Please tell me about your easier second labours

[Pepperwand]

I'm currently pregnant with baby number 2 and am thinking about labour and birth. I didn't have a great time first time round as my son was back to back and I ended up with an epidural and assisted delivery after a long and exhausting labour. I've been looking into techniques to help me stay calm this time around and focusing on the fact that lots of people have said birth was better the second time around. Please could I selfishly ask for you to put my mind at rest and tell me it'll all be fine?

DD1 like your first labor.
DD2 40 minutes with half a dose of prostin gel.
Very different labors, don’t have any expectations. Good luck

My second labour was the easiest by far.
Arrived at hospital and was already 8cm two hours later DS was here after a few pushes. No pain relief.

Not me, but sil - 1st child, 28hrs labour, spinal block, forceps, very stressful and hard recovery. 2nd child, into hospital, gave birth with no issues, home the same day - all within 4 hours.

first time around was induction, ended up in theatre almost at ecs, dd eventually delivered ventouse, had epidural, episiotomy - the works!

second time still ‘post dates’ i refused a hormonal induction and went back home to bounce on the ball for another day. waters were broken for me and that was enough intervention to welcome dd2 into the world - whole thing was done and dusted in around 6 hours in the end and although i felt it all this time so i can’t say it hurt less, it was calmer, easier and much less trauma

you’ll be fine! good luck

1st labour, 15hrs, back to back, she got stuck and needed epidural and ventouse delivery with episiotomy 😥

2nd labour 4hrs, delivered on my hands and knees with 10mins of pushing and G&A. Tiny graze

I was so nervous and didn't believe people when they told me it'd be easier. I truly believed I was the unlucky one that would have a horrible 2nd time to but it went exactly how I wanted it to

Good luck

My ds1 was very similar to yours, it was awful. Ds2 was so much easier, a very quick and natural birth, I just had gas and air, and was in and out of hospital much quicker. I went in quite late as I hadn’t really accepted I was in labour earlier because it just wasn’t as painful as the first time round so by the time I went in and got checked was already at 8cm, whereas first time round I’d been asking for an epidural at about 1-2cm!!!
I hear so many people say the 2nd is much easier. I think your body just knows what it’s doing a bit more the 2nd time round.
My 2nd honestly changed my outlook on giving birth so much, the experiences of 1st and 2nd were the total opposite.
Good luck!!

Try not to worry too much as no 2 births are the same even for the same person.
I don't often talk about my birth experience as I had such an easy time with them but if it helps you I will ds was my 2nd was a breeze literally 45 minutes from 1st twinge to baby in my arms no real medical intervention, no pain meds tares or anything other than 1 minor abrasion .
Biggest problem was making it to the hospital in time ( born in ambulance 😯).
Much quicker and easier than with dd my 1st.
Good luck

DS1 24 hours from start to finish. Back to back labour so the contractions were pretty much constant and it was agonising. I struggled on for 14 hours with gas&air but ended up writhing around on the bed begging for an epidural. The epidural stopped working after 6 hours and they couldn’t get it working again then after a further 3 hours they realised DS’s shoulder was stuck so I was rushed into theatre for a spinal and forceps delivery. All hugely traumatic.

I laboured at home with DD until I was 9cm then had a few puffs of gas&air as I was pushing and she was born half an hour after we arrived at hospital. It was much easier, she just seemed to fly out. Sadly the placenta retained and I had a huge PPH, needed two transfusions. Everything else was a breeze though .

My DM laboured for days with me but my younger brother was almost born in the hospital lift!

Hello Op my first labour sounds exactly like yours- long, drawn out, kept going to hospital and was sent away after only being 2cm. Ended up with a pessary as was overdue, then accepted every drug available, spent the labour out of it and ended up with forceps. Second time round I was determined to be have a different experience as much as possible. I will say two words to you: Tens Machine. It honestly changed my labour, it helped soo much while the contractions slowly built, I ended up staying at home until 6cm. The entire labour lasted less than 24 hours compared to 3 days with my first. I then got on gas and air and continued with tens until getting in the birthing pool. I rented a tens machine as they are quite pricey but it provided so much relief in the early stages while I was at home. I found as well this time i went with what my body was telling me to do- while at home I had a bath and contractions completely stopped for nearly two hours. Instead of trying to force it like I did with my first (walking around ball bouncing etc) , I laid down and slept. I then woke up contracting but I felt rested and relaxed. Good luck OP x

Horrible first labour with 3 hours of pushing followed by TWO episiotomies that the midwife didn't give me any local anaesthetic for or even tell me she was about to do

Second labour so much quicker, I actually felt in control; first time round felt an endless haze of exhaustion and pain. I almost enjoyed it second time round. Had a puff or two of gas and air and gave birth on all fours. I felt euphoric afterwards and so proud of myself

You'll be fine. Your body has already done the hard work of stretching first time round. It knows the drill

To be fair, my first labour was textbook, however my 2nd was even easier. I actually didn't realise I was in labour at first, I just felt a lot of pressure which made sitting uncomfortable. When I realised it was contractions I didn't think they were strong enough to be doing much. By the time I decided I should probably go to hospital, still worried I would get sent home, I was actually 9cm dilated. The only hiccup was that my waters didn't break and they had to break them for me, but then my daughter was born about 20 minutes after that. No more than 7 hours all up, no tearing, no painkillers, no issues with recovery and no ab separation or incontinence issues. Very lucky!

My first was a shit show from start to finish. I won’t go into detail but it was awful, and cemented in my head that I will never choose to give birth in a hospital again unless dire medical circumstances arise.

DC2 was born at home. 10 hour labour, most of which was spent bouncing on a birth ball, watching TV boxsets, playing with my toddler etc. It did really get too intense until the last hour or so. I went for a wee, and immediately felt my baby drop right down and the contractions got really intense and closer together from that point, and I felt lots of pressure. He was born on the living room floor, into my DH’s hands.
No pain relief, no interference from the attending midwife, no tears/grazing and placenta came out on its own about 45 mins after the baby.
I’m hoping for the same for DC3 due late summer/early autumn

With DD2 I arrived at the hospital with contractions 5 mins apart. I was 3cm dilated and they were looking to send me home. I’m glad I insisted as she was born 90 mins later after 5 pushes. Caught the poor student midwife on the hop!

DD took 3 days (induced), every painkiller taken, the worse ever stiching after (over 15 stiches) Haemorrhaged when i got hone after a day, had to be taken back to hospital.

DS took 3 hours - water birth, no painkillers, minimal stiching. Home after 6 hours rest in the birthing suite - send my daughter to nursery the next mornign like nothing happened the day before.

1st - 29 hours, ventouse, episiotomy, bad tear, lot of blood loss needing transfusion and DC in SCBU for a week.

2nd much easier although still 13 hours, and born with the cord round her neck, home within 24 hours though.

DC1 dilated very quickly which was agonising. Forced to lie on back. Resulted in episiotomy and forceps. Gas and air prior to episiotomy and for stitches.

DC2 home water birth. Dilated gradually within 10 hours. Got to move around as there were no concerns. Even had a laugh with DP and friend right up until "the main event". No pain relief as was coping with contractions okay although because of this when it came to actually pushing DC out it felt awful buuut I did tear badly again which probably didn't help and I had to go hospital for stitches!

However I felt the labour of my second was sooo much better! The perfect labour some have called it!

Oh and I was sipping tea between contractions at 8/9cm dilated!

1st - 14 hours labour in hospital, only 3cm dilated on arrival but heavy snow so they kept me in! Had pethidine, then episiotomy to get her out, but all straightforward.

2nd - popped out 2 mins after arriving at hospital with whole A and E team and maternity ward in room! No pain relief at all. Born in morning, home by 5pm - perfect birth!
Good luck!

My first labour was awful: I had preeclampsia and was very ill, it went on for hours and hours. I had an epidural, DD was getting distressed and we ended up with a ventouse delivery (complete with episiotomy). Everything after that was okay, though.

Second labour was better, if you can call it that! I started having contractions at 07:30, got to the hospital at 12:45, DS was born (hands and knees with G&A, no time for anything else) at 13:05! Had a small tear and a couple of issues with the placenta, but otherwise fine.

Tbh, DD was agony over a long period of time, but DS was very intense pain that didn't last very long. It was probably more painful with him but it was over so quickly.

Good luck OP!

I had absolutely no pain with my second, I was hospitalised with pre eclampsia and as it was a slow day on labour ward they decided to induce me, I was 10 days overdue. When they examined me I was already 7cm dilated, he was born under an hour later with a little discomfort.

1st labour - 16.5 hours, back to back, even early labour hurt like hell. I had gas and air, an epidural, you name it, I chugged it down/had it injected into me. He came out star gazing and ripped me to shreds, I required stithces in places I can't even talk about to this day!

2nd labour - 45 minutes from start to finish, gas and air at point of pushing. No stitches.

3rd labour - 6 hours, no drugs, no stitches.

Labour 3 was my favourite - 1 was too long, 2 was too short and I think I was in shock afterwards. 3 was calm, less painful and whilst I didn't enjoy it, it passed quickly.

Good luck op!

My first Labour was also back to back and took forever. Second labour was still fairly long but the pushing stage was so much easier, I went from 5cm to having a baby in my arms in just over an hour and only pushed about 5 times. I felt much more with it after my second labour which made the new born days a lot nicer.

First was like yours, 16 hours, posterior presentation, so long and exhausting. DH was away overseas at the time so I did it alone too.

Second - easy peasy, 4 hours and I pushed him out with no trouble. DH was there with me. Unfortunately he got the idea that having babies was so easy , after that ! He'd never understand that DD was so hard !

I'm not going to make you feel better, sorry! But I think it's really important.

Labour 1: 30hrs total, 5hrs from waters breaking. Just G&A, 2nd degree tear as baby got a bit stuck on the way, but all good.

Labour 2: Also 30hrs total, but 7/8 after waters broke. I couldn't cope with G&A alone so was given meptid (ace stuff!). Baby remained too high, even after fully dilated, which resulted in a spinal block and eventual EMCS.

I went in to labour 2 with SUCH a positive mindset, relaxed, knew what I wanted. All the midwives at hospital reassured me that I'd done it before, it'd be quick once my my waters went, I could do it.

I'm telling you this because I struggled all the more for having heard SO many people say number 2 was easier/quicker/better - I became so frustrated and demoralised the longer it went on. Afterwards, I really struggled mentally with the fact that it had been harder, slower, and resulted in EMCS when my first hadn't.

It was fine - we're fine a few months on - but try and keep balanced expectations for your own sake! (But I hope you'll be totally fine )

I had pre-eclampsia and after 48 hours of stressful induction for both of us an emcs.

2nd time was a vbac, laboured at home got to hospital and had an epidural that only worked on one side BUT dc2 born in 2 pushes after midwife said it would be a little while yet and she wasn’t quite ready 😂. Small tear but really so much easier than dc1.

Good luck, everyone is different but you’ve done this before so your body has done the mechanics once 😁