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I would also try this at infant care...they are great over there and I always get tons of replys when I post about labor questions.

4 years and half ago, I was in labor for only 5 hours, and pushing for only 20 minutes. That was my 1st. Everything went great. That labor was not similar to my mom's.. She was in labor with her first for 23 hours...

good idea! i might try this over there too.

I just had my first. My labor lasted 12 hours from the first contraction to my son being born. I felt crampy all day before I went into labor. Like menstral cramps. That was my only sign. I never lost my mucas plug or had a bloody show. I also had a DR. appt. the day before and my cervix was still closed. Then around 10pm they got stronger and felt like a knot of crampy pain in my lower back that spread around my hips and into my lower abdomen. By 12am they were 2 minutes apart and we went to the hospital. I handled the contractions by moaning and rocking my legs. Everyone is different and finds their own way to cope with the pain. I was planning for my husband to massage my back and I brought a hand massager for that purpose. But it turns out I was one of those people who couldn't stand to be touched when I was having a contraction. I got my first epidural at 5 centimeters dialated I was in a lot of pain, but still in control at that point. Well due to an old back injury / surgery I had scar tissue in my back that blocked the epidural. I had to wait an hour for the Dr. to give me another epidural and by then the pain was very intense. I was begging for something to help with the pain. By the time I got my second epidural I was 7 cent. dialated. Thankfully that one worked right away and the relief it brought me was a god send. I dialated from 7 to 10 cent in about 15 minutes time. Had I know I would move so quickly I probably could have made it without the epi. but I didn't know. I pushed for an hour and my son was born. I didn't have an episiotomy, but I did have a second degree tear. My son weighed 8lbs 1oz. The pain "down there" was not as bad as I was expecting it to be. After about a week I was feeling pretty good. I was able to resume having sex at 3 weeks post partum. It was uncomfortable but not painful. At 6 weeks post partum I am completely healed, but sex is just know beginning to feel good for me again. My labor wasn't like my mom's I was her 1st and her labor only lasted 8 hours. The one thing I wasn't prepared for was how emotional you are after you have the baby. I had mood swings between being extremely happy and feeling that my life was over and I was trapped by the baby. I would cry at the drop of a hat. But about 3-4 weeks after you have the baby you begin to settle back down emotionaly. Now at 6 weeks postpartum I feel like my old self again. Except that I'm a mom, and I'm enjoying it so much more than I ever dreamed I would.

Beth has a good idea this would work well in infant care. :) Anyways, My labor was 10 hours. It started with what felt like period cramps and then got worse and more frequent. This was my first so I didn't know I was in labor for awhile and then I denied it. ( Was to scared to think it was true) Mine wasen't as fast as my mom's was. It wasen't as scary or bad as I thought it would be. I had an epiduerl which was wonderful! Good Luck :)

Mine was about 12 hours from the mild, not really painful contraction to bably being born. Went from 1cm to 10 in about 3 hours. Pushed for about 5-10 minutes. First Baby, no drugs. I didnt like being touched either. I rocked, got in the bathtub and breathed to get through pain. Good luck.

I was induced when I had my first baby. I was 2 weeks late and hadn't started dialating or thinning on my own. so they hooked me up to the pitocin around 7 o'clock in the morning and broke my water around 8. I got the epidural around noon when I was about 5 centimeters. and just slept until 3 o'clock when the nurse came in and told me it was time to start pushing. I pushed for a little over an hour an had him at 4:13 in the afternoon. very easy delivery. I got a pretty bad episiotomy which was the worst part of the whole thing....but everything else went great.