Quick question about length of labor...

Cara1024

Is there an official widely agreed upon point that you are considered to be in labor? I ask because you always hear women saying that they had a 24 hour labor or 14 hour labor...etc. But when does labor officially start? I first thought it would be when your water breaks, but my sister's never did and had to be broken by the doctor. She most definitely was in labor long before that point and had been in the hospital for several hours by then. So is it when contractions are a certain length of time apart?

sugarland726

My first contraction was at 12:15am and I delivered at 12:07am the next morning. If I had contractions that morning and they fizzled out, I would not have counted that time. Labor is very commonly not like the movies with water breaking without a single contraction first. (It can happen that way, but more often it does not). So water breaking is not typically a good indicator of a starting point.

ac1259

Yeah I guess I had the movie type labor. My water broke, wasn't contracting until I got to the car but then they came on fast. So for me I count when my water broke but I think it's technically when your contractions become regularly occurring.

meluevano

When Labor began for me, I just knew it! Contractions started at 1:37 AM and Mucus plug came out...contractions did not stop after that and they were more and more often so I knew for sure I was in labor. All labors and deliveries are just soo different though!!

PBP2002

I think each person takes their own liberties with when labor "started" for them.  I think women who want to scare others pick the earliest event that can be called labor. 

For example, I had contractions starting at 4 a.m.  While they were constant and timeable (about 30 seconds long and about 5 minutes apart) they weren't actually bothersome until about 5 p.m. that day.  DS arrived at 5 the next morning.  So, if I wanted to tell the "scary" story, I was in labor for 25 hours, but really I went about my day (granted, I stayed home from work) until about the last 12 hours.

OSUWifey09

I say that labor starts when your contractions are regular. With my first, I was induced at 7am but didn't feel any regular contractions until 9am; he was born at 9:03pm, so I say 12 hours. I'm not sure if I'll ever go into labor on my own, so we'll see what happens this time.

Arrgcr

Umm... I'm a special snowflake on this one. I didn't feel my labor. I had twinges in my hips that made me feel like I needed to walk but no contractions, Braxton hicks, not nothin'! I only found out I was having contractions at my dr appt that afternoon at 2:45. She was checking my cervix and pressed on my belly and said wow you have good pain management. She took us to a room and hooked us up to the monitors and sure enough, I was 3 cm, 90% effaced. (At 32 weeks I was 1 cm 60% and progressing every week so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it.

She broke my water when I hit 5 cm and my contractions slowed. They have me pitocin and after a few hours I finally caved on the epidural. I found out I was having back labor. That's a b!tch too. So I just considered them started when I was admitted because I had no idea. I have a feeling as diff as this pregnancy is, it's going to be one hell of pain...

Emily6778

I say 30+ hours with DD.  I started around 8pm on a Friday night.  Couldn't sleep a wink because I was in pain.  It wasn't crying intense pain but enough to keep me awake and uncomfortable.  Around 10am the next day it started to really get bad but they were inconsistent with timing, 5min apart then 10min apart, then 5 again.  My DH called the hospital a few times and they just kept repeating wait until they are 5 minutes consistently.  4pm rolled around and I couldn't take it any more.  It hurt to move and I was definitely crying at that point so we went to triage.  They checked me there and I was 5cm so I was admitted.  I never reached 5min consistancy by the way.  Not once.  Received my epidural around 8pm and delivered around 3am on Sunday.  So I assume "active labor" started around 4pm Saturday for me.  But it was all difficult so I say 30 hours because that's when the contractions started and gradually got worse. 

bethughknee

I woke up with what I later learned is considered "back labor." I still don't really count it though because I would call those "contractions" discomfort and not pain. When contractions finally got regular and felt like pain (even though it was mild) that's what I started. That started at 9:30AM and my son was born at 5:02PM. I say I was in labor for 7.5 hours. Like a work day! Haha.

Also, my water had to be broken at the hospital. I hope that happens again so I'm not at the bank or something with a super leaky nether region.

jhunter89

sugarland726 said:

My first contraction was at 12:15am and I delivered at 12:07am the next morning. If I had contractions that morning and they fizzled out, I would not have counted that time. Labor is very commonly not like the movies with water breaking without a single contraction first. (It can happen that way, but more often it does not). So water breaking is not typically a good indicator of a starting point.

This actually happened to me...but then there were no contractions until over 20 hours later. (That's a high leak for you) So I count from when regular, timeable contractions started so my labor was almost exactly 10 hours instead of 32 going by when my water broke. 

kwinkle1980

I woke up in labor with the "bloody show" and timeable contractions 7 minutes apart. This was around 6 am or so, and I gave birth at 10 pm that night. The nurses told me it was a fairly typical timeline for a FTM.

valigrl21

That's a great question, even after going through labor I wonder what the "standard" is too!

For me, I had Braxton Hicks contractions starting around 20 weeks. So if I counted from first contraction, I was in labor for like 20 weeks. But I dont!

The morning my DD was born, I woke up with contractions about 1 in the morning. But went back to sleep. I think my husband woke up around 3 because he could tell I wasn't sleeping really great. He got up and started getting ready to go to the hospital. I went back to sleep. I slept until about 5, then HE woke ME up! Just to see if it was time to go to the hospital. I told him "If I am sleeping through contractions, it's not time yet!"

I decided to start timing contractions then, and they were about 6 minutes apart. But not lasting long and were not painful at all.

We got to the hospital a little after 9 AM, I was dialated to a 3. About to get discharged from triage for not being in active labor, when my water broke. My water breaking really kicked off labor. Previously my contractions were NBD, but after that woah!

DD was born at 12:15 PM, so about 3 hours after arriving at hospital/water breaking/active labor starting.

JuliaH21

I was told early labor started with "real" contractions. The Dr office told me this was when they were regular (if you're resting, you get up and walk, and if you're on your feet, sit down and take a break, if they stay the same, then they're "real"). I had a few times of braxton hicks being pretty regular until I took a walk or went pee and then they stopped. 

The morning I went into labor for real, the contractions started off right at 7 min apart, 45-60 seconds long. I was 41 weeks and actually about to leave for a non stress test that was likely to turn into an induction. It's not helpful, but that first real contraction felt different and I "just knew". It was more intense than the BH and rather than just a tightening, there was a feeling of things happening, kind of an achiness in my hips and groin or something.

echo136

I always tell people mine was 19 hours which was from water breaking naturally to baby being born. However for days before that I was in intense contractions timeable and consistant that sent me to the hospital only to have them send me home because once I was there they stopped and they were busy and i wasnt quite 4cm yet - lame. I had a long warm up to my 19 hours I think.

juliasmama2010

Agree with PP's, labor is when the contractions are steadily increasing and don't fizzle out.  I was counting my contractions on the way to work on the 19th, fell asleep counting my contractions that night and woke up at 5 the next morning and told DH we needed to go to the hospital.  Even though my contractions weren't crazy intense at the very beginning, I still count that as my labor because my contractions were steady and intensifying.  By my calculations, I had a 41 hour labor but was only in the hospital for 6 hours before baby was born.  They broke my water for me about three hours before baby was born (I think, I was in pain).  Everyone looks at it differently.  I like to think a 41 hour labor makes me sound like a bad ass, but that's just me!

ehepner

I would say when you start having timeable contractions that lead to delivery.  So if you have contractions and they stop....doesn't count.

jldubb0626

For me, I count from when my water broke. I was one of those ones who's water broke before the contractions started. So from when my water broke to when DS was born, I was in labor for 21ish hours. But if I count from when they started the pitocin the following morning I was in labor for about 8 hours. If my water hadn't broke, I would have counted from when my contractions started to be time able and consistent.

rowanthefrog

When the contractions become uncomfortable. You will know.

With DS2, I was in prodromal labor for probably about 24 hours, meaning I was contracting but not really in actual labor. Then the contractions got a little more noticeable and intense.  They woke me up at 3am. That is when I actually started my "labor clock" if you will. I had about 12hrs of those contractions, that I knew were real contractions but I could still talk and function through. Then it got harder and I couldn't walk or talk through the contractions. I still had another 24 hrs to go until pushing and delivery.  My water broke sometime around hour 24 from the actual start time. Long Fin labor.

With DS1, my water just randomly broke. So if that happens then yes, that is the clearest sign that you are in labor, but not the only sign. In fact, after my water broke, I didn't start contracting for awhile and ended up with a C-section after 24 hrs of no progress.

A

MrsGraham06

With my 1st, I was one of those whose water broke naturally. Then nothing. The dr wants to get the baby out by 24 hours if possible, so there is a "timer" for once your water breaks.

I had some contractions after my water broke at 6:30 AM, but they never got closer than 15-20 minutes apart by 4 PM, so they started me on pitocin (no contractions = no progress = longer time till baby can come out). I finally started pushing at 6 the next morning, he was born at 10:11 AM. So, I say I was in labor almost 28 hours, since I counted from when my water broke.

RingOfFire11

I was having very irregular contractions for about a week before I delivered. The day before they were more noticeable but nothing that made me think it would be "time" soon. My water broke while I was asleep and very regular contractions started pretty quick after that. I consider the start of my labor when my water broke...although I may have slept through some.

cowscrub

I've never had a contraction outside of a hospital. So I count my labora from the time they hook me up to medication (iv or cervical softeners) and the contractions become regular to the point of delivery.
So 8 hrs the first time
8 hrs the second
And 15 hrs the third.

jessicat2283

My water broke at 3am I felt no contractions. I had pitocin & things finally got painful late afternoon. Had baby at 930

2nd time induction started at 11am had baby at 830 that night

KristaBelieve

I doubt it means anything but while I was reading these comments my LO has been kicking me like crazy.  I finished the last post and the kicks stopped.  Hmmmm....is he telling me something?!?!