Very overdue = short labour?

Ok, so since I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs waiting for SOMETHING to happen... thought I would pose a question..

If you are really really really overdue (ie. like me - 12 days and counting) what are the odds that you will have a really short labour? (I have to hope for something good at the end of all this waiting!!)

I know that my mum was 3 weeks over with my brother, and she had a short labour of 6 hours. She was also overdue with my sister and had a 2 hour labour (was induced with me so I don't count in statistics!!).

So I'm just after people's stories of being horribly horribly overdue, and what length their labour was....

Entertain me!!!! heheheheehe

Thanks
:)

I suppose it depends on how much pre-labouring you are doing and how effaced your cervix is beforehand, but that said it may not take that long at all. Its a real hard one to answer. The longest I went over was 4 days with Alister and the labour was only 6hrs once things got going.

Well I think family history is a better chance at short labour.
DD1 - 41+1 - 18 hours
DD2 - 41 - 30 hours
DS - 39+5 - 5 hours.

But my mum's labours were 18, 9 & 3. All around due date.

A friend of mine has a family history of 1 - 2 hour labours on her mums side. Her first was 7.

Well I haven't gone way overdue, but I am wishing you a short labour.

With DD1 i was induced 12 days over (so i dont know if this counts). I was 3 cm when i arrived and had had lots of pre labour etc. I ended up with and Emergency CS after 16hrs :redface: I do believe though if i had not been induced things would have gone alot better so here to hoping that with going over you will go nice and quickly.

GL and i hope things happen soon for you.

lol.. thanks MR :)

Skye - family history huh... hmm... sounds promising... (I know my mum only laboured for 3 hours with me - but I don't count it cos it was most likely because of being induced)

Trillian - no prelabour whatsoever here my friend... :(

Thanks Hoody - its induction for me on Thursday if not gone before then.... (but not chemical induction obviously because of risks, but old fashioned balloon up the clacker induction - sounds like a blast!!)

Maybe you could try going for a really long walk. It worked for me.
DD2 wasn't established labour so DH & I walked about 5 k's.
DS just didn't want to go over, so I walked 2 k's & labour started at 5am the next morning. I wasn't very fit in the last pg.

Skye - I would but my back is sooo stuffed and sore that I can barely walk from the couch to the toilet... I'm hoping to get a massage tomorrow to try and make it better..

Walking didnt work for me either :( with DD1 i walked 5km on my 10 day over and still nothing just up with BH all night but my morning it had stopped.

With DD2 i was on 40+5 and i had a 6 hour labour

I went to 42.5 with my first and was then induced and I had a very long 20 hr labour plus all sorts of interventions. Sorry!

The ladies I know who went over had long labours and most had interventions due to the large size of their overcooked bubs. My recent labour was quite different to those my mother had even though we both experienced very similar easy trouble free pregnancies.

Best of luck with the labour. If you need one don't forget to ask for the epidural like I did!!!

Sadly Mel I don't think it makes a difference. I was 6 days over when I went into labour with Zander & he was born at 8 days over (36 hour labour). Juliette was 10 days over when I went into labour & hers was 11 hours for me to get to the same point as I did with Zander. (I got to 9cm with both)

Mel in my case it did.

My PG's have gotten longer and my labours have gotten shorter.

I also had a lot of prelabour with Angus & Calebs PG's.

Maybe? But not for me.... Matilda was 17 days post EDD and labour was around 20 hoursish and then c/s. Jovie was 12 days post EDD and labour from the first noticable twinge to birth was 12 hours exactly.

Geez.. none of that is too darn hopeful... lol... maybe I'll go with Skye's theory of it being like past family members...

Satya - Thanks, but I won't be having an epidural. It will take away any sensation that I have near my scar, and I want to be able to feel what my body is doing, just in case of uterine rupture. It's the only drug I can't have. ;)

Mel I forgot to say, but for me, as someone who was going through a VBAC and trying to a natural birth I found that I needed the time to go through labour. I needed to have time to get used to what my body was going and to progress on to the next stage. When I was in the shower, time went super quick, next thing it was 2 hours later!!

8 hours would have been better than 12 :P but for me it was perfect. I had an amazing empowered birth.

Thanks Christy :hug:

Thought I might add too Mel don't be worried about a longer labour. It doesn't always mean more painful ;)

OOooOOhh thanks Sam.. nobody has ever mentioned that before... (cos I wouldn't have a clue, not having gone into labour before.. )

Mel - I just wanted to wish you all the very best over the next few hours or days..... you are doing a great job :hug:

Yeah that's true.
My 30 hour one wasn't too bad til about 9 hours before DD2 was born. When the contractions got regular. They were half an hour apart when I decided I couldn't bear it any more. They'd been half an hour apart & getting more painful for 3 hours. I was terrified that if they were that bad at half an hour apart I'd never survive when they got closer!
When I got up & woke up DH they hit me 5 minutes apart. We went up to the hospital - 40 minutes of agony! - to find out that I was 6 - 7 cm dialated. I was only at the hospital for about 4 hours before I had her.
I got through with no pain relief!

sorry to burst your bubble but i was 10 days late when i gave birth... which was on wednesday afternoon, and my labour started on monday morning

gl

Mel - dont wish for a quick labour DD came 2 hrs after my waters broke and those 2hrs were absolute hell she came down way to quick.
Good luck and hope that something starts for you soon - You'll have a fantastic VBAC.

DS was 42+1 and an induced labour of 8 hours(pure hell)
DD was 41+2 natural birth and labour of 12 hours and it was pure bliss!! very little pain compared to ds

Both my girls were born on the edd. DD1 was a 10 hour labour and very managable with pain, DD2 came in 3 hours and the last hour was so painful that I can't remember much. I much prefered the longer labour!!!

All the best and wishing you a wonderful birth experience

I just wouldn't be very happy if I waited all this time, and then had a 3 day labour or something.. lol...

I think anything under 12 I will be happy with (did you hear that Rabbit? Be nice to mummy.. )

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2hrs were absolute hell she came down way to quick.

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totally agree, mine were all fast and furious. Still had my shoes on with one of them !! LOL.

Good luck hon, ive been watching out for the annoucements....all your buddies must have left you by now......not to worry, your lil one is waiting for its grand entrance.....good luck.

I was 9 days over with DD#2 and she was born 10 minutes after my waters broke - 4cms dilated to birth in 10 minutes so thank God I'd already gone to the hospital!! I had had so much pre-labour though that it was the joke in my house that I'd be sitting surrounded in a pool of amniotic fluid before I would actually accept I was in actual, real labour.

DD#1 at 5 days over was 35 hours.

Good luck for a quick, safe birth very soon.

Mel, I was in labour with DS for 14 hours (at 35 weeks, but still a big head ;), and posterior). It was lovely, and I can't wait to go back :D I would maybe ask for a couple of hours less next time, because I was quite tired after about 12 hours, but it was still great!

Oooooh, what are you calling "labour"?

DD was born EDD+11.

Labour from waters breaking to birth: 15hours
Labour from when i felt it was definitely labour (i.e. had to breathe through contractions, didn't wonder if it was going to stop again any more, felt like labour in the sense of "work") to birth: 6.5hours.
Active labour from medical standpoint (4cm-birth): under 4 hours, BUT at 2.30pm i was dilated 2-3cm, 50% effaced. From about 2pm i felt a bit pushy and was moaning to avoid pushing (DD was a bit posterior) and i continued to do so until the birth (by the birth i was ROARING so i wouldn't push though). I HONESTLY gave only ONE push i got behind with my diaphragm (it was agony not pushing when my body told me to, i don't recommend it) and she was already born to her ears by then and shot out. If i had pushed 3x/every contraction (or even just when i felt like it) i reckon i'd have given birth about 2 hours earlier. About 3pm, after the midwife had gone back to the hospital to get a mouthpiece for the entonox tank, i got on my knees, felt a rush of fear, a sharp pain inside and i pooped. NOW i know this was DD's head descending into the birth canal, if the midwife hadn't JUST told me i had hours to go i'd just have pushed and had her. As it was fear (of pushing on an undilated cervix) held me back.

When i lay down for my 2nd VE and DD's head was half out the MW dropped hertube of KY :D

I hope you get a quick one hun, but first labours can be long. THings i found helped (and the reason i remember how much of it felt like actual work) was when i had an ouchy one i'd think "Ow it's too sore" and then i'd ask myself "really? How come you still fancy some ice-cream then...?" If i could get in the mood for ANYTHING but zoning out before the next wave came i figured it wasn't real labour yet.

I hope you're pushing as i type this! :)

Bx

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Mel - dont wish for a quick labour DD came 2 hrs after my waters broke and those 2hrs were absolute hell she came down way to quick.

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Well I didn't want to say it quite like that but that's exactly what I meant with my previous post Mel. Not quite absolute hell in my case but the shorter ones were harder to cope with.