And You Thought YOUR Labor Was Long...

My water broke around midnight & my son was delivered about 4:30 pm that day--so about 16 hrs. Pushing FOREVER, sick as a dog, he finally had to be suctioned out into the world. :)

Woke up at 6 got to my midwife at 8:30...contractions had gone from 7 mins to 3 mins in that time. They told me to get across the parking lot to the hospital...dilated 2 cm on the walk over...they got me in a room and 20 mins later...she was here. I didn't have the time for any pain meds...they couldn't believe how fast everything went. We were the talk of the hospital...the awesome 20 minutes labor! And now she's 2 months old and perfect.

My water broke at 6am. I was given pitocin around 11 and labored until 3:10am. 15mins and 4 pushes later, my daughter was born...FINALLY! :)

47 hrs from when my water broke to when my daughter was born. She was turned around. Back labor. It was very long and very painful, but wonderful because we were surrounded by support and love and comfort.

I didn't end up having to have a C-section - it came close though. I was able to give birth to her at home. It was super metal, and beautiful-hard.

I like remembering the first moment I got to hold her in my arms. I was so tired (we ALL were) and she was so perfect. Sheesh. Still brings tears to my eyes. Thanks for the question. That was the sweetest morning of my life.

After almost 6 mos on home IVs (couldn't suck on an ice cube and keep it down till almost month 5....but I made up for it and got FAT and happy), she decided to be in an unsafe Frank Breech presentation (foot dangling, and other foot was tangled up with her arm...Pretzel-ates!), so it was a scheduled C-section for me.

I made an appointment, went in and had a baby. Never felt one contraction, EVER. Dr promised me a baby by 8AM, even tho he was late arriving himself! 7:59 am my one and only child was born!

So many people ask if I feel like I got jipped (sp) out of the "birth experience" by never having a contraction, etc. LOL...uh, nope. I finally (after a few years of losses and tests and surgeries and empty arms) had FULL arms. Happy as could be with my birth experience!

I was in active labor, in the hospital for 72 hours. It was HELL. I also pushed for 5 hours and my son nearly died. My second baby, I was in labor for 12 hours and pushed for less than an hour! It was a cake walk compared to the first!

I hope your friend has her baby soon!

36 hours!!! My water broke at home so I had to go into the hospital for the whole time. I have a blood condition so no epidural >:( and they didn't want to induce or do a C-section. When they finally gave me Pitocin she moved right along. The tearing was pretty bad but I would have taken that over the day and a half leading up to it! It was incredibly disorienting to be in labor that long. And oh the back pain - that was the worst! In the end, I'm glad I wasn't allowed to have the epidural. It's funny how we forget the pain. I know what happened but I'm still eager to do it again :D

I felt my first labor pain at 5am Mon morning (was not induced) and pushed my son out 36 hours later on Tue 5pm - he weighed in at 9 lbs 1 1/2 oz, had a perfect APGAR score and had a full head of hair (was over an inch long!)..
It turned out to be exactly on our predicted due date.
They broke my water at 10am on Tue but it didn't speed things up at all.
I went 16 hours before I got the epidural (I always planned to have one) and I felt like the anesthesiologist was my best friend when the pain eased off.
I was exhausted already and if I had to feel those contractions for another 20 hours I never would have had the strength to push him out.
My Mom was in labor 36 hours with me.
She went into the hospital Christmas Eve and I didn't arrive till 8 am day after Christmas.

First was breech, so I had a planned c-section
Second, I went into labor on a Friday & had her Monday (her actual due date)
Third, I went into labor on a Thursday & had him on Saturday (his actual due date)

No pitocen, no inducing, nothing...except the epidural.

My first 3 were all spontaneous labor between 39-40 weeks, no pit, no epidural, not even in IV. All of then were about 4 hours. With my 4th, water broke unexpectedly at 38 weeks. Stayed home until labor started which took about 6 hours, then in labor for 3 hours, also no pit, IV, or epidural. Never pushed more than 15 minutes (that was with the first) and the last three were water births. I loved my birthing experiences! I am quite sad that I will probably not get to experience it again :( Between me and my three sisters we have birthed 12 babies and not one of us labored more than 4-5 hours and no one had an epidural with any of their deliveries. I guess we got some good baby birthing genes!

First one ... 5 hours..no meds.. Second baby was preterm. Water broke and had no contractions. I was induced with pitocin and no epi. Totally it took about 9 hours. Both normal delivery.

My water was broken by the nurses with all of my kids.

#1 spontaneous but non-progressive labor at 42 weeks...pitocin, epidural, 1 hour of pushing, vacuum extraction. 22 hours start to finish

#2 spontaneous labor 1 day shy of due date, epidural, a little drama with the cord during delivery but about 10 minutes pushing. 9 hours total

#3 spontaneous labor at 39 weeks. Dilated to 9 on arrival at hospital, epidural, 3 minutes pushing. 5.5 hours total

#4 & #5 (surrogate twins) - scheduled induction at 37 weeks, pitocin to start which was stopped with the epi was inserted. About 5 minutes pushing with the first baby, then 40 minutes with the second because he was sunny side up. If not for my "proven vagina" and adamant wishes to not have a c-section the doc would have moved to a c-section on the second baby after about 10 minutes. 6 hours total.

Thanks for asking - it's been fun to remember these and read everyone else's answers!

I was induced three weeks early and refused any drugs, because of other complications I had to have a c-section after 14 hours. My sister was in labor with each of her kids for 30 to 36 hours, all natural births. She had one in the hospital and two at home.

I had a 17-hour active labor before epidurals were available. My water broke at 1 a.m. after a couple of hours of fairly mild contractions that I wasn't sure was real labor (so, maybe 19 hours total). It felt like forever – I had excruciating back labor, and was also vomiting with nearly every contraction. Pretty exhausting.

But nothing compared to two friends of mine. One was in hard labor for 40 hours, the other for 32 hours. There was little fetal distress, and they didn't want C-sections. I don't think I could have survived that long.

first Epi - 3 hours pushed for 30 minutes
second Epi - 2 hours pushed for 15 minutes

both normal

First, natural.....it was HARD. HARD. HARD. My doc was a jerk...said I didn't "need" an epidural. 6 hrs of super strong labor, 2 hrs of pushing

Second, induction. Given cervadil. My nurse SUCKED and kept ignoring me saying it was too soon for an epi and to wait. by the time she finally checked me I was 7-8, and almost missed the chance for pain management. B*TCH.

Third...first I took a pic of THAT nurse to the hospital to make sure I wouldn't be dealing with her A$$. I was induced, my nurses this time were AWESOME. Induced at 10, had him by 6 p.m. easiest labor an delivery of all. :)

With my oldest, they induced (docs couldnt agree on a due date, anytime between 7/5 -7/25) because she was under fetal stress. They induced me at 7a and I had my epidural within 20 mins of that. When it came time for me to push I was laughing because I couldn't feel anything to push, it was just a little uncomfortable.

With my second, They scheduled me for induction on 6/____@____.com water broke @ 4a so we went to the hospital. I asked the nurse for my epidural and she said that I wasn't in labor (they had the monitor in the wrong spot.) They called my dr in @ 7 and said I was almost completely dilated so the #$%^ nurse finally got the anesthesiologist in there to give me my epidural. I had it for 30 mins and it did not kick in fast enough. I had her @ 7:56a.

With this one the dr. has told me she can induce a week early so we have a little more control on the situation since the first was 6 hours and the second was only 4. While a 2 hour labor sounds good, I would hate to get stuck in traffic and have her on the side of the road...

My friend just had her baby and she did it natural, no drugs. Her water broke friday @ 3p and had him saturday @ 4p. 25 hours. He was 10lbs 8 oz. Major OUCH.

1- 3 hours, woke up in a puddle, first pain came in 5 minutes, pushed maybe 3-4 times, ripped like crazy because they ignored me thinking I had hours and hours to go.

2- 1 hour of hard labor after 3.5 hours of water barely leaking. Pushed a couple times, ripped only a little. Because I went from nothing to transition in about 2 minutes, I experienced dangerously high blood pressure and had about 5 people in the room for the whole hour. I think they were afraid I'd have a stroke.

3- 1 hour of pitocin to induce, did nothing for me, broke the water and she was here in 20 minutes flat. I went from nothing to hard labor again. But I didn't experience the high blood pressure.

4- I was dilating slowly over a couple of weeks. They finally had to put me in the hospital and wanted to do pitocin. I was 3 weeks early though and my husband was out of town. So we waited all day while he tried to get a flight in bad storms. He finally arrived and she asked me if I'd allow pitocin. I said no and got up and walked. An hour later she was here.

I really have no complaints :)

My niece was in labor (from the time contractions started to delivery) for over 40 hours. It was exhausting for her... and for us! We took turns at the hospital so that her husband and my SIL could take breaks.

For me... my water broke at 9:00 pm on a Monday night. No contractions.... went to induce me at 1:00 the next day (still no contractions)... emergency c-section. Beautiful baby, no "labor"... but this time I'll take it without the drama and the panicked OBGYN!

20 hrs from start to finish. I wasnt induced but I was 5 days late and the day before I went into labour I had a membrane sweep. I was so worried about being induced. I really wanted to go into labour on my own and I finally did

I love these! My first was 19 1/2 hours, I started at 9:30pm with contractions every 6 minutes until 4am when they went to 4 min, then finally got to the hospital at 7:30am. I had pitocin and epidural and episiotomy and she was a stinker too with the cord wrapped around her neck, and she was delivered by forceps at 4:57pm. Long labor and of course, no sleep the night before!

My second I was induced thank goodness, because she was a real handful! Heart rate issues again, then never dilated past 5cm, had a c-section and even then, it was so difficult to get her out. She had the cord around her neck, her arm, her abdomen and her leg. Doctor said it was so lucky she wasn't a cord accident. Not only that, I had an aged placenta, so she had stopped getting nutrients.

Third was repeat c-section. Wanted to do vbac but unfortunately, they were only 15 months apart, and I would have ruptured for sure because my uterus was paper thin.

So I thank god for all of my instincts and that I have 3 healthy girls because it could have been a nightmare!

18 1/2 hours total. My water broke prematurely, 6 hours later we started pitocin, and 12 1/2 hours later I had an emergency c-section.

Interesting question!!! Number 1 --- no inducement, 13 hours, had an epidural at hour 10. Number 2 -- no drugs at all, 4 hours. Number 3, only pain killer --- 4 hours. Number 4 -- No drugs for 20 hours then an epidural, 29 hours.

My labor was EASY!!! I didn't even know I was in labor, I thought I was having a stomach ache, lol....I went in the hospital at 8am and had him at 3pm. I pushed for 15 minutes and he was out.. I ONLY got an epidural at 7 centimeters because the nurses kept scaring me that if I wait any longer I won't be able to get one... My doctor always said I was a good candidate for labor. I'm 5'10" and was very much into working out, so it was no biggie :0) NOW the newborn phase, totallllllyyyy different answer!!!!!!!! Hardest thing ever~

First: Went into labor at 39 weeks exactly. Labor lasted 8 hrs. Epidural after 5 hours, pushed for 25 minutes.

Second: Induced at 38 weeks, Pitocin was given at 6AM, I had my daughter at 1:30PM. Epidural around 11:00 if I remember right. Pushed for less than 5 minutes.

First labor - induced, pitocin, 26 hours, ended in an emergency c-section. Second labor - started on its own at 41 weeks 6 days, posterior, natural, 49 hours!!! Not sure we are having another! I know a lot of women who were in labor 2-3 days if they went natural. Relax, send your friend good birthing vibes, help if she has other children and baby will be here when baby gets here. Maybe 11-11-11 isn't baby's chosen bday! C.

With my first son, I went into natural labor at 41 weeks. I had hard labor for 10 hours, got epidural, pushed for 2 hours because he was also sunny side up AND over 9 pounds. He had a mild shoulder dystocia he was so big. Finally delivered my sweet little guy. My pictures are funny now. I looked like I had been to war!

Second was induced because my first son was so big and he had a shoulder dystocia. Went in overnight to get a CRB, that was removed at 7am and I was 4-5cm, pit started at 7:30am, epidural in at 11:30, was complete at 2:45 but they let me labor him down a bit, was moved to a different room with no windows because there was a tornado warning at 3:05, delivered my sweet one in 2 pushes at 3:17! Easy and did not even break a sweat. My pictures look completely different. I didn't even smudge my eyeliner!

Ahhh, fun times......

27 from beginning of inducement to birth. Pushed for three hours cause between the two of us she kept sliding back in!

Second child- induced at 7 am (due to low fluid levels he would not have survived much longer)...then emergency c-sction at 12:31 due to heartrate went from 144 to 40 in oh 15seconds and his hands were on top of his head...

37 hrs from when my water broke to baby's arrival. Water broke at 10pm on day 1, labor started soon after and progressed until 5am and then stopped. I had very light contractions spaced far apart on day 2 and then was admitted to the hospital for induction at 10pm that night. Pitocin for 8 hrs, I wouldn't let them turn it up and didn't progress. Got epi at 6am on day 3 and let them crank up the pit, progressed beautifully for the next 5 hrs, labored down, then 3 pushes and baby arrived at 11am.

I'm expecting baby #2 in a few weeks and hoping for a quicker labor!

No medication whatsoever, on both babies. My water broke with both, in the middle of the night. 1st baby, 4 hours and he was here. 2nd baby, 1 hr 45 mins and he was here. It was not too bad at all.

With my first, labor lasted about six hours. No pain meds. No epidural. Second was 10 hours of labor, no pain meds, all natural again. Thirid baby, 2 hours at the most. With the fourth, they would not induce me (needed to be available for surgery for my second) so I used a breast pump to self induce, call me crazy, it worked, but the labor was much more intense. Still only 6 hours from the first contraction until the final push. I made it to my seconds surgery! Birth stories are always nice to share. Cannot imagine being one of those who go on for 24 or more hours!!

First - 2.5 hours total. Induced, one dose of Staydahl (sp?)

Second - 1.5 hours total, absolutly NOTHING! Relised that Staydahl actually does work...........

With my first baby, I had 17 hours of pre-labor contractions, 17 hours of active labor and pushed about 50 minutes. I was in the hospital for the last 3 hours of labor. No drugs of any type.

Second baby, water broke, labor didn't start, I gave myself an enema around 16 hours later to see if that would get things going and baby was born 3 hours later, 20 or 25 minutes of pushing. Of course no drugs of any type since he was a home birth.

First birth, all natural, no drugs, they did give me pitocin to speed up things, but still took 16 hours...
2nd birth, same as the first, but only 14 hours...
3rd birth, they let me have a c-section because I have 9+ lbs babies... he was my smallest, 8 lbs 15 oz.

First natural no drugs. 2.5 hours start to finish...would not wish that on anyone!

Second 7 hrs labor stalled at 7cm. Was given pitocin less then20 minutes delivered baby had shoulder dystocia...once again no drugs and well ifyou want pain that is it!! 1.5 hrs of stitching after delivery

Third 3 hours induced start to finish. Well from what I call start to finish...Midfife calls it a 1.5 hour labor since that is all it took after breaking my water. once again no drugs.

All three were out in 3 pushes even the one who got stuck...

#1 - Induction with cervadil began 6 pm on Monday at 40 wks + 2days. Didn't give birth until 10:20 pm on Tuesday. LONG A$$ LABOR.

#2 - Woke up 3:30 am on a Monday at 40 wks + 2days. Got to hospital sometime around 6 or 6:30 (waited to wake DH so he could get a little more sleep), was fully dilated by 9, but had no urge to push (thank God I got an epidural) so finally they just made me go ahead and start pushing at 1ish. Half hour or so later, daughter #2 was born. :) MUCH shorter.

With my first I was in labor for 28 hrs which ended in c-section because after all of that I only progressed to 6 cm. I woke up around 2am Friday morning to contractions, finally went to the hospital at 7am labored all day, and all through the night, and she was delivered by c-section at 7am on Saturday morning. Second, and third ones were planned c-sections at 39 weeks.

With my first I started early labor about 10am on a Friday, had a steady labor to go in the next morning at 6am, and had her at 653. So the hospital says 13 hours, I say a LOT more. I pushed for less than 30 minutes with her.

My second was induced because he was measuring over 11 pounds. 4 hours later his umbilical cord dropped beneath his head and his heart rate was not taking the pitocin, so he was an emergency c-section. He was 8.13.

My last was a planned c-section and so easy! Recovery was even better with this one than the emergency one :).

I hope your friend has her baby soon!

My first was born via emergency c-section at 35 weeks. I was on pitocen for 24 hours ~ not fun! but wouldn't dilate.
My second I was having pretty intense contractions for 2 days before I decided to go into the hospital. I was dilated to an 8 and my contractions were 3 minutes apart. It was a rush to get my husband to the hospital and my doctor there for my c-section.

Just had my little guy last week and for me my labor was long. My doc broke my water when I was at a 3 and I delivered 8 hrs later. I can't tolerate epidurals so it felt pretty long! My other two labors were only about 4 hrs long after water was broken. But as usual for me it took a while to get there but when it came time to push, it was one push and done :D My doc literally didn't even have time to put on a second pair of gloves, she threw on a pair and had to turn and catch before the nurse had to do it. But on the really bright side, I didn't tear bad at all. Only 4 little stitches :D

First child: labored over 16 hours.
Had pitocin and water broken by my Doc.
Had epidural.
Finally... had to have a c-section. It was after midnight, by then.
Emergency C-section.

2nd child: c-section

First one - premature rupture of membranes, epidural not offered because "you'll have that baby out in a few hours", baby was sunny side up and stuck (ouch indeed), over 20 hours of labor half of which (at least) was pushing, pitocin, epidurals finally offered but did not work (I had something like 5 tries) ended in a c-section and a baby in the NICU.

Second one - scheduled C-section. Yay!

I was so lucky with my one and only. I was in labor beginning around 5am on my due date....checked into the hospital at 10:00....they sent me home. I was my own midwife in hindsight as I was in the bathub wondering what the hell should I do!!!! Checked BACK in around 3:00 pm....beautiful baby girl born at 4:00pm on the dot. No meds but a minor episiotimy.
My sister was the complete opposite. A looooooooong labor. Like, really long. Epidural on the verge of c-section. Plus Braxton Hicks for 3 months.

Technically I was contracting by 7PM when I went in suspecting that my water was leaking, but it didn't bother me. They kept me overnight and in the morning (12 hours later) when nothing was happening, they broke the water the rest of the way and tried pitocin. DD was born at 4PM. I had an epidural from about 12PM, I think.

I was induced and it didnt work so they did it again and after 30 mins i got a epidural dilated to a 10 within 20mins pushed 3 times and baby boy was here. I had the easiest labor ever. Im currently pregnant with #2 and i told my husband if i feel a labor pain i may actually die bc i never felt one with the first lol praying for the same nurse in the labor room who keep me pain free with the iv before the epidural this go around

3 hours :). Yes induced with pitocin, no epidural.

1st baby - "prelabor" began at 5:00 a.m on Monday... went to hospital at 11:00 a.m. then they decided even though I was in early labor, because I was 9 days overdue they didn't want me to leave. My labor "stalled" so they did cervadil at 6:00 p.m. I was still having contractions, but not dialating. REAL labor kicked in about 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday and I got the epidural at about 7:00 a.m. Then labor "stalled" again so they started pitocin and I delivered at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday... so that makes a labor of about 35 hours... give or take

Baby #2 was 11 days overdue, had a totally natural water birth - labored at home for about 8 hours, went to the hospital and delivered after 5 hours.

Baby #3 was 5 days overdue, had a totally natural water birth - labored at home for about 6 hours, went to the hospital and delivered after 2 hours.

J.

First was 20 ish hours then emergency C-section. Pitocin for almost all, then epidural after about 15 hours.
Second was planned C-section.

First (38 wks 3 days) was 10 hours of labor (went in to be induced but was in labor and didnt know it), 2 epidurals, 2 hours of pushing and then an episiotomy. Second (40 wks and 1 day) was only about 5 hours of true labor (made it to the hospital only 50 minutes before he was born), no meds, 20 minutes of pushing and a tear. My boys were both scheduled to be included but I guess that scared them so the came on their own when they were ready.

First induced, with spinal and I didnt feel anything, i was told when to push and I did it in 4 big pushes. I figured I got this in the bag, that was easy. 2nd NO medications completely natural. Water Broke, i lolligaged cause it didnt hurt, I mosyed on into Labor and Deliver about 2 hours after my water broke, only to be rushed to delivery after initial check I labored for 2 more hours with really no pain, then got a sudden urge to push, and when I told them she was coming they laughed and said that was impossible. Well she was there in my arms about 20 minutes later with only a doctor to catch her as she came out. The nurses kept telling me, RESIST THE URGE TO PUSH. yeah right ladies SHUT IT.
3rd I had 4 false alarms, and finally a day before due date, I got a migraine of all migraines I thought I was getting eclampsia and went in for blood pressure issues and 4 hours later had a baby boy. 2 pushes he was here, my husband didnt even come cause he thought it was a false alarm and a headache.
Forgot to add the most important of all, because my Migraine didnt respond to regular medications, they strong suggested an EPI, in which they botched, not ONLY did it NOT work on bit to help the pain in any way, they paralyzed my whole right side. It took 4 days for my leg to come back enough to walk again. I am still in physical therapy and have lasting effects. I intitally refused it but they kept saying it would stop my head ache, it didnt and I still felt every single thing with labor as well.

27 hours between a few contractions at 3am, to the doctors office the next morning where I was told I had a high leak, then admitted to the hosp and induced at 3pm, and had baby the following evening at 6pm.

picotin, IV, and ultimately further breaking of the waters to bring on delivery. Baby was born within 1.5 of the breaking. Lengthy, but not arduous.

my first labor was 8 hours long, and my second was 4 hours long.. both labors I had pitocin.. no pain meds.

My mom labored with me for just over 24 hours, with pitocin the last 6 hours... an HER mom labored for 48 hours with her first birth and 12 with her second.

BUT when i made it to the hospital with both of my deliveries i was already in labor (but I could not feel the contractions) and the doc said I could have been in the early stages of labor for a day or possibly more without realizing it.. so I don't know how accurate my estimates really are... I can't imagine pushing for hours though! With my first I went to the hospital because my water broke at home, and with my second the doctor called me in to be induced because she had an opening and I was scheduled to be induced the next day anyways! I only pushed for 10 minutes with each of my deliveries! 8 hours of pushing?- ouch!

hehehe- it is fun to hear other people birth stories!

-M.

Induced with both, pitocin with both, epidural with both.

First labor lasted 3 hours - I was dilated to 4cm upon arrival. Second, lasted maybe 45 minutes because I was already dilated 6cm when I arrived at the hospital. With my second, the epidural didn't really have time to take effect, so I wouldn't wish a "natural birth" on anyone unless they like pain. No c-sections necessary for me. :)

I am one of the lucky ones that labor was not long in either case. My sister, not so lucky. 14 and 20 hour labors for her, and I still hear about how jealous she was of my quickies whenever this subject comes up.

3 children -- all 3 labors with no interventions -- first -- hospital birth, 9.5 hours of labor from first contraction to baby, 7 min. of pushing. Second -- planned homebirth -- 5 hours of labor from the point at which the contractions were strong enough to wake me up, 20 min of pushing (9 pound 6 oz baby -- my midwife was trying to slow down the pushing phase so I could stretch ) Third -- Unplanned unattended car birth -- 1 hour 15 min of labor, no pushing -- he fell out into his daddy's sweater.

As a doula, the longest labor I have heard of to date was 11 days. The longest I have attended was a 33 hour induction.

Twelve hours with each child. Epidural with the first. Pitocin needed when labor stalled with the second, epidural (thank goodness), sunny side up baby but delivered without a c-section.

The wife of a colleague of mine was in labor a day and a half. Was set on no pain medication but by day two agreed to an epidural. Can't even imagine being in labor that long!