Are second births REALLY easier?

[halpert]

Honestly? I know it depends entirely on the person and situation- but it would be nice to hear from parents who didn't necessarily have an easy none of it's easy birthing experience the first time round who found it much easier the second?

1st birth, induction, 6 hours of labour pain, baby stuck, venthouse delivery, couldnt move after, in pain for a year.
2nd birth, induction, 2 hours from first contraction to squeezing him out with two pushes. Up and walking fine the next day, no pain. Lovely experience.
Good luck! :-)

Pushing was definitely easier. You know where you are supposed to "aim" for and how hard you'll need to go. First baby I was clueless, 2nd came in 4 pushes. Varying degrees of intervention for both but that bit was simpler

I'd two vaginal births. First was 73 hours from waters breaking to birth and I had pethidine, gas&air, an epidural, drip to speed things up and an episiotomy. Second was 7 hours from waters breaking to birth. No interventions or drugs.

So IME, yes.

First, over 20 hours, failed epidural, failed ventouse, spinal block, emergency forceps leaving massive bruising inside me and on poor DS's head, episiotomy, 2nd degree tear - all round horror show of vomiting, pain and distress for me and DS.

Second, start to finish in 1.5 hours, did still tear badly but it was amazing!

Good luck to anyone on way to their second.

I'm due my second in may and wasn't worried until I read the stories of people not having enough time for pain relief 😱😂
I was in labour for 17 hours with my first so hopefully the second won't be so quick that I won't have time for an epidural 😬
Congrats and I hope the second goes much smoother for you! 💛

First was pretty much horrendous (even my midwife thought it was terrible): my ob did a sweep, I went into labour 3 days later, then everything stopped, got hormone drip, 12 hours later was moved to hospital after 2 hours of being 10 cm dialated but no baby. In the end I got an epidural (had done everything without any pain relief, though with a LOT of screaming until then), ventouse and episiotomy. DD was 54 cm and 3900 g. Whole thing start to finish was 25 hours.

This time, went into labour naturally, texted midwife at 9.30 after contractions started properly at around 6 am. Went to MLU at around 12 and baby born at 5 exactly. Ok, his shoulder got stuck, but for the rest it was fine. DS came in 2 pushes (well, I was disappointed that he moved back into my fecking pelvis after the first push lol, so I made sure it didn't happen again). He was 55 cm and 4300 g. No pain relief (not possible here in an MLU - I'm not in the UK).

So yes, easier, despite bigger baby.

My second labour was longer than the first, but a million times easier in terms of pain and actually pushing him out.
I’m now up duffed with number 3, and will wait and see how this one pans out...I’ve been told that the third one is the game changer

Oh and second was small tear. Otherwise nothing.

My second labour was 31 hours less than the first and had absolutely no medication or gas or intervention from midwives. Had 1 examination when I went into the hospital (walked in at 9cms dilated which apparently I shouldn't have done) had the baby withing 2 hours. Home the same day. Was amazing compared to the first. Getting the stitched was worse because I hadn't had an epidural but the actual birth itself was exactly the same pain as the first, but then I don't think the epidural had completely sunk in the first time.

Should say I had 35 hours of labour but got the epidural an hour before my first ds was born because there was no aneithsitist there do do it.

Horrific first time birth. I mean, I’ve heard of worse, but it really was terrible. Induced at +15 days, 38 hour intense back to back labour, epidural top up given 15 mins before they decided it was time for me to push (ha! Couldn’t feel a damn thing), baby got badly stuck, forceps and ventouse, absolutely ripped to shreds. And a whopping horrific infection for 5 weeks afterwards.

2nd birth: +10 days but not induced (castor oil....), back to back, horrifically painful, early epidural, slow labour - 28 hours, baby got stuck on the way out, 2nd degree tears. On the plus side, we felt a bit more in control and I was put on antibiotics as soon as I spotted infection.

3rd birth: +10 days, but not induced castor oil again ). Remained calm when cx started. Back to back but refused to get stressed. 1 paracetamol. 15 hours. Gas and air for delivery. Baby got stuck badly. Midwife took control, reached in and helped. Boom. Tiny little tear (she was sucking her thumb as she came out) and antibiotics started immediately.

So yes, they got better. Although better is relative - for me #3 was a brilliant experience, whilst others would class it as awful. The thing that made it so much better was understanding what was going on, not just at a general level but at a specific “my body” one. By that time, I knew I had big babies, that I carry back to back, that they get stuck, etc etc, and so I was able to plan for it and inform the team.

Good luck!

First was 8 hours of contractions at home followed by my waters breaking, more intense contractions for another 4 hours and maybe an hour of pushing.
Second was 2 hours of contractions followed by 15 minutes of pushing with no time for any pain relief!

First birth 12 hours from first cramps, about 30 mins of pushing, born in the pool with gas and air, 2nd degree tear and a graze but he was 9lb 6oz and had one arm above his head so I got off fairly lightly.
2nd birth - 2 weeks early, first day of my Mat leave. 3 hours from first cramps, made it to the MLU and she was born in about 4 pushes 6 minutes after arrival. 2nd degree tear again but no graze and much quicker healing helped by the fact she was only 8lb.
For both of them hypnobirthing techniques helped me stay calm. Especially in the 2nd one when DH was taking DS to nursery and everything ramped up very quickly.

In my experience...yes x 1000 Best of luck op

My second was incomparably easier. She was out 45 minutes after we reached the hospital, and 20 minutes after the first midwife I saw made it clear she didn't think I was in active labour! I didn't even have time for gas and air, I started pushing in the corridor. Delivered her standing up, leaning against the bed. My makeup was still intact - i look surprisingly good, if surprised, in the first photo. First was induced, which was kind of fine but was about 12 hours of active labour and I pushed for quite a long time and had a bit of a pph, tore and needed stitches. Was v weak afterwards, needed a wheelchair to go further than the loo for a couple of days. With the second I hopped off the bed to get something about an hour after having her. I bled for sodding ages after having her though. Possibly because I was looking after a toddler too that time round.

Mine was miles easier ight have been the epidural but was a breeze)

My second was so much better than my first.

But to be fair my first was an induction in a semi emergency (pre-eclampsia heading swiftly towards eclampsia) with a strict “if he’s not out in 12 hours it’s a C-section” ruling.

My second was still an induction - albeit at 40+1 but much less stressful & the pain was handled well with just gas & air.

If it helps, my third was a breeze. Induced at 38 weeks as signs showed I was heading down the pre-eclampsia road again. But, 20 minutes after I started to feel pain I was holding a baby.

@DrWhy that’s crazy- both almost identical to my 3 labours!

2 not 3!

First was hard with forceps, back to back, episiotomy etc

Second was horrific

Will never do it again!

Much quicker and pushing was sooo much easier. It was just different. It helped that throughout I was thinking I've done this before and have DS. In hindsight I wish I had done hypno birthing. You will be fine (easily said after the event I know)

Both my labours were very different from each other and my second one was so quick and straight forward compared to my first.

My first labour (including pre-labour) lasted 3 days as my cervix wouldn't dilate. I started having regular-ish contractions on the Sunday night (at least two every ten minutes) with increasing amounts of pain. I started throwing up because the pain was so bad. Long story short, after days of agony I ended up on a drip to replenish fluids, a drip to accelerate the labour as my cervix wasn't dilating at all and I had an epidural. After 3 days of contractions, my baby became very distressed and they had to use forceps to get her out quickly.

With my second labour my waters broke on their own. I had no contractions. I went to hospital to be checked out and because I wasn't experiencing contractions they wanted to send me home. I was just about to leave when my contractions started and they went from 0-100 very quickly. I was taken to the midwife-led unit where they started running water as I'd hoped for a water birth. I was only in the water for a short time before I gave birth to my ds. Had I gone home when I was supposed to then I would have ended up giving birth in the car as my labour was only 58 minutes long.

So basically, yeah, second labour was much much quicker.

I found my 2nd very zen. I didn't have a bad birth with DS (1st) but I hated the latent stage - I projectile vomited if prone when I had early contractions, which made it more unpleasant than it needed to be. Also his head was 99th centile so I got 2nd deg tear.

With DD I didn't get nausea - perhaps a tiny bit when I was (I estimate) 5 cms dilated; I stayed (ready) at home for ages, then suddenly said "I think we need to go", arrived at the hospital a little uncomfortable, got inspected and found to be 8cm dilated; about 2-3 contractions later I was ready to push (they allowed me some gas and air that time; didn't the first because of the nausea), another 20 min second stage (I loved that bit in both births), and she was out. I got a 'graze'; so fears about tearing again were unfounded.

My DSis had a properly truly awful first birth; second stage was insane - like 12 hours or something - and he eventually came with forceps I think? Her second birth was great. It was just due to a difference in arrangement in utero.

For the record, both mine were about the same end-to-end length; 16 hours or so. I was perhaps half an hour quicker with the second?

Both my births were pretty straightforward (I will never use the term "easy") and my second was quicker (though both 3rd stages were exactly 6 minutes... I wanted them out!) but I felt less in control with the second.

I wanted to go to a particular midwife led unit but they wouldn't open it so ended up at the MLU at the big hospital. It was a LONG walk to the unit, in the rain and dark. The gas and Air was attached to the wall rather than a pull along canister, so I'd want the loo but then flap and panic running back to the g+a when a contraction came. My midwife kept telling me I was miles away and they might send me home so got a bit teary. There was no radio and I demanded my husband use all his data to get me "safe" music because all I could hear was people screaming in other rooms.

All in all it was fine, my dd was fine but everything was just a little bit ... "off".