How long did your first labours last from start to finish?

[Slh122]

Am 34 weeks tomorrow and I think it's finally starting to hit me that sometime in the next 8 weeks there's going to be a baby here!
Lots of people voluntarily offer their birth stories - have heard horror stories like 'I had to be induced and after 3 days of no progress had an emergency c section'.
I know first births tend to be slower than subsequent ones but how long did yours last?

19 hours from 1st contraction to baby. First 12 hours coped at home, only went into hospital at 4cm dilated.

First went to hospital on afternoon of 19th, had baby in very early hours of 22nd.

Mine was about 8 hours from the first twinge to the birth. Active/established labour (From 4cm to 2nd stage) was 2.5 hours.

10pm - waters went
10.30pm - contractions started
00.36am - ds1 born

No tears, no stitches, v v small bit of grazing.

I had it easy!

Why do you want to know this ? You have to do it. It will take as long as it takes and you will get through it.

I can promise you this after a 115 hour first labour! No in not joking it seriously was that long.

Second baby took 3 hours!

Like I said it will be what it will be.

54 hours here too.
Probably not what you want to hear.

Yeah. Not fun. Number 2 was a piece of piss in comparison. Only 18 hours.

No. Forceps. But I was pretty much delirious by then and I do remember thinking I was going to die and praying to hear the word caesarian. There was a huge team in the room by then, and I think a c - section wouldhave been the next option and pdq too.

Thirty-two and three-quarter hours. Sorry. Subsequent labours were 24 hours and 20 hours. I did consider plotting the curve to see how many more babies I would need to have to get down to the 'average' 10-hour labour!

4hrs 50 mins from first twinge. Arrived at hospital at 2pm, baby born at 4.50pm.

No warning that anything would happen that day.

Woke 4am uncomfy. Couldn't get back to sleep. At noon I was convinced it was labour. Hospital at 230pm... Examined at 430pm and was 5cm. Ds born 10pm. Could've been an hour or so earlier if I hadn't been such a madam about the whole pushing malarkey! Pretty text book stuff- cm an hour. That was at 38+2... Currently 40+2 with no3 and would happily take another all day labour if it would just start!!! ( no 2 was less than 2 hours from start to finish )

Cupcake you beat me!

76 hours from start to finish but was a natural birth. But you get through it and long births you get slightly delirious from lack of sleep which helps you not to remember afterwards. (Also i think i slept through the really painful transition stage as had had pethidine by that point which knocked me out). One pro is that I also suffered less than my friends with adjusting to a newborn sleep pattern as when I got back and my baby slept a two hour and a three hour block I felt really refreshed as it was more than the previous 4 days combined. They however suffered with the transition for weeks.

Just remember whatever happens, it will end, you will not have contractions forever, you will get through it.

I've been having cramps/twinges and the odd stronger one ('actual contraction'?) for well over a week now (was due on Sunday) and still nothing! Just waiting for what I've been assured are 'clearly contractions/ like nothing else' to kick-in so I can head into hospital!

Guess it will take as long as it takes, but it's bloody boring waiting for it all to get going properly now!

of all these speedy labours!

72 hours start to finish. Induced due to them thinking dd was a large baby at 34 weeks (she turned out to be 7 lbs 8). Ended in ventouse. Bloody awful (sorry)and ended up with birth trauma...

So with ds (ten years later) I opted for an elective section. Was bliss!

Just under 7 hours from first twinge to holding the baby.

mine was 71 hours, and that's with an induction. The epidural I had some 50 hours in didn't work (at least, not where I needed it). but gas and air was all I needed, really. I second the exhaustion making adjusting to no sleep a bit easier. I slept 3 hrs and felt refreshed.

DH was awake for over 50 hours with me and did not have the benefit of adrenaline that I had. blooming amazing.

all the best for your delivery. it's an amazing experience and don't fear it. good luck

Was being induced - prostin gel put in with an agonisinv VE some time around 1:30am and things kicked off too fast about 30mins later. Went v quickly into active labour but horrible bitchy midwife wouldn't believe me and told me I should go back to sleep as I was just having prostin pains all this while I was doubled over unable to speak and contractions were every 2 mins lasting 1 min each

Finally got a shift change midwife to re-assess me about 3am as the involuntary pushing started and was taken up to delivery suite with hypertonic contractions and already at 8cm. On my notes they record the active labour from that point as 1hr 15mins and second stage as 1hr 50 mins but I was in active labour for longer, probably about 3hrs. DD born about 7am.

I discovered afterwards at birth debrief that bitchy midwife had given me double the normal dose of prostin gel and I suspect had possibly broken my waters doing so

If I ever do it again I would hope it would be reasonably quick (and less painful, the hypertonic contractions and the pressure and pain from the involuntary pushing early on were pretty grim intense). Still wondering if I could ask for an ECLS for any 2nd baby though, I tore badly and had a very long recovery time.

You don't want too quick a labour apparently, it can be too intense (and for very fast and precipitate labours you can go into shock). IMO those lovely natural not induced 2-4 hr labours you hear about with a short second stage sound brilliant wish I could have got me one of them, my sister had two I was very scared by the intensity and the involuntary pushing and was left in a panic on my own in a side room off the ward by horrid midwife. Once I got to the delivery suite it wasn't too bad though, it was the long second stage that really took a toll - some people don't seem to have any pain during the second stage but boy was I not one of them

Waters broke 8pm on the Thursday, erratic but established labour due to posterior presentation from about midnight on Thursday, DS born at 2pm on Saturday. So about 38-40 hours.

Mine was 12 hours from waters going to baby appearing, on his due date, with no warning signs before I went into labour!