Second labour

[Sabina93]

Hi Everyone. I’m currently 36+6 weeks pregnant with my second and was wondering if you could please tell me your second labour experiences also compared to your first? My first was born 41+1 and took 76 hours from first contraction, ane ended up with forceps and epidural. I’m soooo scared this time. I know that no one can tell me what second birth will be but would nice to hear your experiences. Also first one was back to back so that’s probably why it also took ages.
Anyway thank you. 😊

1st was 40 wks + 5 days, 22 hour labour. Not induced. 2 hours + pushing time, episiotomy.

2nd was 40 wks + 5 days, 8/9 hour labour. Not induced. 40 mins pushing time. Slight tear.

Oh and 3rd was 40 weeks + 9 days, 20 hour labour, back to back and EMCS!

DC1 was 48 hours, ventouse and forceps in theatre.

DC2 was 11 minutes of established labour.

Hope that helps!

First: Induced at 39+5 with an unfavourable cervix after reduced movements. Had balloon catheter overnight, waters broken at 9am, syntocinon drip at 10am, epidural at 3pm by which time I was 5cm dilated, emergency C-section at 11pm (still only 6cm dilated).

Second: Sweep at 40+0, a few contractions during the evening which stopped overnight, went into labour properly the following evening, hospital at midnight, spent most of the night in the bath tub, epidural at 9am when only 3cm dilated, examined an hour later and was told I was 9cm, started pushing an hour after that and baby was out in five minutes. Small 2nd degree tear which healed well.

Thank you so much for all of your responses.

Both of mine have been home births.

First was at 37+5, lasted 11 hours, but 4 hours of that was pushing (on and off - there was a 2 hour break where everything just sort of stopped by dd and I were fine so we waited it out until the urge to push came back). I needed a managed 3rd stage as was just exhausted by then and placenta didn't come away on its own. I lost a bit of blood - not enough to be a PPH but borderline. I was severely anaemic after, which caused a lot of issues for the first week. Including issues with milk supply that eventually meant I stopped bf after several weeks because dd was failing to thrive.

Second was at 40+6, lasted 9 hours, about an hour of pushing - but by pushing, I mean having the urge to bare down, not truly pushing the baby out. When I first started getting the urge to push, the midwife hadn't even arrived yet and the 2nd one only arrived about 15 minutes before he was born, so I was holding in rather than pushing initially! Really easy natural 3rd stage that time. No anaemia, felt generally pretty great after. Had a relatively easy time bf this time around.

Both generally really positive experiences, but second time was all around much easier.

First - 38+5, lasted about 14 hours and needed an epidural. Tore badly.
Second - 37+4 and time in active labour was 47 minutes 😳, we barely made it to the delivery room. Completely different experience and so much easier.

@mindutopia and @TwistedSisters Thank you both so much for sharing your experiences 😊

First: 7 hours total from first contraction, no pain relief and only a couple of stitches.

Second: 5 weeks early, waters broke but there was a lot of blood. A bit of a slow start so ended up on a hormone drip. Was in active labour for an hour, pushed for 10 minutes.
In total though from waters going it was 9 hours.

First 39 weeks very quick went into labour around midnight normal labour for a few hours then a super quick end. 8 hours in total.

Second 39+5 started the same at midnight normal for a few hours, then agony, turns out he was back to back took an hour and a half longer than first.