Moms of More than 1 - Consecutive babies faster and larger?

[hoodlims]

I have about 10 weeks to go until #2 is born. I have heard all these rumors and stories that consecutive babies are not only faster, but also larger.

My first labor was 6 hours, but with 2 hours of pushing. I didn't even realize I was in labor for the first hour, and was at 7cm within 3 hours. Pretty easy and fast. Then my DD came out to be 8lb, 13oz, 21 3/4in with no IV or drugs. I am about 5'3 and a size 2, DH is not exactly large himself. We were SHOCKED. She is still quite tall for her age.

My biggest fear is that this baby will be out within 3 hours, and I will not have anybody come to my house quickly enough to stay with DD. Our parents live 1.5 and 3 hours away, and who knows how quickly they will get moving. I guess a 9+ pound baby is not my ideal size, but I can buck up and deal.

Can anybody confirm this is true?

[hoodlims]

Oops, this was posted in the wrong section.

[Indianamom2]

Sometimes true, not in my case.

My second was within 2 oz. of his big sister's weight and his labor was almost twice as long.

DD#1 was about 12 hours and easy. 7 lbs. 12 oz.


Ds#2 was around 20 hours (induced) and miserable. 7 lbs. 14 oz.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Ds2 was a bit more than a lb bigger than ds1- came out easily with no pain meds. While not a size 2, I am still small framed and short and ds2 was 9lb 9oz. Labor was shorter with ds2 but ds1 was 20 hours so odds were in my favor on shorter. :) Pushing for both of my boys was less than 30 minutes. You should check out the Bradley birth info regarding "emotional signposts of labor" b/c those coupled with the way contractions are acting can you a good gauge on what stage labor is in before it gets really hot and heavy!

Beth

[chottumommy]

Hate to scare you but yes my second was born at home because he came so fast. My first labour was 4 hours and DS1 was 6lb 9oz. Second one came with just one minute of hard contractions. I was actually eating cherries while my husband was getting the bags in the car. Contractions were 7-10 minutes apart and then I had one really hard long contractions and DS was out within 2 minutes after that, no pushing. I was actually trying to hold him in :) till DH could get some towels to put down.

But it was a superfast, almost painless birth with no complications. DS2 was 7lb 9oz.

[JTsMom]

Not true here either. I'd say faster is relatively common, but I've never heard larger before.

[llama8]

My 1st DD was 9 lb

My 2nd DD was 7 lb 8 oz.

Both were planned c-sections.

[JBaxter]

Larger yes faster no
7lb15.5
8lb13oz
9lb8oz
10lb1oz

My actual labors with 2 & 4 were the shortest at 12hrs.

[ellies mom]

My daughters were within 4oz and 1/2" of each other. I had a c-section with both so I can't speak to the speed of labor though.

They are about the same size for age now but DD1 was a much chunkier infant. She started out on the small side of normal, shot up to the 80th percentile and then dropped back down to the small side. DD2 has steadily remained on the small side.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Yes, increasingly larger and faster.

[kellij]

Mine were #1 - 8lbs 15oz
#2 - 8lbs 3 oz
#3 - 7lbs 15oz and I carried him the longest.

[buddyleebaby]

My third was my longest labor. He was larger than the first two (at 10 lbs)but he was also the only boy, and 12 days late.

DD1 was 7lb, 9 oz. at 37 weeks.
DD2 was 8lb, 3 oz at 40 weeks.

[Raidra]

I'll echo the 'sometimes true, but not always'. My first labor was 8 hours, my second was 10 hours, my third was 48 hours of prodromal ('false') labor but only an hour of active labor, and my fourth was about 3 hours of active labor. My first was my smallest, then my third, then my second, then my fourth. I think the main reason their weights were out of order was because my third was a girl, so she weighed less than my second. But that might have been a fluke, too.

[SpaceGal]

I have three kids:

DS1: I was at the hospital for 4 hours with 45 minutes of pushing and he was out 6lb 2oz.
DS2: I was at the hospital longer, needed antibiotics for the group B strep, I went in at 5am and was set up with IVs and later given pitocin. I think I was in labor for 1-1.5 hours. He weighed in 7lb 3oz.
DD: Also at the hospital for group B strep. DD came VERY quickly. I say I pushed for like 10 minutes...I don't even remember. I went from 5cm went to pee and had some pain...realizing it was my water...DDs head was already crowning. She weight 5lbs 9oz.

[brittone2]

My midwives joke that labor 2 is often half the length of #1, but #3 is a crapshoot ;)

I have had the following:

DS1 was 8lbs 4 oz 20.5 inches long, 6 hour and 20 min labor. Very easy for a first timer. Went into labor at 39w1d.

DD-same weight and length at birth as DS1. SHe was born 2 days after my EDD (just barely as she was born a little after midnight). 3 hour labor and I wasn't sure I was in active labor for a good bit of that. Showed up to the FSBC 10cm dilated with no clue I was that far. Totally thought the midwife was joking. 1 hour of my 3 hour labor was me waiting around the birth center (fully dilated) to feel pushy, as my membranes were still intact (and I didn't want AROM). If my membranes had ruptured early that would have been a *really* fast labor.

DS2 was born on his EDD. He was the biggest at 9lbs even. 21 inches long. Labor was a little over 5 hours. I woke up to one really, huge, enormous contraction at 3 am so I may have been in labor for a while before that while I was sleeping.

Pushing was waaaay easier with #2 and 3. With #1 I only pushed 20 mins but baby #2 was 2 pushes or so, as was DS2.

[Puddy73]

Larger yes faster no


Ditto. Each of my babies was about pound bigger than the previous one! I was induced each time and the period of active labor was about the same. A little more pushing with DD1 because she was sunny side up.

[momof2girls]

DD#2 was bigger than DD#1 (6lbs 10oz. vs 7lbs 4 oz). Both were c-sections so I can't help you out there!

[MommyAllison]

My 2nd labor was much faster (3hrs...sorry! first labor was 9 hours) and DS was smaller than DD (6oz different), despite being a couple days further overdue. I am curious to see how DD2 compares in a few weeks!

[crayonblue]

Get to the hospital the second you are in labor!

I had a similar experience with my first as your first. First contractions started at 3:30am. I was fully dilated at 9:00. I pushed for 2 1/2 hours. DD was born at noon and was 6 lbs. 12 oz.

With Hope, my water broke at exactly 7:00pm. (I know that because I was walking down the stairs to let Carmen's night nurse in and she always, always arrived at 7pm on the dot!) Because of a snowstorm, it took us a while to get to the hospital. Finally arrived in the hospital room at 10:15. DD was born at 10:28. :) No time for an epidural!

ETA: Hope was not much bigger, just 7 lbs. 2 oz.

[daisymommy]

All 3 of my babies were nearly the same size.
7 1oz.
7 3oz.
7 2oz.

1st baby was a 24 hr. labor

Second baby did come fast (3 hours)--but that was only because I was a week over due and I went to the birth center to have my water broken.

3rd baby was 5 hours.

[Mom to Brandon and 2 cats]

Mine got increasingly smaller (but had 2 DS, then a DD, so maybe that's why she's the smallest?).

But definitely faster. The first one, I pushed for over 2 hours, after having already been in the hospital for 8 hours. The second two kids, they were born within 40 minutes of when the contraction started to get uncomfortable. I'd say it was about about an hour from me have contractions that didn't hurt 10 minutes apart until the baby was born. Barely had time to get to the hospital in both cases, and definitely not enough time to have an epidural. The body knows what to do, and doesn't waste any time!

I say if you have a long drive, don't waste any time getting to the hospital sooner rather than later!

[KrisM]

No to both, here.

DS1 - 30 hours labor pre c-section and 9lbs 6 oz
DD - 22 hours labor pre c-section and 8 lbs 6 oz (and 2 weeks late)
DS2 - c-section and 8lbs 12 oz.

[misshollygolightly]

I'm about your size (5'2", 115 lbs when not pregnant, size 2) and my first baby was 8 lbs 15 oz (and a very painful labor and delivery with a 4th degree tear as a souvenir). He also came one day before his due date. I was pretty much terrified about the potential size of my second baby, but shouldn't have worried. DD came a week late, was 7 lbs 14 oz (so over a pound smaller!), and a much smoother labor and delivery (still not super fast or anything...I was in labor for about 5 or 6 hours with her...far less than with DS, but still not super fast or anything).

All this to say that I think it may matter whether you're having a boy or girl (boys tend to be bigger at birth), and that bigger, faster is probably a reasonable generalization, it isn't always the case and it isn't anything to lose sleep over.

[o_mom]

True for my second, not my third. My second was less than 2 hrs labor (first was 24+) and over a pound larger. Third was about 3-4 hrs and in between size. The size did correlate more with due date than first, second, third, though.

No matter what, I would say you need to have some sort of plan for childcare that is not 1.5 hrs away. A neighbor or friend you can call any time to come stay at your house until your parents/ILs can get there. We had a list of 4-5 people that we could call so that we could leave ASAP, some who could come stay at our house, others could meet us at the hospital if needed. I found most people were very understanding and more than happy to be part of the birth even in that small way.

[nfowife]

Faster yes,larger no.
Baby 1- 7.15, 30 hour labor. She was posterior and a vacuum delivery.
Baby 2- 7.3, 5 hour labor, no meds. At hospital 40 mins before delIvery.
Baby 3- 6.12, 6 hour labor, no meds, at hospital 2 hours before delivery.
1st 2 were postdates, 3rd was 4 days before edd. All spontaneous labors.

[turtledove]

1st baby 7lbs2oz, 10 hours of labor
2nd baby 6lbs11oz, 1.5 hours of labor

I almost didn't make it to the hospital with #2, she was born 3 minutes after arrival.

I think what happened to me was pretty unusual though!

[ilfaith]

My first labor was very much like yours...about six hours, but with 2+ hours of pushing. Finally they got the vacuum and DS1 flew out. All 7lbs2oz of him (so not nearly as big as your baby...he was born nine days before his due date, so had he baked a little longer, I guess he might have been larger)

My labor with DS2 was very quick. Two hours from the first contraction to cutting the cord. I woke up with contractions about five minutes apart and within half an hour there were less than two minutes between them. No time for an epidural, but honestly, things happened so quickly the pain was over before I knew it. DS2 was more than a pound heavier than his brother at 8lbs5oz. DS2 arrived in the middle of the night...and we brought DS1 to the hospital with us. We have no family nearby and of the two sets of friends who had volunteered to watch DS1, the ones who lived around the corner were out of town that weekend and the others lived 25 minutes away and in the opposite direction of the hospital. At 2:30 in the morning, we had no choice but to bring him along (he slept in his stroller through the whole delivery.)

DS3 outweighed his brother by exactly one ounce (both he and his similarly-sized brother arrived 11 days before they were due). Again labor was relatively quick...a little over three hours. This time labor began at about 9 am, so we were able to drop the boys off with a neighbor before heading to the hospital.

[val01]

My DD was born at 38 weeks. She came on her own, early. I was in labor for 19 hours, active pushing about 1-2 hours. She weighed 6 lbs 14 lbs. She was a special needs kiddo, so not sure if that played into it.

My DS came on his due date. My water was broken, but I progressed naturally after that. He came in 2.5 hours from my water being broken - 3-4 hard pushes and he was born at 8 lbs 8 ozs.

Valerie

[ladysoapmaker]

DS#2 8lb4oz 21in 18hrs labor (9 months exactly)
DD#1 7lb14oz 19in 3 or 4 hrs labor (maybe a few days early)
DD#2 8lb14oz 20in 4 or 5 hrs labor (minor contractions for 6hours before) (2 days late)

So I would say in my case any thing is possible. I'm almost scared to think about having another child.

Jen

[smilequeen]

Mine got faster but smaller and really DS1 was a c/s after a failed induction (24 hours after my water broke on it's own), DS2 was VBAC, and DS3 was induced VBAC for pre-e. So I can't truly compare the lengths of my labors. Only the 2nd one happened completely on it's own.

But they really got smaller...DS1 was 8lbs6oz at 39w5d, DS2 was 7lbs12oz at 40w, DS3 was 6lbs8oz at 39w.

[jgenie]

It was true for me. Both my boys were born 4 weeks early but both were easy, pain free labors and deliveries. God was sooo good to me - We don't have family nearby and I was terrified of how DS1 would react when DH & I would have to go to the hospital and leave him with someone else. My water broke just after DS1 had fallen asleep for the night and DH was back home when DS1 woke up the next morning.

DS1 was born 4.5 hours after my water broke at work. Three pushes and he was out.

DS2 was born 1 hour after my water broke at home - he was almost a pound larger than DS1. The midwife that delivered DS2 - checked me and said he was ready - if I sneezed he would be out. She was right - one push and he was out.

[mommytoC]

Labor was shorter, 8+ hours vs. 16+ hours, and much easier. Re: size, DD#2 weighed a pound more, but was born 16 days later than DD#1; had they been born at the same gestational age, I expect they would have weighed almost exactly the same.

[spanannie]

My babies weren't progressively larger

DS 40w0d 9#2oz
DD 39w6d 7#8oz
DD 39w4d 8#9oz

My first and 3rd labor were about the same length, 4-5 hrs. My 2nd was the longest (since my water didn't break 'til the end) and she was also the smallest. I did have to push the longest with the 1st, though; just a couple of pushes on the other 2.

[hoodlims]

Wow! Great feedback! I am scared now...but I can plan better as a result! Thanks ladies. I will keep my legs TIGHTLY crossed until some back-up childcare arrives. :-P Luckily the hospital is about 4 blocks away from my house.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

was true for me

ds was born at 38 wks, weighed 6 lb 15 oz. labor was a painful 24 hrs

dd was born at 34-35 wks, weight 6 lb 1 oz. labor was shorter and not as painful.

yes dd was lighter but if she had gone to term she would have been huge. she was by far the biggest baby in the NICU. i have some friends who had (singleton) babies born later at 36, 37 weeks and they weren't even 5 lbs.

my OB said something about how 2nd, 3rd kids tend to be larger and it has to do with the efficiency (or something?) about the placenta.

eta: i reread your OP. i had the same fear. we have no family in town, DH's parents are the closest and they are 5 hour drive away. we had a sitter and a friend tell us they'd watch DS when i went into labor. well, as luck would have it, i realized i was in labor at 3am, more than a month before i was due. i couldn't get through to either of them,so we ended up waking DS up and taking him to the hospital with us. luckily we had an UppaBaby vista, and DH walked DS around in that. it was crazy at the time but it could have been worse. our back-up plan was that hopefully DS would fall asleep in the stroller and when the time came to push we'd put the stroller in the bathroom (since kids aren't allowed in the birthing room, and i wanted DH to be there for the birth). LOL. luckily a couple hours before the birth my sitter was able to come and take DS, and soon the ILs came so we had plenty of help. in the end it was not that bad, the labor/birth was the easy and quick part, it was the several weeks afterwards that we needed tons of help with DS, and luckily we had family to help for that.

anyway, if you are really nervous about it, i guess you can think about getting a doula. that way in case you don't have anyone to watch your DS during the labor/birth at least you have someone to be there with you.

[kdeunc]

All 3 of mine were sections but the larger yes...ds1 was 7/11 DS2 8/9 and DD 9/9.

[mum-to-be]

Both of mine were born at 39 weeks 4 days.

1. DS 8lb 4oz, First contraction to birth = 13.5 hours, but had epidural which slowed contractions. Pushing - 45 mins. Pushing was exhausting.
2. DD 9lb, First contraction to birth = 2 hours 17 minutes, no drugs. I was at 5cm just 17 minutes before she was born, and thought I needed to go to the toilet after my water broke, did a bit of pushing there, got pulled off the toilet, and out she came! Very easy, but very painful, although the pain was over instantly.

My midwife told me that second babies are usually 1/2 lb bigger.

Good luck! You've done this before - my second was very easy compared to my first. And if it came to it, I could have taken DS to the hospital and had him wait with DH in the waiting room. DH just stood in the corner in shock while people ran in trying to get everything assembled.

[maestramommy]

Dora was 9 days early, 5 lbs 12 oz
Arwyn was a week early, 7 lbs 8 oz
Laurel was a day late, 6 lbs 7 oz. However she has made up for it by shaping up like a TANK. She will probably be the biggest of the three. Why she came in such a small package I have no idea (she had the smallest head too), but I'm forever grateful, lol.

However, Dora was born in 7 hours 45 minutes
Arwyn was born in 3 hours 20 minutes
Laurel was born in 1 hour 50 minutes. Too late for an epidural!

My mom was this way too, at least in terms of delivery time. All of her labors were less than 3 hours. So I'm thinking it's just genetic. But my sisters were in labor a lot longer with their kiddos. Who knows?

[Melanie]

My first was 7 1/2 lbs, and labor was excruciating and 26 hours or so culminating in a medicated birth, pushing wasn't long, maybe 1/2 hour. Labor started on due date.

I did a lot of things differently while PG with #2 and in labor.

My second was 8 lbs 1 oz, labor was a peaceful 23 hours, no pushing (hypnobirthing) but that aspect of it was a few minutes. Labor started 3 days prior to due date.

My MWs said what tends to go more quickly the second time isn't labor overall, but the "pushing" stage.

[lizzywednesday]

I think it really depends on the mama.

I'm the eldest of 4; my birthweight was 7lbs 9oz, which, coincidentally, was my DD's lowest post-discharge weight.

My brother Ger was 8lbs and change, but my brother Joe was another 7lb-er.

My sister was 8 lbs and change ... and her delivery was probably the fastest.

She skinned her nose on the sheets because the L&D nurses didn't break the breakaway part of the bed down fast enough. (Hence the reason we don't have receiving room photos of her as an infant...)

[luckytwenty]

It's hard for me to really gage size because they arrived at 37, 38 and 39 weeks, and the more cooked they were, the bigger they were.

The first was an emergency c-section after 13 hours of labor, and the other two were c-sections also (the second was a gentle VBAC attempt; the third scheduled) so no "faster" here.

DS 1, 37 weeks, 6 lbs., 7 oz.
DD 1, 38 weeks, 7 lbs. 3 oz.
DS 2, 39.5 weeks, 8 lbs, 9 oz.

My older two have remained fairly slim children; my baby is HUGE.

[lowrioh]

For me bigger yes, faster not really.

DD1 born ~ 24 hours after the first mild contraction 7 pounds 8 oz (38 weeks)

DD2 born ~ 18 hours after the first mild contration 9 pounds 10 oz. (40.5 weeks)

My mom had a much faster labor with her third compared to her first but I think that some of that had to do with the medical practices of the day. My brother was born in 1970 and they gave mom all sorts of medication that made her loopy and probably prolonged labor. My sister was born in 1984 and she had a drug free delivery.

[infocrazy]

DS1 21 hrs FTP and fever = C/S 7 lb 8 oz 3 days before due date
DS2 19 hrs VBAC 7 lb 13 oz 3 days after due date
DD 4 hrs! VBAC 7 lb 2 oz 3 days after due date

My third was the fastest by FAR, but also the smallest.

[vonfirmath]

2nd was larger but not faster

My sister's 2nd was smaller than her 1st and her 3rd was smaller than her 2nd. But all still over 10 pounds.

[swissair81]

I have 4 kids. My oldest was 6lbs 5oz (at 2 days overdue) and my youngest was 5lbs 13oz (38 weeks). In the middle I have another 6 lber (38 weeks and 6 days) and another 5 lber (36 weeks and 5 days). As for increasingly faster, my labor with my oldest took 8 hours, my second took 3, my third took 4 (he was posterior), and my youngest was induced(although once they started pitocin, my entire labor was 2.5 hours). It really depends on the person and the baby.

[AnnieW625]

DD2 was smaller 6lbs, 4oz., while DD1 was 6lbs., 6 oz. . With DD1 I was at the hospital for 13 hrs. before she was born, but my active labor was a little less than 4 hrs., but that was because I had pitocin. I started pitocin at 9 am, and I delivered her at 1:30 (I pushed for an hour). With DD2 my water broke at 11:30 pm and I had her at 8:30 am. I actively labored for just about 2 hrs. with her. I went from potentially needing pitocin because I was barely 5 cm. to 7 cm. in less than an hour, and then an hour later I was about 8 to 9 cm. and I was being told there was no chance of me getting an epidural I told the nurse/dr. that after the next round of heavy contractions I wanted to push, which I did and then I pushed for 20 minutes. My OB who was going off shift had even come in and told me that I'd probably have her about 10 am based on my progression, but I progressed way faster than that.

DD1 was born at 37 w 5 days.
DD2 was born at 38 w 6 days.

[essnce629]

DS1 was 7lbs 15oz

DS2 was 8lbs 10oz

DS1's birth was much faster and easier-- 9 hours total, but only 55 minutes of uncomfortable contractions and 2 pushes.

DS2's birth was probably about 7 hours of uncomfortable contractions and 2 pushes. 4 hours of that though was just me sitting around at 10cm waiting to have an urge to push (didn't happen till I had them break my water and then it was CRAZY intense).

[ast96]

DS1: 39 weeks, 8 lbs, 13 oz, 20 hours labor (1 hour pushing)

DS2: 37 weeks, 8 lbs, 9 oz, 10 hours labor (20 mins pushing)

DS3: 38 weeks, 9 lbs., 6 oz, 6 hours labor (10 mins pushing)

[emily_gracesmama]

Larger yes, 6 lbs 2 ozs to 8lbs 13 ozs, don't be frightened by that though, no one had any idea she was that big, they said 7 lbs based on ultrasound the day of birth. DD1 was ten days "early" DD2 only 2 days early. Faster, well you be the judge, because I am what they referred to as a silent dialater (sp?) so I too feared giving birth in the minivan since DD1 was out 4 hrs after water broke at home at ten days early. I had them bring me in when I was 2 days before my due date and they found I was at 8 cm. She was born at 3 p.m. after they broke my water around noon. Ten mins of pushing maybe.

[dukie41181]

My first was about 7-7.5 hours total time in labor and my second was an hour and a half. My first was 8lb. 14oz and second was 9lb. 8oz. I don't think its a hard and fast rule that the second is faster and bigger though.

[MoJo]

My second was just a little smaller than my first.

Labor almost had to be shorter, since it was 36 hours between water breaking and the arrival of my first!

I will admit that the last part of labor came on surprisingly quickly with #2. We were casually talking about maybe going to the hospital in a few hours, and then pretty suddenly realized we needed to leave sooner. Our hospital is about 40 minutes away, and I was ready to push before I got to my room.

[klwa]

For mine, 1st labor was 14 1/2 hours. DS was 6 lbs 11 oz.
2nd labor was 12 1/2 hours. DD was 8 lb 2 oz.

For my mom, I'm the youngest of the 3 of us. I was also the smallest. By almost a pound. (Nope, not early.) As far as labors for her, Oldest Brother, her water broke & she didn't go into labor for a week(!) after, but labor was long & difficult, mainly because her durn water had broken a week before. (Gotta love 1970's doctors.) Second brother, she was induced. So, that one doesn't count. And mine, well, was normal. A few hours & there I was. (Her water broke with me, too, but she went into labor at the same time.


Oh, and for one of my SILs, both of her children were within 1/2 of an ounce of each other & labor within minutes of each other. (The nurse wrote the 1/2 on my nephew's weight, just because everyone was makign fun of how identical the two kids' births were. Down to time of day. Really weird.)