FAST 1St Delivery - Worried About 2Nd!

Each delivery is different. However, at the first sign of a contraction, just head for the
hospital. Better to be safe than sorry. Good luck.

My first (boy) I arrived at the hospital and i was 1 cm I had him 3 1/2 hours later. No drugs.
My second (boy) I asked for the epideral right away (they remember i go fast and there wasn't time for it last time. I had him 4 hours later. I t would have been 3 1/2 hours but I had the epidural so they said whenever I was ready to push.
My third (girl) I had group b strep I was in labor 8 hours and I needed pitocin and epidural.
Hope that helped

Updated

My first (boy) I arrived at the hospital and i was 1 cm I had him 3 1/2 hours later. No drugs.
My second (boy) I asked for the epideral right away (they remember i go fast and there wasn't time for it last time. I had him 4 hours later. I t would have been 3 1/2 hours but I had the epidural so they said whenever I was ready to push.
My third (girl) I had group b strep I was in labor 8 hours and I needed pitocin and epidural.
Hope that helped

All 4 of mine were fast by some standards---but got faster as we got to number 3. With number 3 we were at the hospital ,nurse checks me and says I need to go get the Dr.....she walks in a few minutes later and checks again and my husband and her looks at each other, I could tell my husbands face was saying "you do something--Im not--hes not good with hurt people". She ends up delivering baby after one push---that I could not control.

So just watch it and be ready-if you feel something dont wait around go straight to hospital the worst that could happen is they send you home!

All 3 of my kids were fast! At the hospital at 6am, had baby by noon!! My 1st and 2nd kids were almost exactly the same...my 3rd was even quicker! Even though my Doc and the hospital nurses new I was a "fast deliverer" and were running around like mad to get everything ready my Doc almost missed it! My doc said I almost broke the hospital record. We were checked in at 6:30am and she was here at 11:12am!

I say prepare yourself for the fact that it might be just as quick as your first...and don't hold your tongue when you are having any sensations-speak up, so everything can be ready....I remember my mom telling both my sister and I how fast her labor was with both of us and being even more nervous....then with my 1st I kept telling my nurse that I felt that it was time and she kept treating me like a silly person who didn't know what I was talking about...finally both myself and my sister were like "Seriously! Get in gear. Were having a baby"!! After it was over my nurse felt so terrible and apologized profusely:)-- it wasn't that big of a deal once they finally checked me and realized I was telling the truth...that's the best part of having fast labor...before you know it, its over!

Good luck to you and may you have a fast and healthy labor!

Was induced with my daughter at 39 weeks and it took 7 hours from the time I got the epidural and they broke the bag.

With my second, from start of contractions to him arriving took 2 hours and 18 minutes! I would be worried that a third would take less time too.

I'd just watch it very closely and if you are dilated or anything, talk to your doctor about it.

My first was probably about 24 hrs but the intensity was so short lived that I feel like it was a very quick labor. Went to dr. monday morning at 10 and told I was 7 cm and I didn't even know it. Drove straight to hospital and was given Pitocin (no matter what do no take pitocin!!) around 2:30 and then the contractions hit hard. Son was born at 5:19 p.m. so it was pretty easy.

Second was short but different. Went into active labor around 4:00 p.m. Stayed home and did breathing and relaxing stuff and managed to stay out of intense pain then went to the hospital around 10:00 p.m. They said I was only 4 cm and they were going to send me home but as I walked from one room to the other (down the other end of a huge hall) they checked me again and I was 8. That was like only a window of like 10 min! At 12:12 my second son was born so that gave us a total of 2 hrs in the hospital before delivery. It went by so much faster than I thought.

Both I did naturally and without drugs (except pitocin which I did not want). If your first was quick then your second may be quicker and I think you should plan on that but there are many different reasons why the second could be slower so just be prepared for anything and pay attention to your body's clues. Good luck!!

I was in labor with water broken for over 26 hrs, so I only hope I go faster next time! :)

I will tell you about a couple in the birthing class before mine, though, our instructor had to tell us all about it. She had a super fast first delivery, like 2 hours or something. So she was nervous but they told her not to worry for number 2 coming THAT fast. Sure enough, number 2 came even faster, they barely made it in time, she felt the first contraction, got in the car, and still ended up being run upstairs on a stretcher to deliver in just a few minutes. So the next baby that she was working on when we were pregnant they advised her to do this:

Map out the route to the hospital, noting all fire departments along the way. Call ahead and speak to the fire depts and inform them of the situation and let them know they are on their hospital route. Hubby had it all mapped out in GPS and on paper, and the day she went into labor, he called all of them as they were on their way out the door so they would be standing by. He also alerted the ER at the hospital. Sure enough, he had to divert and she had the baby at a fire station. But they were well prepared and it went smoothly. By calling ahead they were ready to go when hubby called again saying they were on their way there.

I think her case is much more extreme than most, and I wouldn't worry too much that this would happen to you, but it might be an idea to try anyways. If nothing else, it will relieve some of the stress that you must be feeling about not being in control. And you will know that you have done what you could to be prepared. Good luck! Let us know what happens, and I am sure everything will be fine.

My 2nd child was born in one hr after my water broke. The doctor stated on my next pregnancy I would need to inform the dr that I have fast deliveries. So I wouldn't be surprised if you r next child comes out quicker. Just be prepared!

It really depends on the pregnancy.

My son was a normal delivery, my daughter was very quick.

My sister has 3 kids. Her first delivery was 13 hours, her second was 3 pushes, and her 3rd was an emergency c-section because her son could not be pulled from the birth canal through normal, non-surgical means.

I'd ask your OB/GYN what they think based upon their experiences. In my case with my 2nd, they didn't want to admit me because they thought I was having stress incontinence. In reality, my water had broken. When they started me on pitocin, they thought it would take HOURS to dilate. It took 2 hours before I had a baby.

Anything is possible - I'd be prepared for any and all scenarios!
Good luck!

I have a friend who had a super fast delivery first time (less than 3 hours l&d, I believe) and the second one was even quicker. They had a 45 min. drive to the hospital and by the time they got there, she was ready to deliver. Didn't even have time to change completely out of her clothes and no chance for an epidural.

Definitely have everything ready to go and line up child care for your first at all hours of the day. Have a backup to your first choice to watch your child, in case that person doesn't happen to be home. You want to be able to leave ASAP and not be scrambling to find someone to care for your first child while you go to the hospital. I wouldn't wait around to be at the "ideal" contraction time ... just get there. You can always wait in the lobby.

In my case, I found I didn't feel the contractions as strongly second time around, either. Too busy caring for our first child and not really focused on myself. Start doing your best to pay attention to YOU. I know it's hard when you're a mom already, but you don't want to miss the early signs.

Good luck! Hope you have a slower delivery second time around!

I think every person, pregnancy and baby is different. There's no way to tell what's going to happen, but you would be smart to be prepared.

If you haven't already, set up the crib, bassinet, wash the clothes, prep your hospital bag and have your birth plan and arrange child care for child #1 - IMMEDIATE care, like a neighbor for a middle of the night issue and longer with someone like Grandma while you are in the hospital.

My first was 9hrs. Second was all day labor, then 5 hrs after we got in the hospital. Third was all day labor, then almost 9 hrs in the hospital. They were so worried that with the third I'd go early and fast (since ALL my kids were born at 37 1/2 weeks) we were on "high baby alert" for a week before he decided to come. I had my mom and mother in law switching "shifts" to babysit me and our two kids. The dr DID NOT want me driving to the hospital myself if I went into labor, nor having to wait long for someone to take care of my kids. So everyday during the changing of the guards I was asked, "How are you feeling? Anything yet?" And every time the answer was, "Nothing happening here." Then on the last day, I started getting a little backache. It happened every 20 minutes starting at 9:30am, right after dropping my 2nd daughter off at preschool. By 12:30pm I had my "weekly" drs appt and told them, I'm not waiting for the dr, someone get me in a room and see what's going on here. They confirmed I was in labor and I drove myself on to the hospital. Our baby didn't arrive until 10pm! Fortunately, my mom was at my home, taking care of the other kids.

My best advice is plan NOW for "the big day". Make sure your parents, neighbors, school mates parents, etc. KNOW that you will be calling for help. I had Mom friends at both kids schools "on call". We had notes with the teachers allowing someone else to pick the kids up from school so Grandma didn't have to drive. The kids were delivered home and Grandma was here with dinner, arts n crafts, etc. A complete schedule for the kids was already posted in the kitchen - school start, end, girl scouts, etc.

I brought my "overnight bag" in the car, had my hospital preregistration in the hospital already and kept a copy in my bag. DH had a bag packed with camera, music, etc.

Oh, and to keep from going crazy that last month of being rather "homebound" I cooked up a storm. I got books from the library about cooking and freezing meals. We had a stocked freezer before JR arrived!

Good luck!
It was nice to know we had a plan, everyone was taken care of and ready to go.

my first was 3 hours, my 2nd & 3rd were 4 hours & my 4th was 45 minutes & that was including a stop at mcdonalds drive thru............just get to the hospital when you have contractions or water breaks.......every pregnancy is different so best wishes

I had an awesome and fast first delivery...felt the first pain,then in 4.5 hours she was born. I did take some medicine they gave me but it was given too late and didn't help. I was controllable and it was good for a first baby. My 2nd was born at a birthing center, with no option of any medicine.....he took longer to be born and I feel like I almost died. After 10 months the memory is still too painful to think about. But one thing I did wrong, was listen to people who told me that the second one will be much easier! I think it is different for different people. I would say just don't worry and cross the bridge when it gets there. I sure wish I hadn't listened to people cause in my mind I thought it would be easy and quick..........

Hi,
Congrats with your baby!!
I really don't have an advice but I hope my story makes you laugh a little bit.
My frist one was a C-seccion, I don't know why the doctor took that decision, I was very young when I had my 1rst and I didn't just trust whatever the doctor said.
With my second, I was 30 and this time around I preparate like crazy, I decide to have a VBAC, but it was almost impossible to find a doctor that would "allow" me.
Anyway, because I didn't want to be pushed to another C-seccion so i wanted to wait in home until I was sure it was time.
I start getting contractions at night but I wasn't sure if it was the real deal because I never had any contraction with my first one (my water brook and they move me right away to C-seccion).
Around 5 am my husband wake up and saw my contractions book (they were one every 5 minutes) and he told me he believe it was time, but I still didn't wanted to go, I was feeling fine, with some pain but I thought it should be a lot more painful ( I have seen many movies, lol).
After an hour my husband pretty much MAKE ME get in the car and start driving to the hospital with our 10 years old with us.
He drove us to the entrence of the hospital (I recomend you to go and check the hospital your baby will born AND the hospital that is near you in case you have to go to that one in an emergency). He let us there and went to park, me and my daughter got lost trying to find the maternal section, finally we found it!
When we got there I told the nurses I was in labor and they told me I wasn't, I guess because I was walking like nothing.
I was like: "I am the pregnant one, I know I am! The finally put me in a room (after yelling at me for bring my 10 year old in to the delivery room).
When the doctor went to check I was already 8mm dilate!
Baby born in 3 hours or less!
BTW, my husband keep saying that he was the smart one to bring me to the hospital but he always forget to say that then he fall sleep when we got there!!
I hope everything is not only good and easy for you but full of funy and cute stories to tell.
PS: things I didn't bring and I wish I did:
Lipbalm, socks, hairband to keep hair away of my face, and talk to my husband about the pictures I wanted him to take.

Hi C.,
Congratulaitons on your pregnancy! You may hear that second labors can be expected to be shorter than first labors, but there's no hard and fast rule that says it must go this way. This idea comes from the statistical averages about labor - the average first time labor is in the 14-17 hour range and the average second labor is in the 8-10 hour range. This doesn't mean that an individual woman should expect her 2nd labor to 6 to 9 hours shorter than her first. Since your first labor was not within the statistical average, it doesn't mean that your second labor won't be close to the statistical average for a second time mom - but remember, there are wide ranges of normal on either side of average.
With my first baby, I had about 17 hours or prelabor followed by 17 hours of active labor. With my second baby, I had a 3 hour labor. Luckily I had a planned home birth so there was noplace that I had to go and my midwives arrived about a half hour before I started pushing. Due to the very short labor, if I'd had another baby, I would not have considered anything other than a home birth unless some risk factor presented itself
Good luck!

HI C.,

I don't think there's any way to know what will happen... With our first child my water broke at 8:30am and I had her at 11;35am. With our second, I went into preterm labor and had him two and a half months early. I would say that it's easier to be prepared for the second baby to come early as well especially since you know what to expect!

good luck!!

Unfortunately for you, every pregnancy is different! I had three kids...a very quick delivery with my first (3.5 hours or so) and my water never broke. With my second, my water broke, but I wasn't contracting, so they induced me with pictocin. He didn't pop out until 14 or so hours later. With my third, my water never broke, I never went into labor and went right past my duedate...so they had to induce me, break my water and again, my son didn't come out until 9 or so hours later...

So best to be prepared for a quick delivery (I was given that my first was so short and they tell you that future babies will likely come quicker given that the birth canal has done it before), but be prepared for something different!

Best of luck, to you! :)