Birthing 2nd time around...

[Dalesgirl]

Baby number 2 is due in 4 weeks and I am starting to think of how to approach the whole process, more laid back and confident this time. 1st birth 3.5 yrs ago, was relatively short (15.5hrs) but ended in an epidural, episiotomy and ventouse situation. I didn't much like the gas/air (too many memories of the dentist) and never got to try pool, birthing ball or even giving birth in a different position. Legs akimbo for me....!! So the question is, what worked for you 2nd time around ? What did you do differently....

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My first birth was similar to yours in that I had epidural, episiotomy and ventouse.

2nd time round it was VERY quick, with no time for anything. Got to hospital not even sure I was in labour then gave birth 40 mins later! Severe pain came only suddenly when waters broke and ds2 was out in one push!

3rd time, labour was shorter again but a lot more controlled this time - textbook as the midwife put it. I used the birthing ball to sit on and cannot recommend it highly enough. Sit on it next to the bed and when contractions get stronger, pull yourself backwards and forwards using the end of the bed - fantastic!

Hi Dalesgirl. i had DD2 three weeks ago and was absolutely terrified of the birth as DD1 had caused me so much agony. its worse when you know EXACTLY what it will be like. With DD1 i was induced and went from nothing to very painful contractions which came constantly, with no respite. After a few hours of this (and chucking up on gas and air) i was screaming for an epidural, or a gun to be shot with, and I didn;t really care which . DD1 was born normally but took two hours of pushing. i was exhausted, and it took me a good three weeks to recover/pee without crying/walk properly afterwards.

My only plan with second pregnancy was to get through the labour as best as possible, preferably with help of a full spinal block! It turned out that i had nothing to worry about with DD2. Went into spontaneous labour and it really did not hurt even a quarter as much. Was only in labour for abour 4 hours max, only about half an hour of which actually hurt and the second stage took 10 minutes. Was home six hours later and took both girls to a party the day after, feeling top of the world! With hindsight, i wish i had attempted a chilled water birth, or even delivered at home, but hindsight is always 20/20 isn't it? my advice is plan for the birth of your dreams, you can always change tack if you need to. Good luck!!!

Hi there

My first birth was very traumatic and took me a long time to recover from. I made different decisions second time (refused to be continuously monitored - and therefore reduced mobility). In fact I only had a very short birth plan which was a list of 2 or 3 things that I definately didn't want! -and didn't have. I stuck my ground because knew the emotional/physical affect these things had after the birth last time.

My 2nd birth was longer but I was able to cope better and look back on it as a positive experience. My 3rd was good too - and am planning a homebirth for no.4 so I can have even more control over what I do/where I do it! (unless something goes horribly wrong along the line somewhere )

So my advice would be to write down the things that are really important to you, discuss with birth partner so you both agree and be as assertive as possible to get what you want - but like others say be prepared to be flexible because you never know what will be thrown at you!

Good luck!

Another positive 2nd birth experience here. After inducement, epidural, forceps & infected stitches with dd, I had the birth of my dreams 12 weeks ago with ds. I had him at home in water exactly as planned and was so relaxed about the whole thing I didn't call the midwife til very late and she arrived 10 mins before ds was born! It helped that I'd done a hypnobirthing course (which I would strongly recommend to people who have time) but really that just taught me to relax. I'm not saying it didn't hurt but I never felt I couldn't cope with the pain. No stitches and I felt a million percent better in the days&weeks afterwards than I had with dd. If I'd listened to the Drs I wouldn't have had my homebirth (being deemed "high risk" just because of having had forceps first time), so I'm glad I had faith in my own instincts.

Good luck Dalesgirl!

had quick, no-tearing labour the first time and a bit of gas - found it soo scary though. 2nd time was more relaxed and no gas and air. was much more in control.

My 2nd baby due in October. 1st birth was good, 8 hrs in total used tens machine and gas and air. only problem was had to have MANUAL PLACENTA REMOVAL terrible terrible after such a problem free labour. What do you think are the chances of the same thing happening this time around.

x

Whiteriver - was there any reason for the retained placenta? If no physiological reason then I think you could have a slightly higher risk but hopefully will be OK. A friend of mine had this first time but has since had 2 children and been fine. HTH.

hello starrynight
They didn't give me any reason at the time and to be honest I never asked. I was just so glad for the pushing to be over and done with. I did have the hormone injection after the 2nd stage of labour to encourage the placenta to come away but obviously it didn't work.

I'm feeling positive for this second birth, and I found yoga and positive thinking really helped with my first.

x