I didn't have a natural birth, but I lurk over here since I am going to have a NB next time (and we're ttc).
For those of you who had a natural birth (or more than one) how long were your contractions (like each one from start to finish), and at the end of your labor, were they really on top of each other (like almost no time apart) like I've heard? They were monitoring me 100% of the time, but I was pretty out of it by the end because of the pressure, so I don't remember exactly how it was on the monitor.
Thanks for any input!
ETA: I mean each contraction, not how long your entire labor was.
Re: Contraction question
In all honesty, everything from about transition onwards is a big blur for both my labors. One of the added benefits of unmedicated labor, ha ha ha...
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
Mine only became regular at the very end of my labor. I'd say they lasted about 45-60 seconds and came every 3 minutes or so at that point.
I started in active labor, with contrax about 3 min apart within the first hour. They were piggyback very quickly after that, barely time to catch my breath in between. (I got an epidural but it wore off quickly and do remember the contrax on the monitor the small period I was numb.)
It was definitely difficult, but I think I could have gone natural if only I'd realized I was actually so close to pushing!
Mama to Sebastian, born 9/2010