Help? When did my labor actually start? (not a current labor)

[AmyKT]

I've always been a bit unsure of how to calculate my time in labor with my first pregnancy. I began having measurable contractions at 10 am on Wednesday but they were 10 mins apart and I wasn't convinced they were really contractions until I lost my mucus plug at 3 that afternoon. I was able to walk around and go out shopping that day (though I didn't dare drive myself). I had ctx that had me doubling over by 7 pm, though I still had dinner and stayed home. In consultation with my doula and mw, we decided to stay home until 5 am the next morning (Thursday) when we drove to the hospital. Ctx were about 3-4 mins apart then. Once at the hospital I continued to contract but didn't get in a room until 8. MW checked me at 8 am and my water broke from the pressure. I was 2-3 cm dilated. DD was born at 3:51 pm on that day, Thursday. So did I have a 30 hour labor? It certainly didn't seem that bad, considering I was only in a hospital room for 8 hours before she was born.

Thanks for your perspective.

[Plummeting]

Personally, I counted the length of my labor from the time I had the first contraction that I knew meant I was actually in labor, iykwim. Before that I guess would be considered early labor (vs. active labor).

[zoebird]

i also count from the moment that i had the first contractions that i knew were labor contractions. of course, those were the first contractions i felt, period, and then i continued on from there into regular contractions and then the active labor part.

when i talk to others, they assert to me that where they start counting (based on my story) would be sometime in the late evening, with the last two hours being the "hard" labor part. so, some say that i had 2-6 hr labors.

truth is, nothing was painful, and most people talk abuot the stages of labor in relation to the level of pain and closeness of the contractions. i never timed them, so i wouldn't know the closeness and the time-of-day related (how many hours at which duration between contractions), and since i never had any pain, i can't say that either.

but, the last two hours were an ecstatic, uncontrollable experience, which some people say was the only "labor" that i had, and the rest was pre-labor or early labor.

IDK, i count it all such that i say i had exactly 24 hrs from first sense of contractions to birth.