Long first labour, what was your experience second time round?

[CurryandSnuggle]

For those who had a long first labour (mine was 36 hours), what was your experience second time round?

I know no one can predict how short the next time will be but I am just interested to hear stories as I’ve heard second time should be shorter. I’m wondering how much shorter it has been for people generally in comparison to the first time.

Both of my labours started with my waters breaking. First baby took 47 hours from that point (with induction started at around 36 hours and ending in forceps), second baby took 21 hours of natural labour.

Labour 1 - 24hours from first contraction to delivery. Forceps delivery in theatre with epidural and lots of intervention beforehand

Labour 2 - 4 hours from first contraction to delivery, g&a only, was in active Labour for 20 minutes. Pushed twice

Oh and I had to have my water broken both times.

1st, 34 hours, swore blind there would be no second after that.
2nd, about 8 hours, about as ideal as you could ask for, felt fine an hour after the birth with minimal tearing and easy recovery. It reaffirmed how dreadful the first was! In my case it felt like my body knew exactly what it was doing the second time around, the pushing part lasted only about 15 mins.

@SunnySideUp2020 you might be surprised! We've had a few people offer already for the third in August and they've said just call in an emergency. I'm not saying they'll pick up, mind 😂

1st baby I was in active labour and pushing for 9 hours. It was bloody exhausting.

2nd baby I got to hospital at 9pm, felt fine apart from tightenings but midwife wanted me to go in and be examined. I first felt the urge to push at 11.52pm and DD was born at 11.55.

Stay on your feet as long as you can. The gravity keeps baby lb the right positions.

First was about 4 days 😪
Second - 3 hours from first contraction ! It was very intense but my body just took over and knew what it was doing. Good luck!

38 hours first time, 16 hours second time- so much shorter!

DC1 - 27 hours from the first contraction
DC2 and DC3 - 3.5 hours from the first contraction

My first labour was 32 hours which ended in an emergency c section. My second was 2 and a half hours

First was 26 hours from waters breaking , and as head not engaged , posterior facing baby and lived miles away we had to set off for the hospital
Second baby , baby born an hour after arriving at hospital , contractions started about 2 hrs earlier ( went home when baby was 2 hours old )

Sorry but all three of mine were really long. I was so cross - felt cheated as they are meant to get shorter!

Actual length depends where you count from but first labour had twinges Friday night and DS1 born 7.30 Sunday morning. But there was a lull between Friday night and Saturday midday ish. So probably 32 hours if I was being the most dramatic but more like 20 hours of non stop labour.

DS2 was the fastest. Waters broke at 10.30am and he was born 3am, but contractions were so mild and sporadic throughout the day, only went into hospital at about 6pm so maybe 9h non stop labour.

DS3 was like DS1 all over again. Went into labour overnight but then it stalled until about 4pm the next day. He was born at 7am the following morning so 29h if I was being dramatic or 15h non stop labour.

DS1 & 3 were especially hard because I was so tired - awake for 2 full nights and 2 full days by the time they were born as well as labouring non stop for 15/20 hours. Exhausting. I didn't have that with DS2, he was the politest but then he was a bit dramatic when he came out causing a drama refusing to breathe :) (he's absolutely fine).

Yes, childcare was a worry. We lived a ferry ride away from my parents, and there was a gap in the ferries from around midnight to 4 am. So we debated whether to call them when contractions started but decided not to because I didn't want them hanging around the house while I laboured. 🤦

So we ended up calling some local friends (arrived at same time as ambulance) who came and slept on the sofa until my parents could arrive to tag in.

1st labour 4 days
2nd labour 4.5 hours