Moms of 2+

EGMphoto · February 2012

I'm curious to hear about your second labor and delivery as opposed to your first.

How long were they? Was the second MUCH faster? Easier recovery, not?

TIA!

AmethystBride · February 2012

Labor was several hours shorter (about 5, maybe? But I had absolutely no progress the first time, and with the second I had been running around with a tear in my amniotic sac). It was most definitely easier. Recovery was a lot smoother, too.

:-)

jessicaskyy · February 2012

First was all natural, 8 hours long, and terrible. The second was induced, medicated, 8 hours, and a dream.

balihaigirl · February 2012

Night and day. With my first I went overdue and was induced. Went in the night before because I had close to zero progress so they inserted cytotec & the next day i was induced w/ pitocin at 6am and didn't have the baby until 6:30pm. I ended up tearing both ways and recovery was a nightmare.

I posted my birth story below for #2. My water broke with her at 6:40pm and I had her in my arms less than 6 hrs later (12:30am). I went from 4cm to 10cm within 1.5 hrs. And I didn't tear at all.

L&D was so much quicker and easier the second time around and from what my OB said, that's pretty common.

rssnlvr · February 2012

First was 24 hours of labor before e-c/s. Second was 18 hours of labor and VBAC. Can't really compare recoveries b/c they're not comparing the same thing. But labor was 6 hours shorter!

jml5q · February 2012

My L&Ds were pretty similar, except for #2 i had to be induced.

with #1 my water broke, labored, epi, pushed for about 20 mins, born 5 hours after water broke, 4 hrs after contractions started at hospital.

#2 i was induced at 41 weeks. induction started around 7am, DS was born about 4 hours later, after 1 half push and i had no tearing. my recovery was so much easier the second time without having any stitches.

Noisemaker · February 2012

Both of my labors and deliveries were on the easy side of things. The first time from the first push until she was out was about 40 minutes. The second was really fast--15 minutes and 2 pushes.

My recovery the first time was agony for weeks. I had to sit on a blow up donut thingy and I still wanted to cry every time I sat down. But it was MUCH better the second time around. No donut and much less crying. :-)

Something random no one told me about the recovery the second time: when you nurse (if you do), the uterine contractions get more painful with subsequent pregnancies. So the first time I never really felt uterine contractions when I nursed. With the second, those contractions were pretty harsh. That was a big difference with my recovery with the second.

spideyswifey · February 2012

1st 10 hrs back labor, 1.5 hours pushing - no tearing

2nd - 5 hrs labor, 15 min pushing - no tearing

AmethystBride · February 2012

Noisemaker:

Both of my labors and deliveries were on the easy side of things. The first time from the first push until she was out was about 40 minutes. The second was really fast--15 minutes and 2 pushes.

My recovery the first time was agony for weeks. I had to sit on a blow up donut thingy and I still wanted to cry every time I sat down. But it was MUCH better the second time around. No donut and much less crying. :-)

Something random no one told me about the recovery the second time: when you nurse (if you do), the uterine contractions get more painful with subsequent pregnancies. So the first time I never really felt uterine contractions when I nursed. With the second, those contractions were pretty harsh. That was a big difference with my recovery with the second.

Oh my goodness--yes! And it wasn't just when I was nursing. I would cramp whenever either of my boys cried. Ouch!

Taytee · February 2012

Easy both times. I have both my birth stories written out if you're interested stacy at nicemonkeys.com

Basically though, less than 16 hours total labor with Abby, 3 pushes. Done.

Emily was induced. They started pitocin around 6:30am and Emily busted onto the scene at 9:30am with just me and DH and the nurse present. I said "I have to push" and she was just born.

My recovery with both was easy. 2nd degree tear both times but the 2nd time around I wasn't shy about taking a stool softener from day 1 and drinking tons and tons of water (dilute urine doesn't burn as much!!!).

mao4 · February 2012

first labor..induced. dialated pretty quickly. 4 pushes and she was out.

2nd labor, preterm 32 weeks. walked around with a broken water for who knows how many days. no painful contractions. super fast. almost delivered on way into the labor room.

same recovery for both.

carlinlp · February 2012

1 was easy and only 6 hours total.

2 was long and difficult 23.5 hours.

3 was 18 hours and fairly easy.

Temp13436125005166 · February 2012

With my first it felt longer but it was probably only a couple hours longer, pushing wasn't too bad (~40 minutes) and I had a 2nd degree tear

With my second labor seemed shorter but not by much, pushing way faster - 2 pushes, and I still had a second degree tear but it definitly much easier recovery than Megan was and it seemed like the tearing was less even though both were 2nd degree.

They were both born at 3am too, crazy!

ndluvsrk · February 2012

My water broke both times in the middle of the night.

2nd labour was definitely shorter and hardly had to push at all.

I tore both times, but my babies come out sunny side up so I'm guessing that has something to do with it.

Overall, recovery was fine and pretty easy both times, but it seemed to take a little longer the 2nd time around because I still wanted to carry my 20-month old around at the time. I already felt like I missed him and didn't want to miss out on snuggles with him so I didn't take it as easy as I should have. Even still, I wouldn't change a thing.

So excited for you!!!

jakbtx · February 2012

#1 18 hrs started off hard, OK in the middle, ended hard (2 hrs pushing)

#2 8 hrs fairly easy (1 push)

#3 3 hrs hard (mentally very intense)

recoveries were much easier for #2 and #3. i tore w/#1 but not the others.

EGMphoto · February 2012

Thanks, everyone!

My labor and delivery were smooth - but recovery was awful. I had 2nd degree tears, which I know is common, but it hurt a LOT for 6 weeks or so. Really just hoping for an easier recovery this time (and like someone - Taytee? - said, I will definitely not be shy when asking for stool softeners)!

NoVA-grl · February 2012

You really don't want to hear mine since the 2nd was so much worse than the 1st for me, except I only had to be induced once instead of twice for my 2nd ;-)

batsteph · February 2012

FIRST BABY:

My water broke early in the morning and I started having painful contractions, but after getting to the hospital (it took about an hour) everything stalled. They started me on Pitocin and had to crank the drip way up to get me to progress. I'd intended to go without pain meds, but the Pitocin was so intense that I got an epi. I labored for 18 hours, then pushed for about an hour. Bad tearing (per the doctor), but I didn't find the recovery from the tears to be bad at all. I felt kinda slow and icky after Daniel was born, but recovery wasn't difficult.

SECOND BABY:

Thought I had some amniotic fluid leaking and was having some very mild regular contractions, so we went to the hospital. Turned out I was already at 5 cm and my water had not broken. They went ahead and admitted me and when it became apparent that my labor wasn't really progressing they started me on Pitocin. It took much less Pitocin to get things going this time. I was admitted about 5 pm, they broke my water late evening sometime, and William was born just before midnight. Made it through with no pain meds. Overall, a much better experience.

All that said, I wouldn't characterize either birth as difficult, but my second was definitely much easier and quicker than my first.

Want a personalized experience?

Moms of 2+

Re: Moms of 2+

Choose Another Board

Search Boards