What was your third birth like?

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17 weeks with DC3.

Dc1 was an awful 40 hour induction - back to back/ episiotomy / forceps.
Dc2 - amazing water birth over six hours. No pain relief needed. Born at home.

I've heard third births can be bad. Complicated. I've only "heard" it though. I don't know if it's something people just say. Part of me just wants to say fuck it, don't be a hero, why put yourself through it, just go into hospital and ask for an epidural.

How was your third?

Mine was my quickest and easiest. 5 hours from first twinge. Gas n air. No stitches etc. Had had full nights sleep before hand felt totally in control and have really positive memory of it.

The easiest and the only one without intervention!

I think irrationally part of me feels like I'm going to get unlucky and have a really hard time

Reassuring to hear these though - that's how I felt about my second.

Following! I'm 35w with DC3 and have had 2 easy, quick non eventful births. What are the chances of another?

Quick as a flash!!

Nice, easy and quick over here too

DC1 EmCS for feta distress at 5cm
DC2 9 hour VBAC
DC3 2 hours or thereabouts!

Yes and gas and air and no stitches!

The quickest and least painful of the 4!

1st birth - around 32 hours first twinges to birth. Pethidine and gas and air in hospital
2nd birth - around 38 hours first twinges to birth. Pool at home no drugs
3rd birth - around 5 hours first twinges to birth. Pool at home and gas and air and easily the best birth process of the three

Unfortunately my third birth was an emergency c section at 24 + weeks due to placental abruption & didn't end too well. But 4 the birth was very spontaneous. Felt no inkling at 39 wks so asked for sweep. Week later no change. Then woke up early,had breakfast cleaned house & was gonna take child to school & suddenly went into labour. Just about made it to hospital & baby born. A little scary at how fast it was but actually very straight forward birth.

Bit longer than 1 & 2 but they were both 5 hours start to finish so longer but not terrible - maybe 8 hours but with a slow start. Actual properly painful part was probably shorter.

Annoyingly niggly for 24 hours before it got going properly though so I was more tired and grumpy. Def my least favourite of the 3 but not in anyway horrendous.

My third was by far the quickest and easiest. I had a lovely, relaxed home birth with just gas & air and no stitches.

My community midwife told me anecdotally it's fourth births that can be tricky, while second and thirds are the easiest.

Fast!
Dc1 - induction for failure to progress and ended up with forceps.
Dc2 - 4 hours, in hospital but all natural. Tore along the episiotpmy scar.
Dc3 - on off latent labour for about 2 weeks, but then only took ONE HOUR.

But I tore again - worse than previous as it was just too quick

I was told a 3rd birth would be like shelling peas.

And it was. No pain relief needed. Only phoned the midwife two hours before she was born. I thought I had hours and hours to go based on the previous two.....

Easiest of the 3, no stitches only a bit of gas and air as pain relief as it was pretty quick. I did think I was going to need an epidural as I was examined and midwife said I was only 4cm dilated, within a couple of mins I was in the worst pain ever and didn't think I'd be able to cope for hours, less than 10 mins later and dd was born!

dd1 - 37 hour augmentation back to back ventouse nightmare! 4 days early, 9lb12oz
ds - 10 hours from waters breaking, gas&air only, simple delivery. 10 days early, 9lb3oz
dd2 - induced at 36+6 as I was very unwell. Still only took 12 hours start to finish, simple delivery (my waters only went with the last push, right in the face of the trainee obstetrician. Even at that point, I laughed!). 7lb15oz.

I've had 4 births, each faster than the one before, but my third was the easiest and least painful. It was also my only home water birth despite planning for that with the last three. That definitely had something to do with it! But was around 5hrs start to finish, only properly painful for last half an hour ish. Easiest by far :)
It was however the most stoppy starty false labour annoying one. I'd been having false alarms for about two weeks before he finally turned up, it was frustrating!
Good luck! :)

Mine was my fastest, but most painful. I was unlucky though dc3 was undiagnosed breech. I'd imagine if she'd been the right way round it would have been a breeze.

Loving all these!! Oh please, please, please let it be so. Dc2 - I didn't need pain relief and was so relaxed at home in my pool. But man alive, transition was a bitch!! I felt like someone was using my pelvis as an accordion.

My 3rd was the worst of my labours!!
First 2 were 7 hours from very first twinge to birth, probably in hospital about 2 hours each time
3rd was about 18 hours and i was so exhausted by the end which made it seem harder.

My third was my worst (of 4) births. A lot to do with a terrible midwife who refused to listen to me when I said baby was coming soon. He was nearly born on the floor of a little side room. Just managed to get myself in to an examination table in time. No pain relief and he was a big baby. I hemoraged afterwards so had to go through an extremely unpleasant procedure to sort that out.

Birth1,2 and 4 were excellent.

Definitely my easiest. I was on all fours and felt in control and had just some gas and air and no stitches.

This is very tldr!

My third was sort of ridiculous. All my births have been short and so was this one, but it was.... weird. My waters leaked at about 4.30 am and I knew I was about to go into labour, called the home birth team, they said with my history of speedy birth they'd come and see me in an hour or so to see what was up. They arrived about 6.15 am and I'd just started contractions, but had also gone sort of mad and was insisting I'd been wrong and I wasn't in labour at all and these big, painful contractions were just braxton hicks. An hour or so later I got really cross. Nastily cross. A new team had to come in due to shift change (although the original one stayed too) and oh my gosh I took an instant and huge dislike to one of them. From about 7.30 to whenever I started pushing (think it was about 8.10?) I alternated between shouting at people, shouting that I couldn't do it, and just plain howling. I lost the plot entirely. (I was on all fours on the bed, hated midwife was crouched on the floor behind me, i said I needed to poo. She told me in such a patronising tone of voice that no, I needed to push. I told her I knew the difference between a baby in my vagina and poo in my bowels and with the next contraction I did indeed poo. And I turned my head and said with real venom, "I told you it was a fucking poo"). And then when I started pushing I knew it didn't feel right and it was infuriating that no one would listen to me. It fucking hurt. I know births hurt, I've had all three without pain relief, but this really really hurt and given it was a third baby and with ds2 I'd pushed just four minutes, I'd not expected this one to be difficult. As ds3 was born hated midwife exclaimed "oh he's coming out with his hands on his head". Which explained the effort and discomfort!
There was a student at the birth who apparently was shocked by the anger and general madness I displayed. The qualified, very experienced midwife who'd been with her (not the hated one!) did the 5 (?) day check and told me she'd said to her that birth can be raw and anyway it was a third birth. She then told me her third (of four) was a weird one too and very emotionally hard and she'd, like me, behaved totally out of character. Odd.