2nd time round, was it alot easier and/or faster???

[madremia09]

i have heard that 2nd time round is normally easier and faster.is this from your opinion true? what about pain wise, is it alot more painful because it is quicker?

also i had an episiotomy with dd1, do you think they would routinely perform one again because ive already had one? i live in spain but this time round will be going to a newer more advanced hospital so hoping they wont do it, (think it was standard practice in older hospitals)
I found the stitching afterwards horrendous, alot worse than the birth itself!

thanks!

Sounds like my first birth. Second birth was much faster (2.5 hours, not 9), but the pain was much more intense. I could tell the difference between first and second stage more, though.

After an episiotomy first time (took an hour to repair and the first midwife having a go at it fainted halfway through!), I only had some slight tearing and three or four stitches the second time. I do think tearing etc depends on the skill of the midwife - second time it looked like she was twisting dd out like a cork! But it worked...

The pain was easier for me to deal with second time around, because the labour was faster, so I wasn't so exhausted. It wasn't exactly fun, but I never felt that I couldn't cope, even if there were times when I didn't want to cope!

I had a massive episiotomy with my first delivery, but a smaller tear with my second. I've heard that they are more common/popular in Spain, so it's worth asking about, as I found that a tear was much less painful than a cut.

my second was quicker and i coped a lot better too tho i thnk that was mainly cos i had a homebirth second time round,
third time even quicker, but hurt considerably more

Ime the pain is about the same (or worse ) but coping with it is so much easier because you can tell a bit better how you are progressing. I certainly found that - till I got to transition of course where all reason goes out of the window and you still think you're going to die or explode! I have had three episiotomys and the stitching is much better if they do it quickly after the birth whilst you've still got some local in from the epi + lots of natural painkillers going on. So if you do need to have another one make sure you ask them to get on with it!

First birth induced - dilated cm an hour with epidural so no pain but 2.5 hour pushing stage!
Second birth - dilated cm an hour but lovely water birth with just gas and air and 20 mins pushing stage. Much better experience.

forgot to add - tearing heals so much faster than an episiotomy chop.

Your body knows what to do as it has already done it, you know that the pain will stop - and can believe it because it did last time and you know what to expect so yes it is easier!

Second labour just as painful but a quarter as long - from 12 hours down to 3.
Episiotomy with the first, no tearing or cutting with the second.
Northernlurker - I didn't feel a thing when the episiotomy was sewn - was that just good luck? Do they not bother with another local anaesthetic if the first has worn off?

I thought episiotomies were standard practice in Spain, and that they practiced quite medical births? (Supine positions, directed pushing etc) I'd be glad to be wrong though. In my experience second labours are significantly shorter and easier than first, sometimes it's a rush to get packs open and gloves on. Women can sometimes be overwhelmed by this intense feeling, especially if they have had an instrumental delivery/epidural/long labour first time around. An upright position may help to avoid the need for an epis. If you do have one, and have an epidural in situ, it would be very bad practice to stop this before your suturing was completed!

First birth - induced, episiotomy, forceps delivery, 12 hours of labour with nearly 2 hours pushing.

Second birth - 3 hours with 5 or 6 pushes, entirely natural and with no pain relief. Second degree tear which I can't feel at all, and is healing nicely.

I was desperate to avoid an episiotomy and excess damage this time, and the midwives really helped to minimise tearing.

Second labour was easier since I knew what was coming, so less worried that things would get 'too' bad to cope with. Similar in time but first labour was induced so difficult to compare.

Only problem was that since I was coping with deep breathing/relaxation techniques and not screaming with every contraction, the midwives didn't think labour was progressing very fast so weren't bothered about checking on progress, until my husband insisted and they realised I was almost fully dilated.
I was in an upright position and baby came out really quick so I did have a 2nd degree tear (but i had one 1st time round too and that was 1/2 hr pushing), but didn't feel it or the stitches.