Practical ideas for labours that are hard and fast?

[Lolli]

Hi all,
My last labour was pretty quick- 5 hours from the first twinge of pain, three and a half hours of 'official' labour (according to the hospital papers). I went from a twinge of back pain to it being so bad that i couldn't speak in about the space of an hour.

I'm assuming this one will be somewhat the same (while keeping in mind it might not be ). So I was wondering if anoyone has any practical ideas for dealing with labour that progresses that quickly? I feel like it went so fast I had no time to regroup, to think about different strategies to cope with the pain (and my well packed labour bag didn't even make it out of the car!).

Any ideas, thoughts, experiences much appreciated.

[Tinks]

I had quick labours too. I didn't have any time to think about what was going on either. The only advice I can give is to focus on 1 spot and just breathe through every contraction. It will be over before you know it.

[Sequoia]

I would love to know too, 4 hours from go to whoa. Far too intense that I have basically forgotten the whole thing.

[~Raven~]

My last 2 were rather fast with the 4th one under 2 hours. Had a bit of prelabour over night but first real contrax was at 8am and she was born by 9:50!

Don't panic, relax as much as you can and get on with it Be firm with what you want too. A birth plan is a good idea because you might not be able to discuss stuff and have your partner be your advocate. Really get him or her to step up for you. I wasn't able to talk much at all during my 3rd labour except for screaming no when they were telling me to push lol. All I wanted was a bit of time to stretch but couldn't say it and DH forgot to tell them in the excitement.

Pain management was best with rocking and the shower with a bit of gas. Refuse to be on the bed as much as you can as I found it unbearable with contractions coming constantly. I had to do the compulsory monitoring but was up and rocking ASAP.

Try and hold off from weeing before you leave home if you can manage because I was hassled to provide a sample and I couldn't.

And um if you have a poo issue don't worry about it. That's the best part of going in the shower for a bit. You don't have to worry about the mess

If I think of anything else I'll be back!

[tan32]

Hi
My first labour was 4 hours, my 2nd labour was 45 minutes and my 3rd was 55 minutes. all started from nothing to full on contractions less then 3 minutes apart.no warm up.

I have to say that def staying of the bed was my best thing, the shower was great. I needed to get on the bed in my last labour but i knelt leaning over the bed which i got them to sit up..
I found in my last labour that i had to make myself think that with every contraction my baby was closer....not so easy when labour is so fast and hard.

[2CheekyMonkeys]

my second labour was 4 1/2 hours. my DH massaged my back pretty much the whole 4 hours. i had gas too. depending on how you feel try using different tools like bouncing on the fit ball or leaning into bean bag, shower etc because if anything it will kinda seem like the time is going by faster cause you are doing stuff. but yeah other than that i dunno, but i tell ya i would rather a quick on than a long one. i didnt even feel tired after second birth. (first one was a long slow one)

[Cricket]

From my own experience, I highly recommend water, in whatever form you can get in it - the shower, the bath, whirlpool tub, whatever. Really helps you relax and cope, I find. With this baby, I got in the shower on a birthing stool, and the contractions slowed down, but I also made good progress because of the squatting position, so it was win-win for me.
All the best!

[Lulu]

I feel ya!

I remember asking this a few years ago now - it's hard when things are so fast you don't always have time to regroup. Kelly mentioned getting on hands and knees and tipping forward to slow things down a bit, which is what I have always done instinctively.

Wether or not it did something I don't know, but it was good for the mind to feel like I had some sort of control.

Even with no3 fastbirth, and I knew what was coming I still found myself thinking "stop, slow down, I can't THINK", but I quickly changed it to "I CAN do this, I AM doing this", and it ended up working cos if I kept up with the other mantra I may have frozen up or tensed or just been frightened all the way through. You have to say it out loud BTW, because trust me, you will feel the words to be truth iykwim?

My biggest thing has always been to have someone tell me clearly when I am transitioning, it's in BOLD in the birth plan. Just because after the speed and relentlessness of it all, the mental feelings of transition make me feel like my brain might snap...unless I know it's transition and I feel a sense of elation and energy cos I know it won't be long till I have a squirming bubba in my arms

[Michelle71]

Making noise DS's labour was a beautiful slow progression where water was fabulous. DD was 4 ish hours and 2.5 hours from 2cm to out. I had only reached the vocalising part of the JuJu book and found it really did help. The more painful the contraction, the louder the noise!!!!! She was posterior and it was so intense I couldn't even get to the shower to use water to help

But noise - it worked. Yelling out the pain

[Nelle]

Water, I think. It's so easy to panic when the pain is suddenly there hard and fast, but there's something about warm water that really helps the body to relax and the mind to focus.
Lu's tip about all fours isn't bad.

[~Raven~]

The more painful the contraction, the louder the noise!!!!!

I was so loud with DS3 the poor girl in early labour in the room next to me could hear. I had to share a room with her for the next two days and she was amused at my husky voice

For some reason I was more in control with No4 both mind and body. It was a quicker labour but not as painful.

[~clover~]

I wish I'd had this 18 months ago!
My first 2 labours were 18 & 30 hours... I was not prepared for a hard & fast 5 hours with DS!
I didn't have time to get in 'the zone'! All I can say is be prepared (impossible, lol)!

[jamakin]

i guess it is always so hard to prepare for labour when we just have no idea what the birth will be like..
i had ds in 4 hours (from waters breaking to out) i was actually glad it was so fast, i didnt have time to worry or over think everything, i just went with what my body was telling me. i really wanted to use a shower or bath but wasn't able to, so the midwife used a warm water compress on and around my perineum, which worked wonders! i swear its the reason i didnt tear or need stiches. i will be doing that again next time!

[Epacris]

Hi Lori,

I've been meaning to add to this thread for ages. My DS's labour was about 2 1/2 hours and my DD's was about 1 hour from waters breaking and 45 minutes from the first contraction.

With DD, for me, it felt like my body was on autopilot and had taken over control of everything. I instinctively dropped to all fours during contractions. I did a little bit of pushing at the end, but pretty much everything else just happened. All I had to do was hold on for dear life. It was the scariest rollercoaster I've ever been on but the most amazing and exhilarating too.

Just one thing, both times, after my waters had broken and we had called the hospital to tell them we were on our way, DH has asked me if it was OK to have a shower before we leave. And for some completely unfathomable reason I have said "Yeah sure darling, of course you can". Ummm, derrr.... If your DH asks you, please just say, "No we have to go NOW". My DH did look nice and fresh for the photos though .

Make sure your camera is in your handbag. My handbag was the only thing that made it out of the car with us both times.

Goodluck darling trust your body and hold on tight, it's awesome

[S B]

My labour was 6 hours and was too quick and intense for me to really remember a lot of it. I remember when I was pregnant thinking that I didn't want to be screaming while in labour like you see in the movies but I think an ancient cave woman took over my body when I was in labour and these deep growling sounds could not have be stopped even if I had wanted to. The midwife told me to try not to use so much energy moaning because I would be worn out when it came time to push and she was right. I was exhausted but I really think I couldn't have done it without the noise!