AfterBirth Pains with second birth but not first? - Page 2

[2+twins]

Originally Posted by sarahlynne

how long are we talkin here, ladies? I'm due for #2 and wondering how long these horrible pains last. i.e. are they worse the quicker your uterus goes down or is there any correlation between intensity of pain and speed of return to normal?

They lasted about 4 days (maybe 5) for me. I've heard some talk (here) that the faster the labor, the more likely it may be to have intense contractions (I don't think this is scientifically proven or anything, but it certainly was true for me).

[dnr3301]

I had the same experience as I've seen here: nothing with #1, awful with #2. My midwife told me they get worse with each baby, in part because the uterus has to work harder to get back to normal each time. Makes sense to me. I wish I had taken something for it, I will next time. I figure it doesn't interfere with the baby, so it's not that big a deal to use it. I think it makes complete sense to take tylonol or something similar, even if you had a completely natural birth, doesn't seem inconsistant to me.

[TeaBag]

Originally Posted by love_homebirthing

They lasted about 4 days (maybe 5) for me. I've heard some talk (here) that the faster the labor, the more likely it may be to have intense contractions (I don't think this is scientifically proven or anything, but it certainly was true for me).

That may be it for me as well. With ds (#1) it was a veyr long labor. Both the girls were very short, like 3.5 hours total. And after #3, I did end up asking my m/w to grab me some tylenol on her way to visit, they were so intense. I don't remember how long they lasted with #2 and with #3 they were still there about 4-6 days later, but *much* improved. I think I only needed the tylenol for day 1 and 2.

[MrsMoe]

I didn't have any severe afterpains pains with my frist. I had them and all (with breastfeeding,) but nothing that was a big deal. And delivering my placenta was painless.

[AutumnMama]

I really didn't have any afterpains with my first, but my second were really bad.
I felt like I was in labor again :

I did have problems with the placenta after DS (homebirth), and they gave me a shot of pitocin...a day or so later I passed some bits of placenta I had retained (sorry TMI!), and they settled down pretty quickly after that; so I'm really hoping that those factors made it worse than it should have been

I did end up having my Midwife call in a prescription painkiller for me, and that heating pad was !


ETA: My labor with DS was 3 1/2 hours from the first labor contraction, not sure if that had anything to do with it, but there you go

[momileigh]

My labors have both been about 6 hours from the time I felt like things were "getting serious" to birth. Maybe that's why my afterpains were horrid on the second birth. Sure scares me about having any more.

The pains lasted about 4-5 days. I was doped up on as much ibuprofen AND extra-strength tylenol as allowed the whole time, and I don't think they touched the pain. I even took a "secret" drug my mw gave me, which helped a little bit right away... the condition she had for giving me the drug was that she wouldn't tell me what it was. I hurt so bad I took it without a second thought. (Obviously I felt she wouldn't give me anything dangerous for me or the baby!)

The good news (and I really don't WANT to scare people expecting their second child, but maybe if you read this then you'll expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised!) is that they didn't come as OFTEN as labor contractions. So it wasn't exactly like being in labor for an extra week. They came every time I nursed (and I had to put my baby down when I felt them coming on because I couldn't hold her safely and deal with the pain) and a couple times per hour otherwise. And I don't think they bothered me at night when I was sleeping. At least I was able to nurse for a few minutes each time before they came, because otherwise I don't know how I would have been able to feed her!

At my birth center a lot of moms have their 8th or 9th child. (Partially because there are a lot of orthodox Jewish moms who use the birth center.) I've heard that by that time, the afterbirth pains can be so bad that moms are vomiting and shaking uncontrollably. I hope that's the exception, not the rule.