LABOR

Okay so I am getting nervous again...almost 36 weeks and laying around thinking about things!

This is my third pregnancy and my last one was fairly quick...she came about 5 hours after getting to the hospital and was born vaginally weighing 8.8...so my question is since twins tend to be smaller and most people go earlier, would labor be shorter?? I am contracting off and on all day long now for the past 3 days and was dilated to 1 at my last check-up. They are very low and my doc said just to relax since it could be tomorrow or still a few more weeks...

My husband is a nervous wreck and thinks they are just going to come flying out of me...LOL!!!

Anybody have any words of wisdom...I know everyone is diff. and every labor is diff. but I was just curious to see if labor and birth "tended" to be quicker with two!!

 

In my case yes, but my first was very slow ... about 28 hours, 2 1/2 hours of pushing (more than 12 hours of active labor, 5 cm +). With the twins I was already dilated 4 1/2 cm without anything happening. Got Pitocin at 6 am, they were born at 10.32 and 10.36 am. Fast, as my OB expected. I only had to push 4 times for my girl and 1 time for my boy (breech extraction) so nothing compared to those 2 1/2 hours and forceps in the end!

 

Yes, it was true in my case, but I was induced for both pregnancies. The first (singleton) took 20 hours of labor and only 25 mins. of pushing. The twins labor 6 hours of labor and 20 mins. of pushing. I think your body knows what to do after the 1st pregnancies. I don't know. Good luck, you're so close!

 

Like you said, I think everyone and every situation is different and it is really impossible to say what will prove to be true for you. I hope that things go smoothly for you!

 

the general rule of thumb is that each labor tends to be quicker than the last. the fact that this isn't your first, i dont doubt it will definitely be a quicker labor for ya. Good luck!