Question for those that have had a waterbirth

[ssalulu]

I was just wondering how long you labored in the water before you delivered the baby? I'm sure there are going to be a wide range of answers, but I'm just curious!

[Sharlla]

My first 1.5 hours of labor I was out shopping and cleaning the house since the pain hadn't kicked in yet. after that I sat on the athletic ball which really helped the contractions. When they were about 2 minutes apart DH and I got into the water and was in there for about an hour or so until I pushed her out. The whole labor for first contraction to birth was 3 hours 40 minutes.

[kittywitty]

8 hour back labor with #4...I was in the water a couple hours on and off. I'd say about 45 minutes straight right before she came out.

[kavamamakava]

Well, I didn't get into the water until transition with my 2nd. I think I was in the water for about 45 minutes total. I used a hard sided Rubbermaid trough and liked the hardness of it for pushing against to get through the surges. I didn't push her out, she just came out with the contractions and it took about 8 minutes.
With my 3rd, I spent a good 3 hours in the water. My midwife actually added hot water to it for me at some point so I know it was a while. I had one of those inflatable kiddie pools and it was so nice to float and put my feet at one end and sort of rock and push myself gently through each contraction. But when I started feeling a little pushy, I couldn't figure out how to make pushes work at all. So I got out and took a 20 minute nap. When I woke up my baby actually repositioned herself by doing this crazy head butting my cervix maneuver. And then I suddenly felt the urge to push and never had a chance to get back in the water. I got to work and pushed her right out.
I found out later that her cord had prolapsed when she moved herself around but I guess she came out fast enough so my midwife didn't think it needed to be mentioned. I wasn't able to push properly when I was in the water because her head wasn't presenting properly.

[dannic]

My first birth I was in the water for about 5 hrs.
My third birth was a total of 4.5 hrs and I was in the water for about 2 hrs. Delivered in the water. Loved my fishy pool. SO much better than the whirlpool tub.

[jelenzi]

Home water birth

Hi there,
It was my first birth, which came on my daughter's exact due date this past Feb. I was fully effaced and 2 cm dilated the day before. My contractions began at 2 am and lasted until 6 am. I was in transition for about 10 minutes. Pushing then lasted until 9am - mostly because I didn't rush it. I just let myself move slowly through that part, which was amazing. Good luck! You can do it!

[JorgieGirl]

I had a fast labour and was already 10cm before hopping in. I pushed for an hour before DD was born in the tub. It was great! I can't wait to do it again.

[Belle]

My labor was a little less than four hours for my home water birth. If my dh had believed me that I was in labor when I told him that I was in transition then I'd have gotten in sooner. I got in when I was already pushing.

[cocoanib]

Just to give you another take on things. I was in the water 3 different times during my 31 hr labor. Probably a couple of hours each. About 10 minutes after I got out the last time was when I gave birth. It wound up not being in the water. By that time, I didn't want to move and decided I was done with the water.

[camprunner]

about 3-4 hours out of my 8 hour labor was in water.

[Happiestever]

I think I spent 2 hours in the pool - 12 hour labor. In and out, in and out, repeat. Until the end when I stayed in for about 20 minutes to deliver.

[HeatherB]

With my first home birth, I labored in the water, on and off over a couple of days. I ended up getting the urge to push after getting out to pee (fwiw, urine is sterile so don't get out!), and never got back in. But I was very glad to be in it as much as I was.

Second home birth, I didn't get in until I couldn't come up with anything else to do. I was actually about to hit transition and didn't know or expect it. I had been laboring with substantial breaks and figured it would be several hours yet when I got to the point of just being kind of fed up. Got in the water, felt GREAT! For a few minutes. Transition hit hard, I was probably in the water no more than 30 minutes before he was born. We have pictures we can look at timestamps for as evidence, but none of us were paying too much attention to the time! It was very weird, going from "dysfunctional" labor to "precipitous" labor, but being in the pool was EXACTLY what I needed!

[IAMommy]

I was in the pool for maybe two hours? I'm not sure, but I got in after transition and I pushed for about 45 minutes. I took a quick dip in the tub earlier in labor too, but got out because I wanted to walk.

[*MamaJen*]

I think three hours? Active labor started around 7 p.m., I think I got into the tub at 9 when it was really picking up, and I had an hour of easy pushing starting at about 11. The baby was born right after midnight.

[Beccasteve03]

I was in the pool for just a little over an hour. My midwives wanted me to stay out as long as I could so I think I was 10cm when they finally let me jump in. So most of my time in the pool was pushing, about an hour. I wanted in a lot earlier though!

[Funny Face]

I was in the tub for about 2 hours I think.

[me&3]

I had a 12 hour labor with dd, and got in the pool about three hours before she was born. Once in, I didn't come out until dd was born - - the midwife had me come out of the water to birth the placenta, though.

[Pyrodjm]

I went is during trasition and DD was born about an hour later.

[laughingfox]

I was probably in the pool for about 20ish hours for my waterbirth with DD1.
(It was an AquaDoula, with a heater.)

[lisalulu]

I was in and out for about 4 hours and my labor was 8hrs total.