For your first birth...how long did you push? - Page 7

[Jay Jay]

2 hours pushing, ds was posterior as well. I had an epidural for that birth and had no idea I wasn't pushing hard enough. Then I overheard the OB ask the nurse to get the vacuum ready. I wanted to avoid that and said "do I need to push harder then?" The epidural really cut off all sensation and I had no idea when to push, nor how hard I needed to push. The nurses just kept telling me I was doing a good job....

[LeosMama]

3 pushes, 4 pushy contractions.

I pushed with the first contraction and he crowned. Then I rode out the next ctx b/c of the ring of fire, I was trying to give myself time to stretch and wanted to run from the pain. Then pushed with the next ctx and delivered his head, the third his shoulders and body came out.
Maybe it's important that in between ctx I held him in place using my abdominal muscles and diaphragm. When the second ctx hit and I breathed through it the nurse snapped at me to push, he would slip back in if I didn't push. But I ignored her and held him in place with my muscles, then pushed when I was ready.

[Karry]

#1-natural hospital birth, pushed for 1.5 hours
#2-natural hospital birth, didn't need to push he just came out!
#3-natural hospital birth, pushed for 10 minutes, was hoping he would just come out like ds1, but no I had to push for 10 minutes and it hurt too!

[JennieYoung44]

I know this thread is mega old but I need some sort of proof that I read all these posts:

#1 Induced/pre-eclampsia/nubaine (drug): IMPOSSIBLE!!! Labored from Dec. 27 to Dec. 29. Pushed for 6 hours. I was inside out by the time we were done. To be honest though, I really didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know where to push, kept trying to physically push it out with my hands on my belly...

#2 Natural, hospital: EASY!!! Pushed 3 times, for a total of about 5 or 6 minutes.

#3 Natural, hospital: HARD!!! Pushed once, for about 1 minute. (premature, so he just shot right out...)

[EStreetMama]

Homebirth: 1 hour with compound hand.

[grace's voice]

I pushed for an hour, but I really think that if I hadn't been so scared of pushing and been doing all that was in my power to hold back it would have been about 20 minutes.

I'm hoping this next one will go a little more smoothly, though now I'm even more scared of pushing!

[luvmy2grls]

DD#1 40min
DD#2 (didnt really pay attention but it wasnt as long, maybe 20 min or so but not less than 20 min!)

I felt more with #2 because my epidural was more worn off it hurt so much more, and she was a whole lb smaller than #1!!

[courtenay_e]

DD, natural, hospital w/cnm. Rested for 20 minutes after I hit 10cm and H20 broke. Spontaneously pushed for 38 minutes.

DS, natural, hospital w/cnm. Water broke at 5 1/2 cm. Didn't push at all. Midwife came over to see how I was doing (used hypnobirthing &was sitting on a birthing ball quietly by the bed), and I said, "OH! It just CROWNED, and I tore a tiny bit, too!" She bent over, tossed me onto the bed, and caught the rest of him just in time. Did have a tiny tear, but I don't think I could really have prevented it...I didn't know I was crowning! I did feel movement downward, but wasn't consciously pushing.

[KC in KS]

2.5 hours

But then, I had a seriously long labor to begin with. 36 hours of what turned out to be prodromal labor (36 hours of 5-minute-apart contrax but no cervical change), followed by 24 hours of active labor.

I started pushing still under the influence of the epidural (no pushing urge), but after an hour or so, the drug ran out and nature took over. Still 90 minutes from there.

KC

[bjorker]

Originally Posted by starlein26

i pushed for 2 hours with ds and i just found out that a colleague of dh's got her dd out with 4 pushes...is this possible? tell me your pushing story.

That's about how many pushes I did. It lasted maybe 5 minutes. The nurse told me to do "practise pushes" before they brought the doctor in, and the first "practise" push reared the sight of a babyhead. The nurse ran out the door and started yelling down the hall. Meh heh.

So... yep. It's possible

If it makes you feel any better, I had pelvic pain for months (while working on my feet) and a long inactive labor. Heh.

[haitimom]

With ds #1 I pushed for a full 6hrs. He was still turning flips in my ribcage after hours of active labor. Dr. wanted a c-section I refused. He told me I only had a certain amount of time or he was taking him. So I pushed for six hours, after which we realized I had tore my rectum in three places. Now dd was a breeze!! Trully only a grunt and two pushes. The labor was long but the pushing was over almost instantly! Thankfully each and every pregnancy is different! Ds #2 took abot 20 minutes of pushing and he was caught in the hands of his daddy!

[Emilie]

maybe 20 minutes at tops- standard epi- in hospital.....
dd- #2- 45 minutes or so....no epi, small tear over old epi- my fault... did not listen to midwife!

[Avena]

Home birth w/ 20 mins. of pushing while I stood!

[maryeb]

i pushed for almost an hour, but cannot remember how many surges I worked with...just remember the time between them was long and soo nice. I guess my mw thought perhaps my labor was slowing down but when I turned toward her so she could look, ds's head was crowning!

[grace's voice]

ahhhhh yes, those wonderful breaks between pushing contractions... that was like the best (non) drug EVER! I've never felt anything so peaceful before in my life.

[dace101]

Spent 3 hours almost to the exact minute pushing (no drugs or interventions) first DC.
9 & 1/2 lbs, OP.

[wannabe]

Five hours - finally got her turned with the ventouse after the midwife couldn't do it with her hand - she was asynclitic transverse.

[littleteapot]

1hr 40mins with my first. I never would have guessed that, though. I was half-asleep and in a complete trance during it, so it felt like 20 minutes tops.

I remember pushing the first few times and feeling like she'd NEVER come out because she didn't come flying after three grunts.

With my second he was sliding out without any urge to push, and they shoved him back in to do a c-section. He probably would have taken one conscious push.

[storychick]

#1- FSBC, 7 1/2 hours total labor, but 4 hours pushing! I had back labor so maybe posterior/asynclitic? Pushed in every position, on land and in water, and felt like he was almost there the whole time. I give my MW credit, she never forced anything, just gave me time and position suggestions. I kept falling asleep between contractions, but my body was trying to heave him out like crazy during them. It hurt and I hated it. Frustrating since I felt like I handled the dilation stage just fine and I had always heard pushing would be better. : Ended up on my back and had no tears, just an internal skidmark. 8lb 2 oz.

#2 - Home, 2 1/2 hours total labor. Seriously just fell out, I had to adjust position slightly and push a tiny bit for her shoulders but that was it. Squatting. Slight tear, no stitches. 8lb even.

[Lady Madonna]

With DD, I "officially" pushed for 45 minutes, but I think I was pushing before that, because when my water broke in the tub I KNEW I was pushing. My body just took over.

One of the nurses who came busting in when I was pushing kept trying to count at me. I totally ignored her and pushed when I had the urge. I even decided to skip pushing on one of the contractions and the OB looked up and said "did we skip a contraction?" I said yup, I wanted a break. She laughed and said no problem, you're doing great.

I'd been having contractions for about 30 hours, but only 7 hours of what I call "hard labor" - having to stop and manage myself through contractions. DD was born at the hospital about 3 hours after we got there, completely med free and with no intervention.