful until 4 AM, and they didn't start pitocin (which started getting me dilated) until 7 AM. I've actually never been asked how long my labor was, but I wouldn't know which one to go by. Probably the start of painful contractions.

Liss_37 · November 2010

Ivana.Stolichnaya:
I count when they went from uncomfortable to unbearable.

same here. mine started at 5pm on Thursday but even though they were uncomfortable they weren't horrid.. by 4am they were 4 mins apart and i was dying. water broke at 10 but ds wasn't born until 9:47pm.

when people ask I tell them.. almost 17 hours of contractions that were horrible, but i was also having other contractions for 11 hours before that.

MrsC17 · November 2010

6.5 hours from my first contraction (woke up at 230 am with contractions and she was born at 8:59 am). Although I may have been in back labor before hand--the day before my back was aching pretty badly all day (as in, could barely walk), but a heating pad and a movie were a pretty good distraction for that.

Cherryblossoms07 · November 2010

I never know what to say either. I usually just count from the time we arrived at the hospital for the second time, 2 hours.

I started having contractions at 5:00 AM, we went into the hospital at 8:00 AM. The contractions were constant but not bad at all. They allowed me to go home to continue to labor. I returned to the hospital at 7pm (our doula suggested we return, I still wasn't feeling hard contractions but they were still constant). Luckily we listened because, my water broke at 8pm which started the hard contractions and I had her a few minutes before 9pm.

curlychic · November 2010

I was induced and started contractions almost immediately, but they had to take him by c-section almost 32 hours later. After all of that, I say 32 hours. That's when I was in the hospital, and that's when I was in pain!

Sawyerplus1 · November 2010

BMenz:
when you first had "real" contractions that were time able, consistent and didn't go away when you tried everything (lying down, drinking fluids)

This is generally what I think too, and for me this criteria also meant that they were consistently uncomfortable to painful. Labor with DS was 30 hours, and with DD was 8.

thegink · November 2010

I tell people I was in active labor for the last month of my pregnancy. It started August 2nd and she wasn't born until the 24th. I was requested to go to L&D five times and each time I had contractions that were 3-7 mins apart depending. I was 3cm for the entire month. None of the contractions were enough to push me over the edge but they were very real. At one point, the contractions were so strong, one physician said that if I were 37 weeks, she'd break my water and just let me go because there wasn't anything to slow them down.

lunurse2007 · November 2010

My water broke before I really went into labor... I had 1-2 really good contractions then went all night without any then at 5am my water broke... 20 hrs and lots of pitocin later DS was finally born with a little assistance from a vacuum!

Sizzline · November 2010

Mine was definitive; my water broke at 11:45pm, contractions started shortly thereafter, and she was delivered at 10:09 the next morning. I judge that at almost 10.5 hours of labor altogether.

gosborne · November 2010

My water broke 10:45 PM on 2/20/10 (Saturday night). ?I didn't deliver DD until 12:45 PM on 2/22/10 (Monday afternoon). ?I enjoy the look on people's faces when I say I was in labor for like 36 hours...

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How long in labor? Definition!

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