LeAnn wrote:
Hi, my name is LeAnn. I have a 7 year old son and I am 7 months
pregnant with my second son.

Welcome, LeAnn, and congratulations on your impending birth!

Maybe I just can't tolerate much pain
but I remember labor with my first son to be just horrible. I
remember screaming at everyone to give me some drugs! ;-) Labor and
delivery lasted about 16 hours from start to finish. My current
doctor keeps telling me that since this is my second child, labor
will be much easier and faster. For those of you who have given
birth to two or more children, how much truth is in this?

Statistically, it is true that first labors are longer than subsequent
labors. That said, statistics aren't necessarily predictive for individuals.
By that, I mean that the odds for a shorter, easier labor the second time
around are in your favor, but there's no guarantee.

My second labor was actually orders of magnitude longer than my first (28+
hours compared to 8 hours), but it was also orders of magnitude more
tolerable. Part of that was due to the fact that my first labor was induced,
which meant I was in the hospital the entire time and tethered to an IV and
monitors throughout labor. Both of those things reduced my ability to cope
well with the contractions. Another part of it was that my childbirth
preparation course really didn't prepare me very well for labor. It was
Lamaze based, and the only coping technique they really taught us was
patterned breathing, which didn't work for me because it set off my asthma.
There was no discussion that I recall of using position changes or
relaxation techniques that I can recall, and those would have been much more
helpful to me. It would also have helped me to know that when you reach the
point where you think you just can't stand it any more, you are probably
very close to full dilation (I had an epidural, but I now think I was in
transition already when it was done).

Anyway, my second labor started out very gradually with contractions at 6:00
am on a Sunday morning and ramped up slowly over the entire day and through
the next night. I wound up arriving at the hospital a mere 90 minutes before
my daughter was born and did not have (or want) any pain relief medication
in spite of having not slept much the previous night and having experienced
painful contractions for a good 6 hours at that point.

My third labor was very quick--I was induced by breaking the amniotic sac
and was holding him in my arms less than 4 hours later. Again, no pain
relief meds and never really felt the need for them. Piece of cake.

So, my experience is that each subsequent birth is easier. Part of that may
simply be that you know better what to expect and are better able to
determine what works for you when it comes to coping. That said, I think if
you found your first labor horribly painful, you'd be well-advised to take a
good childbirth preparation course that teaches a range of coping
mechanisms, even if you think you'll ultimately opt for an epidural. It's
just good to have some techniques under your belt in the event your labor is
very uncomfortable before an epidural is permitted or you wind up not being
able to get one for one reason or another. Personally, I found unmedicated
labor empowering and profound, but I know it's not everyone's cuppa!
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [22 mos.] mom)

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"Taxi's R Us" -- name of a cab company

Daddy: You're up with the chickens this morning.
Aurora: No, I'm up with my dolls!

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