the pushing bit.....what's that like?

[marymillington]

my midwife hasn't actually had a baby......tell me what it was like for you.

(my contractions stopped at 10cm with DS, 8 hours later I had a C/S. 36 wks pg right now)

cheers

Massive waves of energy rushing through your body. An unsptoppable urge to push.

I love the pusing bit. It's so exciting and you know you're really there. I could feel the head progressing slowly but surely down with each contraction and it's the most amazing feeling.

The contractions are different. Adrenalin is now involved and it's not to do with opening up anymore so much as bearing down. I had a sense of determination, even aggression, like a sportswoman about to do something really hard.

The actual pushing out is quite simply the best feeling I've ever had. Once the heads were out it was wonderful.

When he came out - that was grand though... big slithery whoosh

with ds the mw and the student mw had me stop pushing so they could prevent tearing and tbh i found those bits agonising, and feeling their fingers manipulating my perineum and god knows what else (i'm sure i felt a finger up my bum ) was quite disturbing as my whole body was screaming 'PUSH' and i wasn't actually able to stop but had to pretend not to be..... very odd! worth it though, ds was 8lbs10 and not a scratch evwn though his arm was over his face!

with dd i had to start pushing before i was fully dilated as she was dying from oxygen starvation and that was the single most painful experiance ofmy life.... but as soon as my body caught up it was completely painless except for the crowning.

the crowning feels like you're being torn open down below but you don't care as long as the baby gets the hell out of you!

Dunno if it was was a coincidence, but with number one I was flat on my back and pushing for an hour. Numbers two and three, I was kneeling upright, or on my hands and knees and both of these were less than 15 minutes. Let gravity help you!

For me the contractions didn't hurt with pushing. The pushing was the best bit because I was actively doing something to help rather than just feeling the pain. 19 mins with dd and over 2 hours with ds but didn't hurt, was just tiring. I remember feeling stinging when dd crowned but didn't at all with ds, maybe I was numb due to the amount of time pushing.

When I was having ds1, I got the urge to push that you all describe, really, really strong, and the mw told me not to. Resisting that urge was so hard it made me feel sick. By the time a doctor had been fetched to examine me and make sure that I was OK to proceed with pushing, the urge had totally gone and it didn't return - pushing him out was consequenttly not much fun. I imagine had I been allowed to follow the natural urge to push it would all have happened more quickly.

huge great contractions that showed the extraordinary power of the body pushing out the baby - there was nothing I could do to stop this (didn't want to) & being upright meant it was over in 10mins!!

Try and prepare yourself mentally with what to expect, and try as hard as you can not to get too high on gas and air - this was my mistake with my first and so i ended up trying to sleep and pretending i couldn't feel contractions rather than pushing.

With dd2 i was much more focused and hadn't had much of a labour, had only just woken up in fact! , so i guess i had more energy and being second time was more prepared for what would happen. My waters went with a gush whilst i was standing up and the next thing i knew i collapsed to my knees and i was pushing. MW asked me to wait cos she had only just arrived (home birth) and hadn't checked that i was dilated etc. She tried to do an internal but got a shock to find babies head was there. Each push i did i made these amazing tribal screams which i had no control of and i remember thinking the more i go with this pain rather than try and stop it (both the noise and the pushing) the quicker it'll be over. And i think i only did 3 or 4 pushes and she was out.

I had no urge to push at all. Had to (TMI alert) work incredibly hard for 40 minutes to push pathetic little poo out then another 20 or so for the baby - didn't mind that so much. Had had an episiotomy (why? Can't remember) so no ring of fire but the whoosh feeling after the head, was much bigger and went on for longer than I was expecting. Not very unpleasant, just odd.

I had tiny little poo too!

Was pushing for just over an hour, no pain relief bar TENS. Didn't really feel the urge to push to start with, also didn't feel the contractions as such, felt really heavy downwards feelings tho (difficult to describe). I was knackered from being up all night so when mw was impressed by my slow controlled pushing, that was only because that was all I could manage at that point . Crowning was intense and at that point I think I cried out, then the fab slithery bit when the body comes out, and such a relief .

Once I was 10cm I didn?t feel anymore contractions and had to be told when to push. It took about 40 minutes to get DD1 out. Crowning was very painful (understatement!) but at least you know it is almost over at that point.

With DD2 I did continue to feel the contractions once fully dilated. I resisted the urge to push, however. By that point I?d heard so many of my friend?s second and subsequent birth stories and took too literally their words ?S/he slipped out after one push? I decided I didn?t need to push. Why would I push and put myself through that pain. I?d simply wait for gravity to do it?s job and the baby would slip out :hmm I did need to push. The midwife got quite arsey with me for not pushing. It was much less painful second time round and after a few pushes, out she came.

But everyone is different?..

I found some satisfaction in the pushing bit. Actually felt this huge hard thing moving down my vagina. KNew the end was coming. (Eyes swivelling wildly in case teh scissors were brought out !)

Most people have a little poo I think. My mw says you have to imagine the vagina as being like a tube of toothpaste and the babies head squeezes out everything in all surrounding tubes on its way out.

Message withdrawn

Like being in a scene from Alien.
In a good way.

It's not nice but it's the best bit cos you know it's not much longer now. The contrations with no pushing are the worst. At least when you push you know you're nearly there.

It's mad really. You get an urge to push with really strong contractions and itis the most powerful thing in the world. As long as the contracion lasts you just habve to bear downa nd it really does help to maon and graon like an animal.

It felt like I had a small cantaloupe melon right high up in my bum and it wanted to come out. I knew not to tense and resist it so tried my best to breathe out a lot and then your body takes over and does it's thing.

ds i didnt feel any pushing contractions so i ended up with 4 hrs pushing and forceps not fun.
dd i had epidural as she was indistress and i might have to go to theature at any mo... was told to push at 11.45 mw said feel the contrations and the sensations down below and i pushed, without any one telling me to and at 11.53 she was born.....it felt like i had a huge poo expect i didn't....i asked.

Blimey, what an interesting thread.

I had no urge to push or 'bear down'. Just a massive pain in the bum area tbh, like literally shitting a brick.

Thaat was first time round (I nearly gave birth in the ward because there was no-one on duty and the only midwife around refused to believe dh re my howling) he buggered off for an HOUR

Second time round, somewhat easier. I understood that shitting a brick feeling.

I found it unbearable and couldnt control the urge to push. Was making bizarre animal noises because I was trying not to push as per mw instructions.

When I actually started pushing I cant say I felt pain (mustve been there )because I was so concentrated on the job in hand. Bizarre really.....

It was v uncomfortable - like constipation feeling. Best comparison.

With my DD i had been given an epidural that they had over-topped up and felt not a thing. At all. Didnt even know "where" i was pushing from.

oh wow, how interesting that you didn't have urges to push and bear down and stuff, wow, I didn't realise that wasn't what happened with everyone, wow again

More bizarre when my contractions disappeared with DS's head only halfway out.......eyes and nose but mouth and chin still in......

it really does feel like you are pooing out a melon. and a watermelon at that. very suddenly it felt like something very large was forcing its way downward and nothing i could do would stop it (like i wanted to stop it!!)
i found the contractions seemed to stop though once i started pushing, but was so terrified of having to have a cs i didn't tell anyone, just pushed and pushed whenever i had the energy, literally like one does when one is having a giant, giant crap. didn't have any splitting/stinging sensations when crowning though -

mw said "i can see the head, do you want to feel it?"
me " no get it out get it out get it out now!"

didn;t actually see dd being born as my eyes were tight shut (if i'd've looked, i would've freaked out!) but now wish i had. best feeling in the world though. nothing like it. made it all so worth it

Oh yes the great pushing stage. Yes, I agree with all who say it is just an overwhelming urge to bear down, like pushing out the world's largest poo. I didn't feel much pain at that stage - I don't really understand the agony of crowning - as for me, it was such a huge relief to be pushing through the contraction.

Agree DG....Just felt uncomfortable this huge thing being down there, and wanting to get it out.

agree mercy, very interesting thread!
I had an uncontrolable feeling that baby was coming right now! Very different from normal contractions. I kept saying 'sorry, sorry, I'm trying not to push but its DOING IT ITSELF' as I was waddling down the corridor to the delivery room. I felt sure I was going to be told off for pushing when I shouldn't. I got quite strange in labour though, tried to clean the sink in the delivery room ....they had to remove the cloth from me! Pushed for about 45 mins as ds was spiralling instead of coming out nicely but that moment when they do slip out..Wow..someone I know described it as passing a string of sausages!! Good description I think!