What was your SECOND birth like?

[Chellxx]

With my first I woke knowing I was in labour, had bloody show then contractions came regular and strong. I had 2 paracetamol at 11 am he wa born at 3.46pm had to have episiotomy and kiwi delivery. He was 9lb 2oz

DD I thought I was having pains at 15:30 so had a lie down, by 4:30 called dh home and the baby sitter. Walked over to the hospital at 17:15 was examined at 17:32 was 5cm waters broke and I jumped to 7 and needed to push the midwife told me to go with it and she was born at 17:39 after a 7 minute established labour I had no pain relief at all

 

[Kel127]

2nd was so much easier!

With my first I was induced at 41 weeks. Labor was over 24 hours long with
1 hour of pushing. I had an epidural and had to have an episiotomy.

With my second I went into labor naturally at 40+5. Labor was 6 hours from water breaking to birth with only 3 minutes of pushing. No drugs, and no cutting or tearing.

 

[DrakensMom]

WOW reading all these stories makes me so much more confident!
I have been so nervous!

 

[Mrs M]

Well just to let you all know. I gave birth to my second daughter on Friday night. My first dd from my waters breaking to her arriving was 8 hours. This time. I had a show on the morning but no pains. At approx 8.30pm my waters broke and started contracting straight away. She was born at 10.22pm. So from start to finish about 2 hours. x

 

[AP]

Almost everything was the same, timing of labour/birth.

Only difference was gestation (27+4 and 40+2) and i was drug free with my 40+2 (well...gave up on gas+air hours before)

 

[nikkchikk]

After reading the responses here, it's so obvious that fear makes SUCH a difference in women's birth experiences. I was so nervous for my daughters arrival, but thinking back, most of my fear was due to the unknown. I can't wait for the next time around

 

[Betheney]

i didn't have an ounce of fear in me the first time around, i thought i'd be fine and by body would know what to do.

Labour was the most horrendous, painful, traumatic experience of my life and it was pretty much a straight forward uncomplicated labour, so it's not like i have back-to-back or anything to blame it on. Labour was just that horrible. Waters broke contractions started and 18.5 hours later she was born, Pushing was only 20 minutes. It was awful awful awful!!! the pain was so bad that i thought that i couldn't last even 1 more contraction, i thought my body would surely go into shock and i would pass out from what i was experiencing because there was no way my body or mind would allow me to stay concious for even another minute of that pain (unfortunately it did) I was angry at myself for not even considering the amount of pain i would be in, it was a total mind blowing shock, i wished i'd prepared myself for pain. But i didn't prepare myself for pain at all (or very minimally). I was very ignorant of the pain of labour.

So even if you go into labour without an ounce of worry or fear doesn't guarantee you'll love labour, or even have a less painful easier labour.

I'm stalking this thread because i need the reassurance so badly that the 2nd time wont be as awful as the first.

 

[Sommerfugl]

With my first, my waters broke at 2am on my due date, regular contractions started straight away and she was born 12 hours later.

With this one, I had a couple of mornings of 'false labour' before the real thing(at 42+2). But then I had a lovely quick 3 hour total labour, my contractions went from intense but not unbearable, to baby born before the midwives arrived, in the space of about an hour.

 

[muddles]

First labour- 3h 49m at 39+3. Labour started at 3am, waters broke on arrival at hospital as we walked across the car park. Started to feel my body pushing just after we arrived and when I was examined I was found to be fully dilated and my son was born 35mins later. I had a bad 2nd degree tear. Baby weighed 7lb 12oz.

Second labour- 4h 32m 40+3. Labour started late afternoon, got onto MLU and immediately felt so much pressure (had been on consultant led unit for 2 hours but wasn't examined as apparently i didnt look like i was in that much pain so wasnt offered pain relief either!) so was told to remove my skirt so the midwife could have a look. She immediately told the student to put on some gloves as she could see my baby's head and I was told to go with my body and breathe my baby out and my daughter was born in her waters 14mins later! I needed a few stitches but not many. Baby weighed 9lb 11oz!!!

 

[amerikiwi]

First (girl): went into labour naturally at 40+1. 12-18 hours labour (depending on if you count latent) with 2 long hours of pushing. Borderline 2/3 degree tear. Gas and air.

Second (boy): went into labour naturally at 40+6. Less than 45 minutes from first twinge to delivery. Delivered by MIL and DH at home on bathroom floor as we couldn't get to hospital in time and ambulance arrived 10 minutes later. No pushing at all. No drugs, no stitches!! Much more intense but over a much shorter time and recovery was pretty much instantaneous.

 

[Amygdala]

Thought I'd bump this to see if we can get some more second birth stories. Keep them coming ladies, they really help!

 

[NaturalMomma]

I loved my second birth.

With ds1 I had an epidural birth in the hospital. I hated it. The epidural made me so disconnected from everything, and being in the hospital wasn't too fun either. I had to birth on their terms which goes against normal birthing. Recovery was horrible.

With ds2 I had him at home, unmedicated. I got to walk around my town in labor to help move things along, had my family with me, sat in a birth pool for awhile, and gave birth standing up in my living room. I was the first to hold him instead of the last (like with my ds1), I was so present and aware during birth, I felt everything which didn't hurt at all, had really great hormone rush when he was born that made me feel warm and fuzzy. Got to go to my own bed when the placenta was out and just lay there with my baby.

 

[Bay]

I much prefer my second birth because it was faster, and that i was better prepared and knew what to expect.

With my first it was about 24 hours with an hour of pushing. I had been leaking amniotic fluid at week 36 but didn't go into labour until a week later. I laboured mostly at home and was already 9.5cm by the time i went to hospital (lots of melt downs at home, i had diarrhea, vomitting and shaking). I didn't think i was in active labour as i kept waiting for my contractions to be closer than 10mins and more regular, of course meither of these things happened ... Even the midwife who checked me was skeptical. But she was wrong. I had lots of first degree tears and required stitching.

With my second, i was at 2cm @ 5am and somewhere between 9-10am i was fully dilated and baby was born in 3 pushes. I had a 1cm tear but didn't need stitching. I only had one meltdown the whole time, even though baby was back to back. So even though this labour was more painful, i think i coped much better because it disn't take as long and that i was better mentally prepared with what was to come. Having gas and air as a pain relief was also a great help. We were at 38 weeks gestation.

One other thing that i find really made a difference this time was how much freedom i was afforded while in hospital. this time i was at a different hospital, and wasn't hooked up to the monitoring machine the whole time, so i was able to walk around. The best part was being given the choice to choose the birthing position i wanted. With my first i was forced to birth on my back with my legs in stirrups, whereas with my second i chose to birth squatting on the bed.

 

[MummyToAmberx]

Second needed bit help starting first i went on my own at 40+3 (Giving birth 40+4)

Second sweep at 41 she arrived 41+2

Second 6hr (first 27hr) Only G&A second (+ pethidine with first)

Overall quicker labour but more painful as i had SPD.

 

[kerrie24]

My 2nd labour was half the time and much easier,both were overdue.

 

[Meredith2010]

First baby:
From first contraction to baby delivered - 10 hours
Active labour (from 4cm to baby delivered) - 1hr 55 minutes
Pushing stage - 9 minutes
1 shot of pethadine
Lots of tearing!

Second baby:
From first contraction to baby delivered - 10 hours
Active labour (from 4cm to baby delivered) - 9 minutes
Pushing stage - 2 minutes
No pain relief
Again, lots of tearing!

My labours were really similar - both times I had really strong, frequent contractions for hours but didn't dilate at all, and then everything goes mental and it all happens really quickly. I was expecting the second one to be quicker and it really was - although the initial, latent phase of labour was about the same, my active labour was insanely quick and DD was born less than 10 minutes after I'd been examined and only 2cm!

 

[GypsyDancer]

I heard that the after pains are much stronger in subsequent births. Did anybody have this or did they feel the same?

Yes i'm sorry to say that was one aspect which was actually worse second time around- much stronger after pains, although they started much sooner (almost immediately after delivery) and although very intense, were gone within a couple of days, whereas with my first i didn't even have any after pains until after we were discharged home (when he was 5 days old) and i wondered what the hell was happening and thought perhaps i was having another baby! they didn't stick around as long second time so that's something at least

I commented to the midwives at my second birth that i was really not loving how strong the after pains were and they told me that for most women they get worse with each subsequent child and one of the midwives commented that she had known women who were on their 6th, 7th, 8th children etc who had quick and easy drug-free labour and births but then needed pethidine to cope with the afterpains

That fact right there was enough to put me off having any more

I agree!! I coped through my whole labour with no pain relief..was offered g&a when pushing but hated it so only had a few puffs..
But the after pains! My god i was sucking on that gas an air like anything!! I was off my face by the end of it!
Still..i was glad to have it that way round as everytime i opened my eyes i knew id done it and my little boy was right there next to me..safe and snug!

 

[anita665]

My second birth was great. Labour started out of nowhere at 40+1. The contractions were strong and regular from the start and within 1/2 hour I had that pressure feeling with each of them so I knew I was close. It was too quick to make it to the hospital and that did freak me out as I hadn't even thought about a home birth. Paramedics got there just in time. I had the urge to push for some time but was resisting for some unknown reason... fear I guess but once they got there I pushed and he was out. They recorded the pushing stage as under 1 min.

He was 8lb 7 so the same size as his brother but no tears. Labour was 1 hour 40 mins.

 

[Betheney]

My first labour i hated more than life itself i found it overwhelmingly painful. The pain was more horrific than anything i imagined. I was so traumatized by labour. The whole time i thought i was going to pass out from pain or go into shock. It was just mind blowingly awful

1st labour- Waters broke at 39+3 at 6am contractions started straight away but got progressively worse throughout the day, I delivered 18 hours past the waters breaking after 20mins of pushing.

2nd labour - Given cervadil at 33+4 at 5pm due to preeclampsia. Had a few cramps, called my midwife at 2:30am because i had blood on the toilet paper and was feeling contractions, she monitored me for 1 hour then called the doctor to do a check. Doctor announced to the shock of everyone at 3:36 that i was 9cm. After 1 minute of pushing Remi was born at 3:45.

I loved my second labour and not just because it was quicker. I believe when it comes to labour (for me anyway) that preparation is key. During my second labour rather than having a complete meltdown over the horrific pain i used a lot of various pain coping techniques to deal with the pain, i worked my butt off and was so proud that by the time i lost control and was having the awful thoughts that i had in the last 5 hours of my first labour, i actually only had 15mins left of this labour.

Here is my birth story for anyone who is interested. https://babyandbump.momtastic.com/b...duction-33-5-due-preeclampsia-long-story.html

 

[Bay]

^^ sounds like an amazing birth betheney. congratulations.