CPD???? Could I be one of the unlucky ones?

[~mamaspice~]

Thanks Hoobley, I hope so
I wonder if the length of your mothers and grandmothers labours can be an indication on how your own will go? Seeing as I have not even experienced a single contraction I have no clue on how I would labour but my grandmother had short intense labours. Her longest was 2.5 hours and her shortest was 50 minutes. My mums labour with me was induced (her Ob was going away on holidays) and her labour was 5 hours from start to finish. Her labour with my younger brother was spontaneous and only 2 hours but she said it was extremely painful in comparison to her first. Does this mean I could be likely to have a relatively quick labour myself? If it is quick and intense does this mean I might have a slightly greater risk of uterine rupture then a slower less intense labour? Not that uterine rupture really worries me as I know the risk is small.

[paradise lost]

In general one's mothers labours indicate little about one's own. My mums labours (she had 6 kids) varied from 4 days (96 hours - her fourth and smallest child, 4 weeks overdue) to 4 hours (her third and aside from me, biggest child, 2 days past EDD - #5 and #6 (my brother and i) were both sections, him for praevia, me because VBAC was not heard of in 1980).

Expect the unexpected and KEEP THE FAITH. A NORMAL first labour is 12-24 hours. Days of prelabour (painful ctx which seem to intensify and get closer but then drop away again) is normal. Being as much as 14 days post dates is normal. My advice to ANY woman is when labour begins do whatever you would NORMALLY do until it is impossible.

Sleep if it is sleeping time or if you are tired and would value a wee rest - slow labours and long-prelabours often get properly underway once mum is refreshed with sleep and food...so..

Eat at the normal times until you REALLY don't want to anymore. If you can't decide try a little something easy (chopped fruit or toast is good). The worse that will happen is that you'll vomit and that helps open your cervix - win/win.

Walk, clean, launder, MOVE - don't get into an "i'm in labour, better lie in bed". You keep doing whatever you normally do until you can't.

Talk, laugh, sing. Stay aware and don't close your eyes until you feel you really have to.

If you can eat or talk during contractions, if you can walk with pauses to contract, if you can have a conversation while you contract (pausing perhaps to contract but keeping the thread of the conversation in between) you are labouring well and still have a ways to go.

The time will come when all you can do in a contraction is focus and breathe and use your relaxation techniques and all you can do in between is rest because each one is overwhelming. There will be a time when you think you might MAYBE be able to do ONE more ctx, but not 2, and certainly not more. You will be positive you cannot possibly go on. You will have the intellectual idea that the only thing to do is chuck in the towel and go home because all this baby-having is not happening. This despite the fact you can barely open your eyes in between ctx, let alone get up and walk off... When you feel like that you're baby is coming REAL soon.

Bx