The pushing stage...

[aliss]

I pushed for 2 hours...I threw up a few times, and remember being really really hot, but that was b/c my mom turned the heat up in the room b/c she was cold!

Omg That reminds me of my OH wanting to go to sleep after my 3 day labour and 4 hours pushing instead of changing baby's diaper because... he was just "sooo tired" after watching all that

 

[Bartness]

Did anyone get shaky legs - quickly followed by full body shakes - during labour and pushing? I was roasting hot but I couldn't stop shaking.

Yes

 

[mumandco]

I went from 8cm to zack being born in 35mins,I remember my oh passing me the gas and air so I had some I could feel zacks head coming out and then the midwife telling me to breath and his head slipping back up when the head crowned I didn't have the "ring of fire like I was worried about! I stopped taking the g&a and o felt his head oh was horrified and was telling me to carry on with the gas and air and no I couldn't touch his head! It was an amazing experience al in my labour lasted 5nhalf hours but was only in hosp for 35 mins before he was born

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

I pushed Ruby out in 45 minutes. It was very very hard work and my contractions were very weak and spaced out but it wasn't painful at all.

 

[peanut56]

I pushed for around an hour. It was definitely the worst part of my labour. My epidural was wearing off and I could pretty much feel every contraction (all of which were in my back, even though she wasn't back to back). The doctor made it worse by asking me to stop pushing so she could do put her apron on, put her gloves on, put her glasses on...it was horrible!

 

[emmi26]

pushing harry out was actually the easiest bit !!! he was 11lb 5oz so he had moved down on his own alot after i had my waters broke. it took me 35 mins to push him out and after all the drama of 24 hrs in labour no in agony pushing him out was the best part hun !!!

 

[Nicoleoleole]

I had an epi and was induced against my will. Well, I hit 10cm in 3 hours after being induced, and since I wanted to wait for DH to get there, I sat at 10cm for 4 1/2 hours. Then I tried a practice push, and 2 pushes later, out she came. It is noted 4 minutes.

 

[Cat_pj]

Everything was very quick for me, aside from the pushing. LO was back to back and coming out very awkwardly so it took an hour to push. I had wanted an epi at 9cm because I was so scared of the 'ring of fire'! But I realise now that that was just foolish, I'd got that far on gas and air and thats the worse part!

I was terrified of pooing myself and I held back I think for a long while. I was on my back, tried out the stirrups and stuff then OH held one leg back for me while I held the other, although I didn't want him seeing ( he said "don't worry darling I'll still want to have sex with you" LOL this had been a concern of mine!)

It felt like forever and for days afterwards my jaws ached from me grinding my teeth so much! Her head came out then virtually straight away her body. I grabbed her then yelled 'WHATS THE DAMAGE DOWN THERE!?' while OH was like 'but look at the baby!' LOL I don't actually remember that bit.

 

[staceyg]

i pushed for about 4 hours but my lo's head had turned so kept getting stuck i ended up having a spinal and forceps it was horrible but worth it

 

[Pixxie]

At what I presume was transition I was telling the midwife I felt like I had flu, she told me to push if I wanted, I did at the next contraction and it did relieve some of the pain from the contractions. I pushed for just under an hour but it felt like forever, I was getting really discouraged when she would come out a bit then go back when I stopped pushing. I remember the horrible sting as her head came out and then the midwife said to wait while she turned but she kind of squirmed as she turned which made me scream in panic, I'd kind of forgotten she was an actual baby I do remember thinking to myself 'This is it, one more push and it's all over' which made me push as hard as I could on the next contraction, she flew out into the pool and I picked her up myself.

All in all it was brilliant, but I remember being a bit panicked as I didn't really know what was supposed to be happing or how I was supposed to feel. Next time I'll be much calmer xx

 

[xnmd1]

I'm just interested in all the different experiences you ladies had when pushing your baby out (if you had a vaginal delivery of course!)

It took me an hour and a half to push Louie out, and I really don't look back on it with fondness (this is following on from the thread about missing your birth - it got me thinking...). All I remember really is being SOOOOO hot, my hair was sticking to my head and they wouldn't turn the AC on because baby was close to being born and they needed the room warm. I was on a monitor because my baby had ectopic beats noted at week 37 of my pregnancy (the cheeky monkey didn't even have one heartbeat out of step through the whole labour!) and they made me labour on my back when I wanted to turn around because they kept losing the heartbeat when I was on all fours.

It felt like it took so long to push him out (I'm not sure if 1.5 hours is a long time or quite reasonable having never had a baby before!), with every contraction I was so frightened, I just felt like he was never gonna come out. After ever contraction when the baby's head inched that little bit further out I felt like I was being ripped in two and was hyperventilating, panicking saying I couldn't do it etc. I spent the whole time up to the pushing stage being very calm, breathing through each contraction not shouting or screaming or panicking in any way at all. It's so true the way they say some women start to panic at the transition stage, for me it never stopped! Also, my body was telling me to moo like a cow at each contraction, but the MW's kept telling me to be quiet and put the energy into my pushing, which I did, but I do feel that if I'd been more vocal and mooed like I wanted to, I would have felt a bit better! LOL. I think because I was exhausted from labouring for the previous 35 hours I'd almost completely run out of steam. So it would be interesting to hear from ladies who had their babies quickly - was the pushing stage easier?

When Louie came out it was all a blur. I don't even really remember the head popping out because he just came out in a rush, the MW just kinda pulled him out of me. I wish that bit was different.

I've heard some women say that the pushing stage was like a relief from the contractions leading up to that point, and each push was like a relief, but my experience couldn't be any more opposite! I found the contractions leading up to that point much more manageable.

It's so true how every woman labours differently!

Thank you for all your experiences if you choose to share

xxxxx

agreed.
to be honest i was not even really in pain all through labour. i was very calm, don't think i even flinched, lol!
but when it came time to push the pain intesified by about a million!

i went from calm and giggling, to hyperventilating. i couldnt even push because because of the way i was acting and i couldn't control myself.

i ended up getting the epi in the end, when i was already full dilated and then everything calmed down immensly.

they wern't monitoring his HB, and were letting me push in which ever position I pleased for about 10 minutes, then they stuck the monitor on for a quick second to check and realised his HB had dropped to 50 and was declining steadily.
So .. first they got me on all 4s with an oxygen mask, i felt like a complete idiot with my ass in the air .. that lasted about a minute as it wasn't working.

So they rolled me back over .. episiotomy .. ventous ... told me to push .. pop. his head and shoulders came out all at once and he was born.
So pushing stage lasted about 15 minutes for me.

I can't say I really minded it at all. If I hadn't of got the epi though I really think it would have been a different story.

OH! and first push I peed on the nurse
They couldn't get a catheter in because giving me the epi so late and LOs head was in the way :doh:
I remember saying "oh shit im peeing shit shit shit shit"

 

[SophiasMummy]

i pushed for 10 mins i thought it was the best part personally didnt even think the ring of fire was that bad

 

[CharlieKeys]

When it got to the pushing stage I pushed Stephen out in 11 minutes... but from what it felt like he was pretty much pushing himself out! Was in labour for 4 and a half hours The pushing feeling was the worst out of all of it though, it just felt like someone had gotten a lighter and set it alight up there!

 

[cissyhope]

I pushed four over 4 hours (8pm-12:07am) after 2 1/2 days of active labour, and Alex got stuck in the last minute so they broke his collarbone to get him out.

At midnight they were prepping me for a C-section but then his head started coming out.

As far as I am aware and have been told here on BnB, my labour was botched and I should have had a C-section long before that happened.

Oh My gosh! that must have been very scary! Poor Alex (and you) he looks a beautiful baby in your picture! glad your both ok! Did it put u off having more? x

 

[peartree]

Wow. I guess I'm really lucky! I thought I only did three lots of pushing and was over in 5 mins, but my notes said my 2nd stage was 20 mins.

I remember as she was crowning, coming off the gas and air long enough to say to my DH, "ow...this really hurts!" - No shit, Sherlock!

 

[Feltzy]

I didn't push for very long with either of mine, with Evie it took 45 mins and Alfie about 10 mins. My contractions were really intense right from the beginning with Alfie and the mw said it was because his head was so low down and that when it came to pushing it wouldn't take long, she was right! As soon as I started pushing I could feel him moving down and I was shouting 'nooooo he's coming out, he's coming out' and the mw said 'thats what we want!'.

I had an epidural with Evie so I couldn't really feel anything but with Alfie I only had g&a and it was a huge relief when I started pushing, I'd feel a contraction coming and as soon as I started to push the pain went away completely.

 

[cissyhope]

Someone on here said the contractions were hell and the pushing was hell, id agree! but i had ventouse in the end but think they said that was to do with his heart beat dropping ,Im not convinced i needed it but hey thats a different thread. x

 

[emsiee]

It took me 1.5 hours to push my first out after a short labour really,..I thought I was going to die..it was hell for me too.. but the 2nd time the pushing stage only took 35 minutes, but I had a longer labour in total. I was really dreading my 2nd labour as I thought it would be exactly the same as my first, but it wasnt, it was totally different

 

[HollySSmith]

I had terrible back labour so I think that's why pushing felt so much better. In fact, the baby turned to the proper position just as I was going through transition and the relief from that was better than any drug!
I pushed for two hours as I felt like it. It was very calm but I was also dying of heat! I puked a couple times too lol. I never tore, no stitches whatsoever and my pp bleeding was the least they'd seen (so they said).

 

[Naturalmystic]

Pushing was actually a relief for me. I pushed for about 10 minutes. My overall labor was 24 hours. The contractions were almost unbearable for me so I welcomed the pushing stage because it meant that it was almost over and I actually got a burst of energy when I heard it was time to push.