Anyone here had speedy labours? I have questions :)

[Narketta]

I'm not PG and me and DH aren't even trying to conceive yet mainly because i'm petrified of what will happen if we decide to have another DC.

We have 2 DC age 3 and 5. DS was born in an hour and 15 mins and DD was delivered at home by DH after a 44 minute labour.

I consider myself very lucky to have had 2 easy quick births.

BUT my fears are that I will either have another stupidly quick labour and something will go wrong or I will have a terrible time of it and need intervention (The MW on the way to the hospital after DD's birth told me that 3rd labours are trick and your body can forget what to do)

I would like to talk to a midwife about my concerns but as i'm not PG I don't even know if this would be possible.

So I would like other peoples experiences of there 3rd labours.:)

TIA

[ballstoit]

I had 2 long labours; DS 24 hours in total, DD1 16 hours. Both ended in epidural and forceps.

3rd labour I had twinges all day (and nothing bad enough for my extended family to notice, they were all round for a BBQ). But actual labour was 23 minutes, had a home birth and luckily DSis called MW earlier than I thought she needed to. MW was at mine about 10 minutes before DD2 arrived.

DSis had a much quicker 3rd labour (2nd vaginal delivery) but other friends have had longer 3rd ones. There is no way for anyone to predict it (although I havent done a proper research study obviously). I guess you would just have to be very aware of your body and go to be checked if you felt any twinges in the later stages of pregnancy.

Or arrange a home birth...was lovely and I wouldnt have made it to hospital in the time it took for my MW to get to me.

[Stopsittingonyoursister]

I had a quick birth 2nd time around. As we were being discharged from delivery suite, MW told me that if we were to have another, I would be best to plan for a HB because labours tend to get quicker.

I guess everyone is just different, and there's just no way of knowing.

Good luck.

[Tangle]

I'm currently expecting DC3 and have been told that 3rd labours have reputation for being "funny" or "odd" - but more because they can be a bit stop/start in the beginning so working out whether this is really it can be tricky. But once they get going they tend to get on with it...

If you'd like to talk to a MW you should be able to organise something like a post-birth debrief through PALS - and in a way it is a post-birth debrief that you want as you want to understand more about your last labours to try and gain insight into how any future labour might progress. If you've moved into an area covered by a different PCT since you had DC2 you should still be able to arrange a meeting at your local unit, but you might need to request your notes from your previous hospital.

(For what its worth I was also told that precipitous labours tend to be a bit shocking for the mother, but are usually pretty straightforward - did you need to go to hospital after DC2 because of an identified problem or were you transferred because it was an unplanned and unattended birth?)

[Narketta]

Hi Tangle, I had to go to hospital with DD because I had Group B strep so they wanted to swab her ear and wait for results.

I think i'll give PALS a call and see if I can arrange to speak to someone.
I just feel so torn as to what to do, me and DH have talked about having another DC and I had said that I didn't really want anymore, then a fortnight ago I had to do a pregnancy test and was begging to get a positive and felt so disappointed when it was negative:(

I'm 37 and feel that if we're going to do it then it has to be soon.

[BertieBasset]

Have you tried posting this in the large families forum? I have some vested interest here as would also like dc3!

[thankheavenforlittlegirls]

Hi Narketta,
Firstly, don't let fear of the unknown put you off, if you want another baby then just go for it! Babies come along when they want to and each has their own agenda! Many docs will tell you that no pregnancy or birth can be compared to any other as each is its own separate entity. Having said that my pregnancies and labours have been pretty much the same, just different lengths of early labour, with the pushing stage getting shorter and shorter each time (2hours with DD1, 20mins DD2, 2mins DD3!) I'm currently 19 weeks preg with my fourth, my eldest is 4 next month.
I too was really worried about my third labour as I'd heard that they can be weird and unpredictable. My second was fast and nearly didn't make it to hospital so was really worried it would happen again, but in the end the third was actually my favourite and probably 'best' labour of all. Slightly longer than the others, but the most controlled and the most natural. Hoping my next will be like this!
My friend has just had her DD3 and after a horrendous delivery with DD2 she'd been scheduled for an elective caesarian. She pulled out at last minute and decided to go naturally, and had the loveliest most normal delivery of the lot! Like me her early labour was long and stop start, but the actual nitty gritty bit was fine! I've found that you get more false labour and stop start contractions with subsequent labours, which can be confusing!

[lollystix]

I'm not quick - back to back and 50 hours with first (emcs), 7 hours ds2 and ds3 was def the stop start all week beforehand. Got sweep as mw took pity but we when he did come it was 4 hours and really straightforward. Braxtons with him from 20 weeks. Waiting on ds4 in 9 weeks- no idea what to expect

[BeehiveBaby]

I had a 40min labour with DD3 (after 2 quickish labours before) and wish I had had your preperation! DH did not have a clue at all - at least you can read up and arm yourself?

[foxinsocks]

We never had a third for a variety of other reasons but one (minor) reason was the speed of my births.

I was told categorically that I should expect to have my third at home as I barely made it to the hospital with ds - my waters broke but I wasn't having contractions but I went in as 1st labour was fast. Lucky I did as as soon as I got on the bed, I had 2 contractions as ds shot out with no-one in the room (I promptly went into shock!).

So no, no number 3 for us :-)

[OnEdge]

I had a fast 2nd, my third was just sort of normal, similar to the 1st really. If you are worried, just make sure you go in as soon as it kicks off. I think they are all unique.

[OnEdge]

how far are you away from hospital ?

[Narketta]

I had on and off contractions with DD for 3 weeks I even went in to be monitored twice but wasn't examined (I'm fairly sure if they'd had a look that I would have been dilating and they would have kept me in) but they sent me home both times and the contractions stopped

I had an appointment with the midwife the week before I had DD and she felt my bump to check DD's position and she had a look of shock on her face as she said "Well I don't know about babies head being engaged but her shoulders are almost through, ladies like you have very productive contractions and things normally happen quickly" Well she wasn't wrong and that would explain why I'd been in agony when I walked for the month before DD's birth.

I'm 20 mins from the hospital OnEdge so not to far but if things happen as quickly as they did last time we wouldn't make it.

I really don't know what to do, none of this was helped when my 'lovely' childless younger sister came over yesterday, I told her how i'm undecided about DC3 and she said "I'm not being funny but you are getting old now and pregnancy takes it out on your body more when your older"

I had easier pregnancies than some of my younger friends and I don't really believe that its any tougher if your an older mum being a mum is knackering regardless of age.

That turned into a bit of a rant didn't it

[claricestar]

I'm expecting my third and had a quick labour last time. 2 hours for first stage...but went from 4 to 10cm in 20 mins. Pushing stage was about 25 minutes. I'm a bit concerned if this third baby will come even quicker, especially as I won't be having a homebirth due to previous post partum hemmorhage...but I don't want the labour to be slower...2 hours was just right last time (compared to a day and a half of induced labour with DS1!).

[lollystix]

Foxinsocks-2 pushes-OMG!!!!!!! I did meet a woman in soft play once who said she'd been cleaning her teeth, had 3 contractions and ds2 arrived. She said it ran in her family but 2!!!! Omg - I am so jealous but it must have been soooo scary for you at the time

[foxinsocks]

It was brilliant in one way. They couldn't believe it at the hospital. I did quiz dh afterwards as to whether I had a bucket fanjo that I was able to get him out so fast but he promised me I didn't .

Those 2 contractions were incredibly intense but once he was born I went back to normal so very quickly - in fact, so quickly I could barely believe I had been through labour and found it utterly shocking for a few days!

But now I look back on it and I realise how lucky I was. The midwife said to me, if you have quick labours and want to go to the hospital, you go the minute you have a twinge.

I also found out, afterwards, that the new house we moved into had a midwife opposite which would have made me feel a lot better if I had more (not that you can guarantee they will be in but you know what I mean) so always worth finding out if you have community midwives near you!

[Gumps]

37+2 with dc3 and great to read this thread. Having such a weird time compared to other 2 pregnancies. Ds1 came on due day, started with period pains and built from there. About 6 hours of proper contractions and pushed for an hour and a half as he was back to back and a shoulder dystocia. Sounds awful and was for ds1 but not that bad for me in terms of pain or length. Ds2 was braxton hicks for weeks and then about 4 hours of proper labour and 17 minutes of pushing.
This time I have already been kept in overnight as contractions started and then stopped. That was 10 days ago. Contractions and back pain which come and go are enough to make me remember what labour feels like but not enough to make me think this is it.
Is this typical of 3rd births? Get torn between feeling like it's never going to happen and it's going to happen very quickly on the bathroom floor!

[neolara]

I had a quick 3rd labour (30 mins start to finish, 1 min pushing) after two quickish previous labours (4 hours of so). My dh delivered my dc3 without a midwife / ambulance.

I think that there is a good chance that you would have another quick labour again, although obviously the baby could be in a funny position which could slow things down. However, my midwife had told me that quick labours generally mean everything is fine, and that was certainly my experience.

I think that because you know that you could have a quick labour, you are in a good position to be really prepared. Get the midwife to talk you through what you should do if you have to go it alone. Go for a home birth. Get everything ready so that you can prepare for imminent birth at a moments notice. Get on the phone immediately you go think anything is starting. Lie to the midwifes if necessary. (When I rang the hospital I said contractions where 5 mins apart, even though I'd only had 2 contractions - turned out to be a sensible move given that I gave birth less than 25 mins later.) Don't hesitate to call an ambulance if you think things are happening too fast.

Leading up the the birth I was worried I could have a quick labour, so I pretty much didn't leave my house for weeks and certainly didn't leave the area. I made sure I was chaperoned if I thought my dh was going to be uncontactable.

I really feel for you. Luckily I am happy with my 3, but my very speedy last birth would make me feel anxious about embarking on another pregnancy. I should also say that I was 40 when I had my last child, and so 37 feels like you are a spring chicken!

[PrincessScrumpy]

I was concerned as dd1's birth was so quick and the mw didn't believe me until 20mins before dd was born when dh asked for a second opinion and the registrar discovered I was 10cm (first time they'd even looked as apparently I didn't look in enough pain!). Anyway, before this pg dh and I went to see a consultant to discuss issues and fears as I wanted another baby but was seriously considering adoption rather than experience that again. I was told I could possibly have a cs (due to tearing as dd shot out) or they could induce me so I would be in hospital and not have to worry about giving birth in the car. He said it was quite common in these circumstances.

Reassured, we ttc and now I'm having twins in less than 2 weeks - by cs as one is breech and the other cephalic, but she can't engage as twin one is blocking the exit with her legs.

[Narketta]

PrincessScrumpy You must be so excited, well done you for being brave enough to try again. I love babies and would love another one so I think i'm just going to have to go for it. Hope everything goes well for you I'll keep a look out for your birth announcement.

Good luck

[coffeeaddict]

Can you ask to be induced? I had v quick scary labour with no. 2. Was not keen on delivering no. 3 on floor/in car, with children around. As a result I had planned inductions for nos. 3 and 4. Fantastic, controlled, 6 hour labour each time, epidural, lovely. Highly recommend it.

[lollystix]

Gumps-that's exactly how ds3 felt for me but only about 6 days of it. 4 times I thought I'd be in that night then nothing. As soon as mw felt he had engaged I got a sweep (wouldn't do it before due to cord prolapse) and then it all got moving about 12 hours after. So frustrating at the time but aside from this def the best birth of the 3

[SpamMarie]

My mother's labour lengths went 12 hours, 9, 6 then 3. She always joked if she'd have had a fifth child, it would have shot right out!

[Eglu]

I would ask to speak to whoever would be your consultant at the hospital and see if they would consider an induction before you are due.

I would certainly do that if I had another. DH just delivered DC3 8 weeks ago.

[7to25]

I had 4 hour labour with first and just made it to the hospital for second. I joked that I would camp in the hospital car park for the last two weeks of my third pregnancy, but in reality it was more like the first.....as were the fourth and fifth! For the sixth I was induced.