Did timing contractions help?

[paper_girl_76]

Originally Posted by happysmileylady If you are talking about timing how long they are, yes, for me it was absolutely helpful. With DS (and it is weird to type that after 3 girls) who was born on the 12th, it was by far my most painful labor of the 4, and I had done 2 labors without pain meds, one was a pit induction. And my early contractions were 45 seconds to a minute long or longer. They REALLY hurt, so timing it knowing "all right, 30 seconds in, going to be coming down now" was easier to focus on than just breathing through it.

Right, this is what I mean. I am thinking it def wouldn't hurt to try and if it doesn't work out, then I can just discontinue.

[steph410]

honestly for me I was so almost out of control towards the very end that timing the length of a contraction was probably the last thing I would have wanted to do. They seemed to vary in length too, so not sure it would have helped me in particular.

[jlsquire0324]

I think the nurse told DH to time my contractions while I was in the tub, to make sure labor wasn't slowing down... I didn't really pay attention to him or anyone else to know if they were timing..I was kinda in my own space so u doubt it would be helpful for me

[songbird516]

I only timed them right at the beginning. I really don't care how long they are; focusing on that would make me more anxious, I think. I mainly sang long with songs during contractions.
But you could always try it and if it helps, great, and if not, just stop

[hohaas]

I only did at the beginning to track whether it was true labor. During the more intense labor it never even crossed my mind to track. I just concentrated on breathing thru them.