Moms of four or more....

[nadia105]

How did your 4th labors/births compare to your earlier ones? My first three have all been very different births and I have no idea what to expect this time around.

DD was 13 hours of back labor (posterior), painful but all natural
DS1 was 5 hours, virtually no pain, waterbirth
DS2 was 14 hours of back and front pain that nothing alleviated, nuchal hand was found once he came out. All natural, but now I totally understand why people ask for drugs!

So, I really thought I had the easy labor thing figured out after ds1, but ds2 kicked my butt totally. I'm trying to prepare for this birth by getting over how hard and, oddly, disappointing that birth was for me.

[AnneCordelia]

Sub'ing.

I'm due to give birth to #4 any day and love hearing about this too.

So far #1 was 17 hour labour with a large posterior baby (16" head)
#2 was a fast labour at less than 3 hours.
#3 was a fast labour at less than 6 hours but had PROM for a good 12 hours before labour set in.
I'm hoping #4 takes after #2.

[mommathea]

0

Edited by mommathea - 5/11/11 at 1:13pm

[kittywitty]

1. 25 hours natural labor on her due date. 3 hours of this was pushing.
2. induced 8 hour labor.
3. induced ~5-6? hour labor
4. natural labor (UC). Posterior and 8 hours. Only 20 minutes pushing or so.

[homemademom]

#4 was fairly short, but intense once it got going. It was also the only time I went "overdue."

[amyjeans]

baby #1 hospital 13 hr labor, vaginally but with drugs 8.5lb
#2 UC 5 hr labor 10lb
#3 UC 4 hr labor 11lb
#4 UC 2 hr labor 8 lb
this next one, I could prefer at least 4 hours honestly. 2 hrs was way too fast!

[happyblessedmama]

#1 was 12 hr induction
#2 was 18 hrs from water breaking, but only 2 hrs of labor
#3 was 2.5 hrs from first ctx to delivery
#4 was 7 hrs from water breaking. Head asynclitic, had manual adjustment.
#5 was 3 hrs of pitocin
#6 was 6 hrs, then a c-section (medically necessary)

[nadia105]

Thanks for all the replies mamas!

Any others have info to share? It's a lot harder to find on 4th+ births, so i'd love to hear form experienced mamas.

[Kellyh_01]

1st - spontaneous labor at 41 weeks, 4 hour active labor, one dose of Stadol, pushed a couple times, I thought it was easy. 7#13

2nd - induced with cervidil at 41+5, no pain meds, 4 hours active labor, just a couple pushes again, not bad. 8# 14 Very quick recovery afterwards.

3rd - Twin A - dilated to 5cm at 38 weeks, early labor but definitely not active, had AROM then baby A 1.5 hours later with no pushing at all. 7#2
Twin B - breech, had external version after baby A was born, came vaginally with mighty vac assist 1.5 hours after baby A. 7#9

4th - My easiest - induced with gel then pitocin at 40 +5. Only 20 minutes active labor then precipitious birth - no pushing, she just slid out onto the bed - the nurse didn't even have time to put on gloves and catch. 9#5

5th - longer and harder than all previous births put together. Induced with gel then pitocin at 40 +2. Posterior through most of labor. Started induction at 8am, got epidural at around 4-5 pm, pushed for a good solid hour and delivered him around 10:30pm. 9#2

[Vespertina]

#1 - 3 hours -- I was pitocin induced at 6.5 cm because AROM 'failed' to 'work' in the specified time. Contractions started 30 minutes later at 7.5 cm. I got a late epidural because I was feeling a whole lot of uncomfortable pressure but wasn't complete so I wasn't allowed the push. Nurse said the epidural would dull the pressure I was feeling. I was 9 cm when I gave in and was complete shortly after it was placed. I was complete 2 hours 15 minutes after active labor started. We allowed her to descend on her own for about 45 minutes. I only pused 3-4 times inside of 2-3 minutes. She was 9 lbs. It was a very easy labor and birth. Very easy.

#2 - 32 minutes from when contractions hit and didn't let up. I started labor in transition just like with dd1. Completely unmedicated. Contractions felt like waves of pressure or tightening. They were intense, but not painful. The ROF, however, heart like a b*tch. Very intense. Classic case of maternal-fetal ejection reflex. 2-3 small pushes in less than 30 seconds and she was out. She weighed 8 lbs., 9 oz.

#3 - It was a medicated birth. Epidural was placed before I had my first vaginal exam because the OB on call didn't want to cause me undue pain on top of the tremendous emotional pain I was feeling. I didn't care. As much as I wanted to go unmedicated (we were planning a homebirth), I was just so numb that I no longer cared. I was induced with pitocin. Active labor started at 5 cm. It was 1 hour 40 minutes with no pushing. He slid out, but he was my peanut at 5 lbs., 4 oz (passed away at 34 weeks). It took some time for contractions/uterus to work efficiently because I had a significant case of polyhydramnios (excessive amnio fluid) so we had to wait for my uterus to decompress after AROM for things to get going.

#4 - I didn't have a 'labor.' He was born, yes, but I did not 'labor.' I never got into a labor pattern or had a pattern to my contractions. I had prodromal labor-BH type contractions off and on for just over a week. The day of I only had onesies and twosies (I recall having no more than five at a time) here and there and then BAM! five contractions inside of about a minute and he's born. One minute I'm wondering when labor will start and I'm getting impatient and the next I'm having fierce contractions with immense pressure and he's born. My midwife had never seen anything like it. We were all shocked. I was in such a state of denial and shock for weeks. My uterus basically spit him out. He was 9lbs and 22" so no peanut. It took a while to process. His birth was also a case of maternal-fetal ejection reflex, but without the labor.

ETA:

I was between 5-7/8 cm when labor started with all of them.