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For both of my LOs, my water broke before I had any contractions.

With LO1, they started within 2 hours of my water breaking and they were 2 min apart right away. I had the epi about 45min later at 7cm. I didn't feel much else until it was time to start pushing and they turned off the epi so I could feel the contractions. I pushed for about an hour, so I felt contractions for less than 2 hours.

With LO2, I had an enema to jump start the contractions. When they did start, they were very quickly 2-3min apart. But within minutes of that, it just felt like one long horrific contraction. I went from 5 to 10cm in 15 minutes and my baby was born 45min after contractions started. It was excruciatingly painful, but I guess 45min for a med free birth isn't so bad!

ETA: I don't think I ever had any "gentle" contractions.

With DD1, 16 hours--the whole time I was in labor and pushing.

With DD2, 6 hours, which was the total length of labor and pushing.

I had stupid contractions. They were 45 minute long strings of them with a 2-3 minute break. (45 mins contractions, 2 minute break, 45 mins contractions, 3 minute break, etc)
BUT I did the entirety of labor and delivery in 4 hours.

Painful contractions started mildly around 9am, and increased in pain until they were around the writhe level from around 11-2pm, requested epidural and had sweet relief around 3pm - delivered fairly pain-free around 5pm.

Water broke at 1 am, contractions started around 130. At 9 am we went to the hospital and I was 4cm. They were painful but not unbearable prior to that. Once I was admitted they got more painful but I got an epidural within an hour of being at the hospital so I didn't feel them for long. Delivered pain free (didn't feel a thing, not even pressure!) at 530 pm after 90 mins of pushing.

For the entire induction, so 10 hours. It was back labor too

I guess about 10 hours of painful contractions.

Started having contractions at 6:30 am, but they just felt like period cramps that came and went. Got more intense throughout the day but it was at least 12 hours before they were worse than my worst period cramps. I called the midwives at 9, and right after that I remember they started gettig a lot more intense. Checked into hospital at 3:30, had baby at 7:16 am. No pain meds so I felt every single one, but I really think the loooong slow start helped me work up to the intense ones at the end.

I was in labor 57 hours, 51 hours of painful contractions. I don't even count the non painful hours in my time. I didn't reach "active" labor (using >3cm definition) until 30 hours in but contractions during that time were closer together and more painful than some of the later ones.

Baby #1 - 12 hours of active labor and maybe 9 of those hours were intense contractions.

Baby #2 - 15 hours of active labor and about 5 hours of painful contractions (though right up until the last twenty minutes or so I felt fine inbetween contractions unlike my first labor).

@Corduroy: oh my! that is a long time! ouch!

I can't even remember! I had an epidural but I can't even remember now when I asked for it. All I know is back labor was no fun.

I'm not really sure what part was active labour. Is that the part that really hurts? I started having contractions at 6am and went to the hospital at 4pm but they didn't get painful until 6pm. I'd say I had 3 hours of painful contractions before my epidural.

I think I had like five mildly painful contractions and the rest were super intense. I was petrified they were just going to keep getting worse but turns out I hit transition less than an hour into labor so they actually got a tiny bit more bearable after we got through that. I was only in labor 6.5 hours though.

With DS, 6 hours, including pushing. With DD, 3 hours, with pushing. I didn't have an epidural with either one.