When "they" say second babies come faster than the 1st...

CubbyMama

...what exactly does that mean?  Because with DD, it was 36 hours of sporadic, mild contractions before "real" labor kicked in, and then another 12 until she was born.  I'm now in Hour 36 of mild contractions that are regular for a couple of hours and then fade out again, so as of now, things do NOT appear to be moving any faster!

marrymemylove

They mean on average, first babies have a higher rate of appearing after EDD. That's really all that makes the difference. 

And of course there are lots of exceptions! 

CubbyMama

But isn't the labor and delivery itself "supposed" to be shorter, too?  I'm hoping that at least once things get going and the contractions get stronger, THEN it'll move faster...but the early labor part is still slooooooooooooow going.  Bah.

Mrs.JDD

I have heard that labor is generally about half the time it was the first time around...not sure if that's true or not, but I'm hopeful

DaisyAdair

My 1st was 22hrs - and that was from 6cm when I showed up at the hospital.  My water had broken and I had no idea.  I felt some pain, but I thought it was just my colitis acting up.  All of a sudden, WHAM, mind-blowing pain.  22hrs later - 2.5hrs of pushing - and it was finally over.

My 2nd....was an induction.  I had my water broken at 8am.  Contractions started almost immediately.  4.5hrs later - no pushing, she just shot out - and she was born.

This one....I'm just hoping I make it to the hospital!

Yodajo

For me, it was true.  With Sam, I was in labor for about 24 hours total and pushed for four hours of that time.  It took me forever to get from1cm to the pushing stage.  With Max, from when I realized I was in labor to having him, it was maybe three hours.  I was at 7 or 8cm when I got to the hospital and had him 20 minutes later.  I pushed 3 times and he was here.   I could have had him with the first push, I think, but I was so shocked and in denial that it was really happening that way.

So, yes, I agree with that statement.  I was terrified that I was going to push w/ #2 as long as I did w/ #1 and my doctor promised I wouldn't.   One doctor told me the rule was generally half the time it was w/  #1.  He was talking about active labor/pushing. 

Good luck!  I hope "the rule" is true for you and you have your little one soon!  Can't wait to hear the news!

 

whitedress11

i keep thinking about you.... and wondering when it is going to happen. i have been checking my fb just for your updates.

CubbyMama

whitedress11:

i keep thinking about you.... and wondering when it is going to happen. i have been checking my fb just for your updates.

Aww, thanks!  I don't want to be annoying and keep texting, blogging, Nesting, and FB'ing "no news" so I keep hoping there'll BE news sometime soon...but people keep thinking maybe I went to the hospital without telling them first if they don't hear from me, so I feel compelled to be a dork and update at least every once in a while.    

LeisureSuitLauren

Yes, it should be about half as long as your previous labor.  For me:

#1- 12 hours from the very first contraction until he was born.

#2- 8 hours from the very first contraction until she was born.

#3- scheduled C-section, but I was in labor for 3 hours that morning.  When I checked into the hospital I was already 5 cm.  I'm thinking I would have delivered her in about 6 hours.

 I can't wait to hear the news of cubby 2's arrival,  best of luck for a quick and "easy" L&D!

luckyluvr

Put it this way. I ended up with a c-section with #1 b/c of failure to progress after 23 hours of labor. I couldn't make it past 8cm. 2 weeks ago, with #2, I went to the hospital and was dialated 2 (exactly like #1), and I was at 9.5 within an hour and I was starting to push. That's what they mean by coming faster!

Marchmamma

It's a big fat LIE!  LOL  DD was 8 days early.  I was in mild labor for about 12 hours and in "real" labor for about 5.

DD#2 was born on her due date, however I never had mild labor with her.  It was "real" labor with her.  Contractions woke me up at 2.  They were every 4 minutes apart.  By the time we left our house at 3:30,  it was every 2 minutes,  I was 8 cm by the time we got to the hospital at 4:10 and she was born 1 hour and 8 minutes later.  It would have been sooner but they tried to hold me off until my dr got there.    I was 8 minutes over what they called a "drive by birth"  in and out in 1 hour or less.

Marchmamma

You are on facebook?  Me too.  Wanna be fb friends?

true_norskie

Just want to share my story

#1 - 25 hours of labor, with the first contraction at 2:30 am, DD born at 3:30 am the next morning.  The hard contrax started around 4 pm, but the ones before that were no picnic.

#2 - more sporadic contrax in the days leading up to it.  BUT, once hard labor started, it moved quickly.  I started having hard contrax (like, "honey, it's time to call the doc" contrax) around 6 pm.  I was 3-4 cm by the time we got checked in to the hospital at 9:30 pm (same as with #1).  I got the epi and DH and I thought we'd have a few hours to relax--WRONG!  I was 9 at 11:45 pm, only two hours later and 10 a few minutes later.  They had to get the doc.  DD2 was born at 12:30 am.  

Instead of laboring 6 hours at the hospital before she was born, I only labored for 3 hours.

I'd say once you get going, that's when things should go faster...I hope for your sake!  

 

GOOD LUCK!!!

true_norskie

true_norskie:

Just want to share my story

#1 - 25 hours of labor, with the first contraction at 2:30 am, DD born at 3:30 am the next morning.  The hard contrax started around 4 pm, but the ones before that were no picnic.

#2 - more sporadic contrax in the days leading up to it.  BUT, once hard labor started, it moved quickly.  I started having hard contrax (like, "honey, it's time to call the doc" contrax) around 6 pm.  I was 3-4 cm by the time we got checked in to the hospital at 9:30 pm (same as with #1).  I got the epi and DH and I thought we'd have a few hours to relax--WRONG!  I was 9 at 11:45 pm, only two hours later and 10 a few minutes later.  They had to get the doc.  DD2 was born at 12:30 am.  

Instead of laboring 6 hours at the hospital before she was born, I only labored for 3 hours.

I'd say once you get going, that's when things should go faster...I hope for your sake!  

 

GOOD LUCK!!!

That is all over the place at not clear at all - 

#1 - labored 6 hours at hospital to go from 3-4 to 10 and pushing (which was nearly 1.5 hours)

#2 - labored 3 hours at hospital to go from 3-4 to 10 and pushing (which was only 10 minutes!)

Half the time to go from 3 to 10 between both girls.

CubbyMama

Hey, Marchmamma...sure!  Are you friends with any other Nesties you can find me through?  I'm friends with SBDC, whitedress, femmegem, cooker, Sulla, etc. but if you can't find me through them, I'll send you my name somehow (I guess maybe it doesn't make sense to not post my full name on here if everyone from the Nest who's on FB already knows it, but...)