The pushing stage...

[CharlieKeys]

ha ha I was really worried about pooing! Everyone kept going on about having frequent trips to the toilet but I was the other way and went constipated for about 4 days before I gave birth! I remember panicking thinking it would all just shoot out the time Stephen was born! Thank God - that didn't happen! I was poo free

 

[emera35]

Hah, the pushing stage scared the hell out of me, i'd only been in labour for 2 1/2 hours, and had been told i was 3-4cm about 20 minutes earlier. It was horrible, as i actually couldn't help pushing, and the MW was telling me not to Anyway, after about 30 seconds, they realised that, yes, i was actually having a baby and his head was half out... My pushing stage lasted under 2 minutes, and was quite a relief once i was "allowed" to push. I was soo convinced i'd poo'd, but apparently i didn't

 

[pinklizzy]

I had been trying to resist the urge to push for nearly an hour before they examined me again-when my waters broke I asked the MW if I could go to the toilet before they took me to the delivery ward as 'I think I really need to poo' I only pushed for about 30 mins, it took 12 pushes for her to be born but my contractions were still fairly spaced out.
I had no idea what was going on while I was pushing, she was breech so everyone was very focused on what was going on. I kept having to ask what was out, I was really worried about a footling breech!
In all, finally being able to push was a massive relief, my body just took over and the pain seemed to disappear.

 

[fairypop]

For me, it was a 5 minute stage, 3 pushes and out he popped. I remember he was bearing down for ages and I kept on worrying he was trying to push out of my bottom...silly when I look back, but I was obviously quite irrational! The midwives went out of the room, I said to my OH, it feels different like something is there, I leant over the side of the bed, they came back in, said the head was out and that I needed to take my pants off lol!! Then two more pushes and out he popped!! It was fab! xxx

 

[ttcgeordie]

i was REALLY lucky 1st stage of labour 2 hours 50 mins, 2nd stage 13mins and 3rd stage 7 mins lol so it only took 7 mins to push lo out for me x

 

[Ahren]

The midwives wouldn't belive i was needing to push! I had got to hospital at 9cm so had no time for painkillers. They kept me waiting in day assesment waiting room for a hour then realised i was pushing! It took half hour and 4 contractions for him to be born, but i had really bad cramp in one of my legs which was really offputting! :d

 

[a_c]

I did one round of pushes but her heartbeat didn't come back after that & so we were rushed to theatre, one more set of pushes with the help of forceps & she arrived

 

[holly2234]

I got sent home from hospital with the urge to push at 10pm as they didnt believe me! (apparently i was too quiet to be that far). I kept calling them and they said not to come back in nevermind me literally having to hold myself shut to keep her in. I went in anyway and made a lot of fuss to get a room and be examined and i was pushing for around 30 minutes. Had no pain relief either since they didnt believe me.

 

[zoe87]

I dont think i pushed for that long. from 1st contraction my labour was 3 hours so progressed quite quickly

 

[Jenniflower]

The pushing stage to me was one of the worst parts. The Epi I had did nothing for the amount of pressure that was going on down there. For me it was less about wanting the baby to come out and more about wanting a poo. Did anyone else feel like that? I just kept thinking if only I could poo out just a little bit then this pressure would go away and I can concentrate on pushing my baby out. I was in this pushing stage on my knees for about 3 hours until finally having to be rushed to theatre but man all the pain of the contractions I had for the two days leading up to that point pale in comparison to the pain of the pressure during pushing. The worst part was being hoisted on a table much to small for me in theatre and being prepped for a section all while this horrible intense pressure was still there. They wouldn't believe me that my Epi was having no effect at all!

 

[summer rain]

My eldest it was about 50 minutes, second eldest 20 minutes, second youngest 5 minutes and youngest two pushes lasting less than a minute or so it felt like. My youngest it was totally involuntary; and the midwives were out of the room when his head and torso came out; then as soon as they came back in the rest of him came out. The pressure was worst with my youngest though; as he was facing sideways as opposed to facing down as they are meant to be.

 

[Marlarky]

It only took 10 minutes for me to push Aaron out. My body totally took over, and I pushed SOOOOOOOOO hard!! I had horrible pressure and pain in my bum muscles for days afterwards.

 

[blinkybaby]

I got sent home from hospital with the urge to push at 10pm as they didnt believe me! (apparently i was too quiet to be that far). I kept calling them and they said not to come back in nevermind me literally having to hold myself shut to keep her in. I went in anyway and made a lot of fuss to get a room and be examined and i was pushing for around 30 minutes. Had no pain relief either since they didnt believe me.

That sounds rough! I was panicking so bad at this stage so I have no idea how I would have coped if they wouldn't examine me or didn't believe the baby was coming. But then again - I am pretty sure I was making enough noise that they couldn't mistake that I was ready to push Louie out! xxx

 

[NaturalMomma]

ds1 I had an epidural so I didn't feel anything. It took 2 hours and vacuum extraction. I had a 2nd degree tear.

ds2 I had at home so I felt everything. It didn't hurt, it was this involunatry sensation. I had a little bit of ring of fire, but hardly anything. It felt amazing when his head came out.

 

[Aunty E]

I pushed Mog for over four hours until they yanked her out with forceps.

I didn't realise I was pushing Teddy until his head appeared - so my second stage was six minutes. Score

 

[Tulip]

PMSL @ E! Same, 6 mins exactly Is she acknowledging his existence yet??

 

[Aunty E]

Nope. Still haven't worked out if she honestly just doesn't find him interesting, or if it's a deliberate avoidance technique. Either way, makes my life a bit easier

 

[LisaMariee]

It took me just over 2 and a half hours! They were frantically looking around for a doctor to give me a forceps delivery and just as the doctor popped his head around the door out popped her head. It was horrible I kept on looking at the time shouting 'I've been pushing for 2 hours' etc every 5 minutes and then they threatened to take the clock away if I didn't stop it

 

[lizardbreath]

with Jaymee I Pushed for a half hour ,
with Katherine It was less then 5 minutes , One push and she was out

 

[sapphire1]

I was fully dilated when I arrived at hospital just before 8am. I had LO at just after 1pm, so almost 5 hours of pushing. I must have been rubbish lol! I think the reason it took so long was because my contractions were really weedy and didn't last long enough to give a decent push. In the end they were making me push with no contractions, as it was taking so long.
I remember being told that they'd give me 2 hours to push, so I've got no idea what happened. The only reason I can think of is that LOs heartbeat remained exactly the same throughout. In fact. they were just about to call the doctors and had got the knife ready when I somehow found the strength to do one last push. LO popped out all at once - there's nothing like the threat of an episiotomy to gee you up!