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How long did you push? How long after dilation was complete did you feel "pushy".

4K views 14 replies 15 participants last post by  1babysmom 
#1 ·
How long did you push? How long after dilation was complete did you feel "pushy".

With my first vaginal birth (VBAC) I had an epidural and pushed for 30ish minutes so I don't know when the "push" urge hit after I was complete.

With my second, I never got the urge to push (nuchal hand and acynclitic head). I was at a 10 for maybe 3 hours and everything in my body was screaming against me me when I tried to push, so I got an epidural. I pushed more effectively after that, but still had to push for another 4 hours until we finally got him turned from acynclitic and then he came out quickly.
 
#2 ·
I have only felt the urge to push with 2 of my 5 pgs. One was were I just felt the baby descending once the drs broke my water.....and the other was several hours after my water broke and my body went into complete birth mode and was actually doing all of the work without me doing a thing! I couldn't stop it! It was a relief!
 
#4 ·
First birth I had an epidural and when I told the nurses I felt pushy I was checked and found to be complete, so not sure how long I had been at 10 before I got the urge. I pushed for 25/30 minutes or so.

Second birth I didn't realize how far into labor I was and my body started pushing while I was still at home in the shower. I had to fight as hard as I could NOT to let my body push and barely made it to the hospital. Once there, my poor baby shot out in just a few pushes. He was bruised up from the fast delivery. Once again, I have no clue how long I had been at 10cm before my body took over.
 
#5 ·
The first time, I have no idea how long I had been complete, I was getting tired and my MW suggested we could check dilation (for the first time during the whole labor) and I was complete except for a tiny lip. I hadn't had any pushing urges, but she asked me to try pushing while she was feeling the lip, to assess whether it was going to hold things up or not. It felt awkward to start pushing without any urge, but as soon as I started my body took over and suddenly I did have an urge! MW didn't think the lip would be a problem, but it still took me 2.5 hours until baby finally came. Pushing just didn't seem to come naturally, even after I had the urge.

The second time, I was never checked for dilation at all. I went through one hell of a transition and suddenly at the end of one of the contractions my body starting heaving the baby down. It felt much different and a lot more instinctual that time. I could feel baby really moving down each time I pushed, something I didn't feel the first time (probably because progress was so slow and subtle). It took 45 minutes from the first heave. I should add that the awesome instinctual pushing urge totally went away as soon as his head was out. I kept waiting for it to come back so I could push his body out, but finally I just decided to start gently going for it myself. It felt like a long time, but on the video it was really only 45 seconds between his head and the rest of him.
 
#7 ·
What usually happens with me, is my inability to cope, and intense pain where I want to crawl out of my own skin lets up. ...I don't usually feel major pushing prompts.

I have diagnosed (LOL!) what happens with me is, the baby comes rocketing extremely low during transition, and that's why my transitions are so hellish, AND, why even with a 10 lb 9 oz baby, I push twice and they are out. My homebirth of my biggest baby was when my contractions really turned to painless pressure and I pushed, and learned that's how I work. My transition is pain +pushing prompts, all rolled into one.

With my 7th baby, he was eyebrow presentation, I was at the hospital with my favorite Dr's partner whom I trust fairly well, also. I am a VBA2C x 4 times so I have a great relationship with them..because they trust and support me. Anyway, he was brow and the OB said that he wasn't doing very well and wasn't coming down how mine usually do..I was in horrible pain..got an epidural, it did nothing but crash my blood pressure. He gave me the option of trying like hell to push from 8 to turn him as he descended, or go for a section. I had gone into labor the day I turned 38 weeks, which is WEIRD for me..too early..so I pushed like hell and brought him down from high and 8 cm in about 15 minutes, and he was out. He was very bruised...at first the nurses thought he was blue from hypoxia, then they realized it was bruising!
 
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#9 ·
#1 - only a few pushes, so less than a few minutes.
#2 - I gave a couple grunts and she was out within mere seconds
#3 - he slid out
#4 - my uterus heaved him out. I went from 6 cm to birth in one minute (I wasn't in labor prior to that point)
 
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#10 ·
I pushed seriously for 6 hours. I felt the urge to push at 9 with a swollen anterior lip.... and was at 9+ the lip for 8 hours before she was born. For 3-4 of those hours of being "complete" though... even though i had the urge to push, everything in my body told me not to at the same time, it was like my body was heaving downwards but it hurt and felt WORSE, and didn't feel like a relief, it felt WRONG, so I was getting exhausted fighting the throwing down/heaving pushing urges for hours before I finally transferred to hospital to get pain relief to move the stupid swollen lip over her head manually. The midwife tried several times but couldn't do it.
 
#12 ·
Only one birth, I don't know how dilated I was, but my water broke during transition and I changed position instinctually right after, then my body started pushing (heaving would be a better word) and my son was born about 10 minutes later.
 
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#13 ·
water didn't break either time. Had urge to push with cervical lip at 7.5cm with DD1 and pushing corrected lip and I dialated really quickly, as I only pushed for 30mins.
With DD2 she was tangled in her cord and had no slack, I did have urge to push at 8cm, which I did...but pushing went on for 2h as my uterus had to start decending for her to get enough slack to come through the birth canal. So Im sure I was fully dialated in the end.
 
#14 ·
I've only had one birth and it was at home. I'm planning a home birth for LO#2 in August.

I never felt the urge to push. I felt baby descending (like my whole bottom half wanted to reach escape velocity from the rest of my body) from about 5cm on and I wanted to push then but knew it was too soon so I just tried not to think about it. The next time the MW checked me 6 hours later my baby's head was visible. I tried to pee, couldn't, and went to push. Baby was out in 5-6 pushes (~10 minutes pushing)
 
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#15 ·
I start feeling pushy early on, well before I'm complete. I've always found that responding to that and bearing down a bit relieves a lot of pain and it works out well. As for how long I've pushed, with my epidural birth it was for an hour. With babies 2-4, I pushed for about 3 minutes at the longest, and it was only 2 full pushes, even for my gigantic baby. No tears (though I DID tear with the epidural birth). At that point, I get the "oh my gosh by body is bearing down on itself and I'm pushing this baby out!" urge.
 
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