birth number2? anybody mind sharing stories?

[cloggs142]

Was ot quicker...easier? You hear sooo many stories that the second time aeound is.much better. Is there any truth to this? Have a feeling i might b expecting dc 2. Too early to tell...but because i had such bad spd and hips ( crutches and unable to walk for months) wanted to know wether peoples got worse second time? Cant imagine hulking a whale sized me around on crutches plus a very lively toddler!!

Soooooo much quicker! DD1=27 hours, DD2=17 minutes from arriving at the hospital!
I only had mild SPD so luckily not on crutches, but it was so much better immediately after the birth!

Dds birth was so much better, but the labour was a lot longer. Ds had only been 13 hours total and with Dd she took 36 hours, so seconds arent always quicker.

Luckily I had an easy pregnancy with DC2, so cannot comment on how to handle a toddler whilst on crutches BUT I can comment on the birth experience.

With DC1 my labour lasted 16 painful hours and ended five minutes after the words "I'm just going to get the forceps" from a Dr I had never seen before. I had been pushing for so many hours I had become truly exhausted and unable to push any more. That phrase however gave me a second wind (as it were) and I managed to push DS out within five minutes after that. All in all, an unpleasant drawn out painful experience though.

Labour with DS2 lasted 8 hours but went very smoothly. Much less painful, much less exhausting & DS2 was born with very minimal intervention and certainly no threat of forceps!

Even better was my labour with DC3 - I spent a couple of hours happily rocking in a rocking chair, using gas & air as necessary. I had said to myself that I would get on the bed & ask for pethidine when the pain became "too bad". I never made it to having pethidine - when I asked for it and said I wanted to get back on to the bed, the midwife examined me and said the head was about to be born .

In short, yes, for me birth becomes easier each time.

Ok....this is pretty encouraging!! Haha. People tell you that you forget how much it hurts and what an all round traumatising experience it is......you dont! Dear god i remember everything!! Haha. Now i just gotta wait until i can take a test!! Aaahhhh! :-)

My SPD hasn't been so bad at all second time around. I didn't need crutches this time, just a support belt.

Morning sickness much worse and lasted ages!

Emotionally a very different experience. I've suffered from
AND this time, although it's responded well to treatment.

Can't tell you about the birth as due date is today!

DS1 - 48 hours start to finish, 28 hours official established labour, epidural, ventouse and forceps, felt pretty battered after.

DS2 - 11 hours from waters breaking, but about 1 hour of bad contractions (but never felt like I couldn't cope). Official established labour 12 mins (from the point I said 'I feel like I need to push', having been 3cm the previous time they checked). Felt over the moon and in much better shape after.

disclaimer: DS1 was a Big Boy with a Huge head. DS2 was a pound lighter with a more normal sized head.

Hope that gives all you second timers some hope!

Good luck Cloggs

And good luck Belindarose!!

1st time awul. traumatising. Terrifiying. Felt totally out of control, exhausted, thought I was going to die near the end, Drs were rushing about and the delivery room was suddenly full of people. I think if the forceps hadn;t worked it would have been a C-section. Started, sort of, a day earlier that due date, on a Monday, they said waters had broken so wouldn;t let me go home ( although I hadn;t had a big rush of water??) . Induced properly on Wednesday, then epidural which didn;t work properly - on one side only. DS1 was born with forceps on Thursday morning. One stitch only though. I couldn;t sit for a week. Couldn't stop crying for days.

2nd time decided not to go anywhere near them until I had to. 1 week late. Started feeling things moving at about 9am on a weds. Coped at home till about 11pm, got DH to take me in when I could not bear it any more and was starting to swear. Found I was already 5/6cm dilated. Got an epidural. Once that had kicked in it was fab. I can actually say I enjoyed the pushing as it was pain free. Totally different experience. I felt safe, calm and in control. He was born at 4am the next morning. I recovered much quicker. No probs sitting. I didn't feel at all traumatised. Tired - but it was great.

Amazing how much detail I can remember 9 and 7 years later.

Good luck belindarose!!!!

And thanks people! Doea give a better idea. Obviously i know everyone is different...but seems like the vast majoroty of 2nd births were much better!!!

definitely easier, faster, better, but might have to do with attitude, experience, confidence too...
first one : terrified, climbing walls in agony at 2cm, on epidural from then on, full of adrenaline, no control, no sensations at all, had to check monitor for contractions..... 12h of labour not progressing, then lots of stress, people, episiotomy.... felt like I had been hit by a bus afterwards. Never got any milk, baby would refuse breast anyway.... very hard work really, a big shock even if I was very happy!
second one : natal hypnotherapy preparation at home, and a 3h labour without pain relief, 3 weeks early. Felt full of beans, confident, completely in control and was picking up DS1 from school 48h after birth, a 45mn walk each way pushing the pram...
Hooray for birth n2!!

First labour = 6 hours
Second = 4 hours
Third - 55 mins
Fourth = ? TBC Nov

Second time round I was much more confident, it went well although I did find this one harder work, I thought I must have been out of shape, never thought it was because he was a chunky 8lb lad . My eldest was almost 2 when he was born and he slotted straight into family life, I was home 5 hours after entering hospital. Third time caught everyone unaware at the speed, I was in hospital anyway as my waters had gone. That was the easiest one yet, she was born 3 weeks after my eldest started school.

DD was a hospital induction at 40+15. Epidural, forceps, 3rd deg tear, 750ml PPH. Manual placenta removal. 8lb 2. Fucking awful.

DS was a hospital birth at 40+2, transferred in from a planned homebirth after 4 hrs pushing. Water at home, spinal in hospital. Forceps. 1500ml PPH. Fucking amazing experience. 11lb 7oz.

1st DD - no worries pregnancy - labour was 4 hours, textbook gas & air, all great. She was 9lbs 8

2nd DD - morning sickness for the whole pregnancy, couldn't even perform the smallest tasks without hurling for 9 months - labour 14 hours, she was the wrong way round, face first, stuck, was put into an ambulance for the nearest large hospital, she was born just inside the doors of said main hospital. Yes, really. She was 9lbs.

Lizbee....wow....bit of an experience then!!!

And flisspaps i thought ds was more than big enough at 7.8oz. .....how in gods name did u manage that?!?!

Im only 2 days late atm....done a test n tiny tiny blue line....am bloody terrified Lready though!!
didnt have as bad an experience as some of you....
went in to be induced at 40+14 i think...had bad spd and previous hip problems so the hardest thing for me was not moving around. Didnt have any pain relief though ( i did have stern words with a nurse telling her to get me N epidural rather than offering me bloody paracetamol....bit was too late. Lol )
are epidurals the way to go? I k.ow its personal prefererence. Im not too bad with pain....just would like birth to be a.calmer experien e i think.
the only bit that im reluctant to ever go throuh again is transition....awful awful overwhelming panic! Bleh!

much easier 2nd time even though baby was 2lbs heavier. Body seemed to know what to do.

Hello, I didn't have spd, but just wanted to say the rest of it for me was the easiest:) 1st DC was 7 hrs and a few stitches, epidural. Recovery 2 weeks. This one, 1.5 hour, no stitches, no drugs, recovery about 10 mins, was up and about. If I had to do it again, I would. Hopefully your SPD will not hinder an easy birth for you. All my friends had easy 2nd births to.

My 2nd labour was lovely, i have real happy memories.
Just the 3rd that fucked me right up!

Another one with a brilliant second labour
DS was induced, 24 hours total, epidural, 90 mins pushing.
DD was spontaneous, 2.5 hours from waters breaking (only one hour of that was contractions), no pain relief and 4 mins of pushing

Please don't be put off by my second DDs birth story.

Although I didn't have any more babies it wouldn't have put me off doing it again if we had wanted more.

I recovered almost immediately, I felt so much better as soon as she was born!
She's in her teens now and has always been a pleasure despite her dramatic introduction to the world.

Good luck.

Ok, DS1 was an inducement after 4 days of water havng broken almost 3 weeks early and no action. Had an amazing time, really enjoyed it - was 4 hours from start to finish (including placenta delivery)

DS2 arrived 2 days before due date. Was in labour for 2 hours, got my water birth at the hospital which was amazing. Shaved a minute off pushing time (5 mins) but dear god it was painful! Labour pains were so much worse second time round but I figured this was down to it being a very short and intense labour.

Problem is everyone is different, no 2 births are the same even with your own kids. Good luck OP, you'll be fine.

My second labour was much quicker. Went from waters breaking at midnight, cx established by about 2am but not unmanageable. DD born just before 6am in time for breakfast.

First labour was fine btw, standard vaginal delivery, but so much longer (overnight) and I was knackered and a bit scared and pushing went on for much longer too.

Second time I knew a bit more what to expect, was prepared for it a bit more...

1st time 3 days , pushing for hour, DS1 distressed, ventouse.

DS2 - waters broke, no pain for 1/2 hour, sudden and very intense contractions, DS2 born within hour of arriving at hospital in triage. Midwife said one more oush and you baby will be here, to which I replied 'your f**king joking' . In my defence I didn't realise I was pushing . Only down side was took me longer to recover from SPD, with DS1 it went soon after birth, with DS2 have had longer term problems