Length of labour from first contraction or first REAL contraction??

[loulabelle]

That's a hard one! both answers are correct I think.
From my first contraction to the birth of my Son my labour was 51.5 hours.I always say that.Although the contractions didn't become intense until about 10 hours later, so 41.5 hours? Hopefully my next is faster!!
Goodluck with Hypnobirthing.x

[Nadine]

Hmmm...

From the first "period like" pains (at 1am) my labour was 32 hours.

But the pains I had to concentrate on and breathe through started at 2pm, so that would make it 19hrs.

I wasn't 3cm dialated untill about 10pm , and DD was born at 9:15am.

So who knows LOL. For me it was long anyway.

[lestyrox]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Seems like its quite a hard question. I guess all i can do is go into my next labour with a positive attitude and a clear head (i'm using hypnobirthing to try and get over my fears of going through labour again)
I've heard that you're classified as being in real labour when active labour begins but it seems its a little unclear as to when that happens. I know at 6pm i started finding it hard to talk through contractions and they started getting really intense and painful but i didn't reach 4cm dialated untill about 10pm (thats when i asked for the epidural, the thought of having to go through hours of pain to get to 10cm when i was already in excrusiating pain scared the hell outa me!) So i think i was definitly in REAL labour before 4cm. I'd been getting regular contractions since about lunchtime that day so maybe thats when 'real' labour started?? Who knows
Looking back on it now i think with all the intervention my body didn't have a chance to relax and just do what its meant to do. I know relaxing made a BIG difference because when i had the epidural i went from 4cm to birthing my boy in 2hours 45mins. I'm not a fan of epidurals but i think that it gave me a chance to get on top of things. I'm really hoping to use my hypnobirthing this time round and go el natural!
Thanks again for the responses, i'll let you know how long this labour was in a few months!

[satya]

When I arrived at hospital they recorded the start of my labour as being when I had regular painful contractions. For me this was 6 hours before I got to hospital and I was 6cms dilated at that time. I gave birth 11 hours later so they called that 17 hours of labour. Before the regular contractions I'd had about 18 hours of pre labour as well.

Have a look at your discharge papers (or your baby's) and you will see how long they classed your labour.

[Trillian]

You can still have very real, very painful contractions before you get to about 4cm - the cervix has to work so hard to get to that point considering how much has to happen - the cervix has to shorten if it hasn't already done so, it has to thin out to paper thin and then it has to become fully effaced. THEN it has to start to dilate - there is so much work for it to do.

ETA - Plus a lot of multipara's (women who are on subsequent pg's) will often be a little dilated or have a very soft cervix for some time before labour starts as well)

[Olive]

mine from when waters broke to DD been born was 36 hrs, active labour was 7.5 hrs

[~clover~]

Ok. My waters broke with dd1 at 12.30am. First contraction was at about 1.30am. They were 20-30 minutes apart til 6am, then 5 minutes apart all day. I think I got to 4 cm dialated at about 12pm(they expected me to be about 7cm).
When I was only 7cm they were expecting 10, but they got me to push anyway. That was at about 4pm.
She was born at 1856 - 6.56pm.
So...18.5 hours from waters breaking, 13 hours from regular 5 minute contractions, & 7 hours from 4cm, but only went to 7cm.

DD2 was 30 hours from 1st contraction. Pre labour was from 2.15am on Saturday. 10.30pm they were regular & painful, but still 30 minutes apart. I was in alot of pain at 1.30am Sunday, so went up to hossy. They started 5 minutes apart as soon as I got up to get ready to go.
Was 6-7 cm when I got there. She was born at 7.08am.
So...30 hours from 1st contraction. 8.5 hours from painful contractions - Possibly from 4cm??? 5.5 hours from 5 minute apart contractions.

DS - 2 contractions at 5am on Friday morning. Nothing all day. Contractions started 5.15am Saturday morning. about 10 minutes apart. Waters broke at about 6am. Mecconium in it, so went to hossy. Got there about 7.30am & was 5cm dialated. Born at 10.15am
So 5 hours hard & fast - never got the chance to time contractions. & when we did they were all over the place. They never really got regular. Sometimes they were 2 minutes apart, sometimes 5 minutes. Sometimes they were 30sec long, sometimes 1.5 minutes. Right up til birth.

[lestyrox]

Satya- this might sound dumb but how do i get my discharge papers? I don't remember being given any papers? I still have my yellow pregnancy card thingy from DS, i'll have a look and see if it says how long it was on there.
Thanks for your input Trillian, i agree with what you said about the body having to do a lot of work to get the cervix ready for birth- i don't think my body was anywhere near labour- bub was still high, cervix long, no show etc however i was 2cm dialated naturally when i went in. I think because bub and i weren't ready for labour everything was a lot more intense and painful than it should have been.
So since i've already been through labour once and my cervix is stretched (so to speak ) does that mean my cervix will open more easily this time??