Justine Rotteveel’s gave birth to her daughter Olivia in just over an hour – after just eight minutes of contractions she was ready to push.
“I went from zero to 10 centimetres dilated in eight minutes. It was just crazy.
“It was really petrifying because it was my first labour. In a lot of the prenatal classes they kept saying that first labours take a long time, you’ll feel the way, the contractions will build and you’ll have time to ease into it.
Justine is now pregnant with her second child. Image supplied.
"So when my waters broke and it all started happening - it went to zero to 10 in pain instantly, and I was petrified and I just kept thinking ‘this is just the beginning, I might have to maintain this level of pain for 10 hours'. I didn’t realise that the end was really near."
The Melbournian says she had a well thought out birth plan for her first labour.
"I wanted a really calm, quiet environment. I was open to epidural and drugs if I needed them. But basically I just wanted a really calm, quiet environment and I didn’t want any judgement if I wanted an epidural or anything like that, I just wanted to follow my body’s cues and see what I needed at the time."
The first time mum had been enjoying her pregnancy, it was late summer, and she wasn't bothered at all by being five days overdue. Then one night she started bleeding and the hospital advised her to come in.
"I just remember thinking on the way to the hospital, because I wasn’t in any pain or anything - ‘my poor husband, they’re going to keep me there for a couple of hours and he has to go to work tomorrow and he’s going to be really tired’," she said.
Top Comments
All of mine were quick! If you're worried, ask to be induced a week or so early. I did with mine. It meant the fast labour was a bonus not an issue. Kids were all cared for, hubby and obgyn were there and ready. It's certainly one way to take the anxiety out of a short labour!
My first is 23 hours, my second is like yours, 15 minutes after manual breaking of water with no prior contraction( I won't call it inducing because it is definitely not the drug), my third one is 3 hours from the first contraction. I have to say there wasn't a trend and hence there is no guarantee. I have asked a few people to be on stand by to babysit/ assist should I go into labor with my kids..you have got to have at least 3-4 different role play/plans up your sleeve. Good luck!