Second babies . . . earlier? Faster?

[onemore]

I know these questions have probably been asked and answered many times over, but I don't see a recent thread.

Do second babies tend to come any earlier?  My first pregnancy went down to the wire for a birth center birth and he was born at 12 days post-dates.  I didn't mind the last week or two of pregnancy, but I DID mind not knowing if I was going to end up bumped to the hospital!

Also--I know labors can vary drastically, but I seem to remember hearing that second labors can be shorter than the first (if there aren't complicating factors like position, etc.)  Anyone have that experience?  My first labor and delivery was pretty darn fast and I honestly wouldn't mind stretching it out a bit!  If this one is going to come faster, I'm going to want to go to the birth center after the first hard contraction! 

[bodhicitta3]

Every pregnancy is different!

My 1st was 2 weeks overdue, labored for 48 hours and I had an induction (not the best birth experience!)

My  2nd came 3 days early.. completely natural labor and childbirth, less than 12 hrs from start to finish!

 

[camprunner]

1st came at 39 weeks 6 days (7 lbs 10oz)  7 hours labor

2nd came at 39 weeks 6 days (7 lbs 6 oz)  8 hours labor

Both were girls!

So mine were pretty much the same.

[Peony]

My second baby was later and faster. 

[alegna]

1st- 41 weeks 2 days   31 hours

2nd- 43 weeks 5 days  17 hours

-Angela

[Jaimee]

I think you'll find most women's pregnancies gestate similar lengths (though certainly not all!). Out of my friends, those that were early by a few weeks the first time were also the second time. Same for those that went postdates.  For myself, my first was 8 days early and my second was 2 days early. 

As for length, I personally haven't talked with anyone who had a slower/longer second labor (though I see above camprunner's 2nd was an hour longer!).  My first was 20 hours, my second was 5.  Even among my friends that went quickly, their second labor was even faster.  Third labors, though I hear are quite the wild card!

There are several threads in the Birth and Beyond forum that talk about this:

Gestation lengths

Similar Labors

Labor Lengths

[EnchantedMamma]

DS/#1: 39 wks (castor oil), 12 hr labor

DD/#2: 41 wks (tried everything since 39 wks), 1.5 hr labor

[HappyMamaBeth]

I'm not sure how helpful this will be since I was induced with my first... so I wouldn't really compare anything to that. 

First: Induced, 21 hours--cervix was closed, hard, and thick when they started the induction (they thought that it would take 2-3 days just to ripen my cervix.. 3-4 days total to get baby here).. 6 lbs 11 oz.  38 weeks 6 days.  I sincerely believe she would have stayed in for a couple more weeks and been born at 41-42 weeks.

Second: Went into labor on my own, about 1 hour 15 minutes.  I had been 3-4 cm dilated at my appointment the day before.  8 lbs 8 oz.  39 weeks 5 days.  So while I can't really compare anything to the first labor, I'm pretty sure that even if the first one had been left to nature, it would have been longer than 1 hour 15 minutes!

Third: Waiting to see! ;)

[FiveLittleMonkeys]

#1 - 42w3d - 6 1/2 hour labor (induced by AROM)

#2 - 39w3d - 4 hour labor - went into labor on my own

#3 - 35w1d - 2 hour labor - went into labor on my own, but had pre-e

#4 - 37w6d - 45 minute labor - went into labor on my own

#5 - 32w1d - 13 hour labor - induced for HELLP

[gothesshalja]

None of my labors were induced. 

#1 came at 40weeks2days and labor was 16 hours from beginning to end

#2 38weeks6days 11 hours 

#3 37weeks 6 days 14 hours 

[Jayray]

I was hoping for faster and sooner for my second.  I ended up going post dates--41 weeks 2 days--and the labor was longer and seemed harder to me (first was a water birth, second was not).

[amaayeh]

I wasn't induced with either of mine...

1 - 40 weeks exactly (went into labor night before, though)  10 hour labor drastically slowed down by epidural

2 - 40 w 6 d      3 1/2 hour labor, water birth

[camprunner]

Originally Posted by Jayray 

I was hoping for faster and sooner for my second.  I ended up going post dates--41 weeks 2 days--and the labor was longer and seemed harder to me (first was a water birth, second was not).

I will point out with mine listed above, I thought my second was longer and harder...and it sort of was.  However, after reading some posts on MDC when I calculated the time of the painful part....the first labor was 4 1/2 hours of pain and the second was 3 1/2 hours of pain.  So it's always helpful to go back and recalculate that sometimes.

[onemore]

Thanks everyone!  I also appreciate the links to the other threads.  I'll check those out.

My biggest concern is having the baby in the car this time if things go faster.  I'm 30 mins from the birth center and have two kiddos to get settled with somebody before we can leave.  (I have LOTS of time to figure this out--I'm not due until December. )  With my youngest son (first pregnancy and delivery) we were only at the birth center 2 hours before he was born.  I went from 6cm and baby practically floating to pushing in an hour and a half, then 20 mins of pushing later, he was out.  There also wasn't much build up.  Contractions went from "hrm, I'm having a lot of braxton hicks today" to  contractions every two minutes. 

I think I'm leaving earlier this time. :)

[mckittre]

My second was later and longer.  First was 10 hrs from water breaking to birth, 4 days after due date.  Second was days of pre-labor followed by maybe 14 hours of more active labor (depending on how you count it), and was 15 days after her due date (she was also 2.5 pounds heavier than the first).  Only improvement was that pushing got much faster (20 min instead of 3.5 hours). 

[Mosaic]

My second was earlier and faster.

DD1: 38w2d, ~24 hours of concentration because she was posterior
DD2: 37w0d, ~4 hours of concentration and I was still in denial for most of that.

And I'm also 1/2 hour from the birth center and nearly had DD in the car. I walked (slooowly) into the birth center complete and had a baby within 15 min. of pushing.

[Vegan Princess]

I have been wondering the same. Lots of my friends have been having baby #2 these days. Almost all were a few days early with #1 and so far every single one of them has gone past their due date with #2 (at least 3 or 4 of them). 

Cindy

[redpajama]

Statistically, second babies come both earlier and faster than first babies.  That said, you can see lots of anecdotal evidence in this thread that that isn't *always* the case.  Really, you'll just have to wait and see what happens this time around.

[Abraisme]

#1 - 27 hours of labor * 3 hours of pushing * 41w+2d

#2 - 27 hours of labor * 15 minutes of pushing * 40w+3d

I did deliver earlier with my second pregnancy and pushing was a lot easier.

[cinderella08]

1st was 26+ hours and resulted in a cesarean

2nd was 8 hours and resulted in a VBAC