If you had quick first labour will 2nd be really fast?

[TabithaTwitchet]

Just starting to think about logistics of going into hospial and getting childcare for dd.

My first labour was at quicker end of the spectrum, abou 8 or 9 hours from first contractions to birth.
Am slightly concerned that this one will be really quick as I know subsequent labours temd to be shorter.

Is it likely that once I am sure I am actually in labour we will have time to wait for up to an hour for friend to arrive to look after dd, before setting of for hospital 20 mins away?
Should I be assuming I will go to hospital alone and Dh will follow once dd is all settled? Or am I likely to have plenty of time?

It is more likely yes, but in my case that didn't happen.

DC1 was born within 2 hours of any contractions. So when expecting DC2 the midwives told me to come in as soon as I hd a twinge.

But no, I was waiting for 24 hours in hospital. Contractions were not regular but they wanted me to stay in nyway. Once they were regular it was around 5 hours though :)

It is more likely to be quicker, but there is really no telling how long it will take. Some people go a lot quicker and others not so much.

With DS1 I was 4 hrs from first contraction to birth. DS2 was 1 hr 45 mins. So less than half.

You should have time to get to hospital in your case though, I would have thought.

DD1 was 2hrs 30 mins; DD2 was 1hr 45 mins and born in the car. With hindsight, I wish I'd stayed at home!

My second was five times the length of my first counting from the onset of 'proper' contractions. No particular pattern with the rest. Don't rely on anything!

Have you considered home birth

Tabitha you should be much more aware of the signs this time round. My advice would be to go to the hospital yourself at the first significant signs, before you're too uncomfortable and be prepared to sit it out a bit longer in hospital. Things can move fast in the 80 minutes you're talking about but may not: better to be safe etc.

I am classed as high risk so would be scared to have home birth, even if the drs agreed. It would be a good solution otherwise.
It makes sense that I will be more aware of the signs this time - although having siad that neither my mum or my mil even made it to the hospital the second time round, that's prob partly why I am nervous. It would be sensible to g to hospital sooner rather than later, but don't want to leave friend stuck for hours and hours looking after dd, she has children too so could be awkward for her...

I had my first in 45 minutes, so with the second they induced me and put me on an epidural to slow things down which took 5 hours, now pg with 3rd and they want to induce me again but with no epidural to see how things go !!!

Tabitha - I am in same situation as you (although I'm not pregnant). With my DD I was in active labour for 1hr 45 mins. I got to the hospital half an hour before DD was born and I wasn't going to go then, my friend advised me to.
As yellowstone said, I really think next time round I will recognise the signs more. Looking back I could probably pinpoint the time I went into labour as 4 hours before DD was born. I too can't have a home birth due to being classed as high risk. When my midwife signed me off she was talking to me about my 2nd labour (hadn't even got over the 1st one!) she said I could probably have an elective cs but this isn't something I would want. I would just get myself to the hospital as soon as I notice any signs. I'm sure your friend expects to be looking after your DD for quite somewhile, if she has children of her own I'm sure she realises that labour is no walk in the park and nobody can predict how long their labour will be.