# when did you start counting labor hours?



## breachaplin (Jan 19, 2007)

i wonder when someone says that they had a 30+ hour labor, when do you start counting? i was in early labor for the whole day before but i dont count that in my 13 hours i started counting from when the contractions were 4 min apart and getting pretty painful, the point where i knew we would have a baby today.
it seems that if someone counts from the first twinge and someone else counts from 4 min apart and painful, then there can be a very big gap in how 2 people would time the same labor.
when do you all btdt mamas start counting the hours in your labor?


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## PPK (Feb 15, 2007)

I counted from when I realized they were actually contractions; they were 7 min apart. That lasted only an hour or two, then 4 min, etc. From the time I noticed them at 7 min apart is what I go by when I say my labor was 6.5 hours start to finish.


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## clutterbug (Apr 6, 2007)

My water broke before I started getting contractions, so I tend to time it from there. I had a little tiny leak for a couple of hours before the first "plop" of water - I don't count that time. I think the "plop" was at 11:30 and contractions set in (light ones at first) shortly after...DS was born a little over 12 hours after my water. I imagine if there were a long gap between my water breaking and contractions starting, I would be less likely to count that time...it's all pretty subjective, isn't it!?


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## starshine1001 (Feb 16, 2008)

With my first, I started having contractions first, so I started timing from when I first noticed that they were indeed labor contractions. With my second, my water broke first, and contractions didn't start until about 8 hours later, so I time my duration of labor by the contractions, not by when my water broke. If I timed it from then, it would have been a 19 hour labor. I had 11 hours of contractions...that sounds a lot better!!


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## kythe (Dec 20, 2007)

I count it from the time I woke up with regular contractions. My labor started during the early morning hours with both of mine. I had some discomfort and restlessness the night before with each of them, but I figured that if I could sleep then I wasn't really in labor.

My water broke the night before ds was born, but I still don't count that as onset of labor. I didn't start having contractions until another 10 hours (and after a full night's sleep).


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## texanatheart (Sep 10, 2007)

I count from when my water broke. Looking back on it, I was probably in labor before then (and in denial that it was happening







). But after my water broke....WOAH! what a ride! The contractions came hard and fast after that. Water broke at 7pm, DS born at 3:30pm...8.5 hours. If I hadn't gone to the hospital, I'd venture to guess it would have been more like 5!


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## amitymama (Nov 17, 2006)

I started counting it as labour when I knew there were contractions and they were less than 10 minutes apart. I had been leaking water and having very, very mild twinges for hours before that but didn't count it in my total. For me, real labour started at 7pm and ended when I had DD at 6.30 the following morning. So, just over 11 hours.


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## Inner_Serenity (May 23, 2007)

Many times this is an irrelevant number when birth is left to occur naturally. Early labor can last a few hour or days. I just had a client who had early labor 5-7 min apart for 3 days. They were regular, but also recessed enough when she need them to to rest and sleep. on the 4th morning the intensity of them picked up and they began to become more frequent, and she birthed that night. So techinally she could count her labor as 89 hrs... But honetly she was walking and coping quite easily up until the last 5 hrs before birth.

Labor left to be naturally is truly a process that can take time, it can start and slow down and stop, just because it backs off does not mean it is not real, it is just your own individual pattern with that baby.

Problem is we are taught a pretty presubscribed version of what labor should like and how long it should last. So if a woman has contractions 5 minutes apart for 5 hours or more she is told to report to the hospital usually where thy will "help her along" Does she need it? Probably not, but no one teaches us how do anything else. Usually all we have are our caregivers to trust and follow. I usually say.... Trust your self, what is your body and intuition telling you...

Tia


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## dianna11 (Dec 3, 2004)

I started counting hours from the time I noticed I was having contractions. Granted, I didn't notice I was having contractions until I was 3 minutes apart, and the whole thing was 4.5 hours. That was m first baby, I'm kind of hoping that this next one won't be a lot faster.


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## Lkg4dmcrc (Jan 6, 2006)

I count my first labor from when my water broke - contractions were 8 minutes apart and very quickly less than 3 minutes apart and painful from the very beginning. I could not sleep through or rest through any of it - 62 hours later it was over.

With my second, I have not decided how to count the hours. I had food poisoning and painful contractions for two days (didn't sleep at all) and then I spent about 5 hours in the hospital before the baby was born. I was walking and talking coherently at 8 cm dilated but I had to be on all fours during any contraction for the 48 hours prior to that.


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## KariM (Mar 13, 2004)

I counted from the time I realized it was real labor. For me that was when it was distracting and I didn't want to talk during a contraction. I ended up with a 17 hour count. The midwife decided she wanted a 15 hour count.







I want to know how *she* knew what was labor since she wasn't even around for the first several hours of it.


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## Ironica (Sep 11, 2005)

My husband likes to say I was in labor for 52 hours, because that's the time span between when my water broke and when my son was born (via c-section). But I didn't go into active labor spontaneously, so I count things from when they hooked me up to the pit pump and I started having noticeable contractions... 34 hours by that count. (I'd had a cervadil treatment already at that point, but it didn't change my experience any.)


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## danotoyou2 (Jan 19, 2007)

Mine is tricky. I just call it 3 days.









I start counting from when I KNEW it was real labor. The ctx started out 3 minutes apart, and I could cope with them just fine... but they were definitely the real deal, not BH or the prodromal labor I'd had before.

Even with the real labor, the ctx slowed down at night (the same they'd done with prodromal labor).

Sunday: labor started in the morning, dilated to 2cm by noonish. Ctx stopped that night at 10pm (don't know how far dilated I was, I'm guessing 4cm or so, because ctx were getting intense)

Monday: labor started again in the early hours of the morning, dilated to 5cm (stretch to 7cm) by that night.

Tuesday: ctx come back in early hours (2am?) and transition hit me... got the shakes, intense ctx... then they space out by 10am. Dilated to 8cm.

Wednesday: 1am labor comes back with a vengeance, baby is born 4 hours later.

Therefore, I call it three days. Otherwise... do I just count up the hours the labor was present, and not the nights?







It was definitely serious labor because I was dilating like mad.

Personally, I think we all get too caught up in the numbers.


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## luckymamato2 (Jun 3, 2006)

my first contraction woke me at 430am. My dd was born 12 hours later, so I say 12 hours.


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## ~Megan~ (Nov 7, 2002)

I count from when labor was actually "labor". I had nearly painless contractions for 20ish hours but the uncomfortable part that I had to work through lasted about 5 hours.


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

I had los my mucous plug the day before and had some long Braxton hicks. I ended up walking 8 miles that day and fell asleep without eating dinner. At four thirty I woke up to a weird pooping sound and a trickle. ? But my water did not break? The contrcation were about 8 minutes apart for the first hour then they went to 4-5 then to three and never stopped. I birthed at 8:32pm so I say my labor started at 4:30 but I could have said it started as late as 6:30/7:00.


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

I had los my mucous plug the day before and had some long Braxton hicks. I ended up walking 8 miles that day and fell asleep without eating dinner. At four thirty I woke up to a weird pooping sound and a trickle. ? But my water did not break? The contractions were about 8 minutes apart for the first hour then they went to 4-5 then to three and never stopped. I birthed at 8:32pm so I say my labor started at 4:30 but I could have said it started as late as 6:30/7:00.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

I count from when I couldn't sleep between them.

-Angela


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## avalonfaith (Dec 29, 2005)

i count from when my water broke, that's when the contractions picked up a lot. i had actually gone to the hopital the night before though and then went right back home.







so i was having contractions enought to think i was in labor for a good 24 hours. after that water broke i really KNEW it wasn't going back, it all changed then.


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## StrawHatBrat (Jan 5, 2005)

my contractions were 10 or so minutes apart on a wednesday night, had the baby early friday am. Didn't sleep at all except 2 hours wednesday night... so I count from then... so that's how I got my 30 hour labor number!


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## hubris (Mar 8, 2003)

I count from when it felt "serious" - when I felt myself really retreat into myself and I knew for sure that I was in active labor and nothing was going to stop it.

I sometimes wonder about those 50-hour labors, too! If I described my first birth from the very first prodromal contractions, I would have to say I was in labor for 2-3 days! But in terms of *active* labor, it was 20 hours from when things got serious and more intense until DS1 was born.


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## kythe (Dec 20, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *hubris* 
I sometimes wonder about those 50-hour labors, too! If I described my first birth from the very first prodromal contractions, I would have to say I was in labor for 2-3 days!

Me too. Two weeks before my son was born, I had a rough evening with back pain and uneven contractions. I remember spending about 2 hours on all fours doing pelvic tilts to relieve the discomfort. At my prenatal visit the next morning, I was dilated to 4 cm. I had been at 0 before. Yet, things stopped and it was another two weeks before he was actually born.

If I want to get very precise about it, my labor was broken into two parts. When people ask how long labor was, I just talk about the last part from the time contractions were regular until he actually popped out. My body was preparing ahead of time, though.


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## balancedmama (Feb 16, 2007)

I generally count from when contractions were getting regular and required a little attention- which would include some of my early labor and is about 17 hours total. For certain people I also clarify that real active labor was only 10 hours and I also had early early labor all night with contractions I could mostly sleep through, which brings the total to 24 hours. It depends on who I'm talking to I guess, and why they're asking. I have had clients who have had 2-3 day labors with 'real' contractions the whole time though.


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## sarahtdubb (Apr 30, 2007)

My 36-hour count starts when my contractions started (my water broke about 14 hours before that)-- The first 24 hours weren't too bad, but honestly--I say "36 hours" because it sounds so intense and I'm so proud! I also like to let people know that you can get through that much time and still have an unmedicated homebirth... I was with some women the other day and someone started talking about labor and she said that she went 10 hours but then chose an epidural, and they asked me how long my labor was and were surprised at my answer. I felt bad-ass!


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## dctexan (Oct 18, 2006)

I count from when I was no longer able to sleep. I was one of those who says that she had a 3 day labor. Contractions started at 9 PM on 8/29. By 1 AM on 8/30 I could no longer sleep. Contractions continued all day. No significant dilation. Midwife broke my water the next morning (8/31). I labored until 7/8PM or so that night without making any significant progress (in terms of dilation..I think I was maybe a "3" and that was after 2 manual dilation attempts). Got the pit (which really was the pits) and DS was born at 4AM on 9/01. basically it was 3 nights without sleep so I feel entitled to my "3 day" labor.


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## Teensy (Feb 22, 2002)

My first I describe as a 36+ hour labor - my contractions were painful enough that they woke me up in the middle of the night and I could NOT sleep through them. They were sporadic (4 minutes apart, then 20 minutes, then 16, then 5, etc.) but never tapered off for more than about 20 minutes. Plus they were painful enough I was on edge waiting for the next one to hit - I don't think my first contractions were much less painful than my final ones. I didn't sleep at all for 36+ hours before delivery. I also didn't eat or drink enough the next day (I didn't feel hungry or thirsty). Not an ideal condition!

I did learn one lesson and instructed DH to bring me drinks (OJ, gatorade, etc.) every hour during my next two labors and remind me to drink. Never did sleep during labor though.


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## callieollie (Jan 2, 2007)

I start counting from when things got hard. I lost my mucus plug around 9 on Friday morning and was having contractions off and on that whole day but I could easily go about my day without really noticing them. They became more regular and noticeable around 7 or 8 (probably about 5 minutes apart) but it wasn't until around 10:00 that they were strong enough where I couldn't talk or do anything during a contraction, I couldn't sleep, and I was fully focused on the labor. At that point, I was about 4 centimeters dilated so I guess I don't count my labor really starting until I was in active labor. So, from that point, my labor was a little over 25 hours.


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## UrbanSimplicity (Oct 26, 2005)

I count from when I knew that I was having contractions, which was 1:30 am and they would not let me sleep (and i had to moan during every one). My water broke about 5 minutes before dd came out! So I labored about 17 hours, dd was born at 6:20 pm.


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