@pumpkinpancake I love my Clark’s. They’re also not cheap. I haven’t noticed they smell and I don’t usualky wear socks. BUT I’m not a super sweaty person either.
@knottieamusements They kept telling that I would feel the need to push, and I was so numb I never felt it. How they decided it was time I'm not 100%, probably partly timing of contractions and partly the position of the baby? They're sticking their hands in there all the time...
@knottieamusements so for my first my epidural worked so well I couldn't feel anything. For my second, there was a lot of pressure and I was just so uncomfortable (my epi half worked) that it actually felt better to push.
@knottieamusements If you’re epi free, you’ll know. It feels like you have to poop. I was clearly in transition, managed to yell out “poop” to my doula, she called in the nurses who did a cervix check (I only allowed the intial check when I was admitted and that check). I was at a 10 so they “allowed” me to start pushing. Not that there would have been any stopping it. It’s defintley a strong urge if you wait until your body is ready.
@knottieamusements with my first I was completely numb from the epi and they had to tell me when to push. With my second I could feel everything. I agree with what @hellopartyof5, you feel a lot of pressure like you have to go to the bathroom. I kept telling my nurse I wanted to get up to go to the bathroom and 2 or 3 pushes later DS2 was born.
@knottieamusements like others have said, if you don’t get an epidural, you’ll feel the urge when it’s time to push. You obviously don’t want to start pushing until you’re fully dilated, but once you’re there, you’ll want to push during the contractions, and rest between them. If you don’t get an epidural, you’ll definitely feel the contractions and get the urge to push, but if you do get the epidural, the doctors/nurses will be monitoring your contractions, so they’ll know when to tell you to push.
@knottieamusements once you hit 10 cm, the cervix is all behind the baby’s head, and the head enters the vaginal canal and you feel a strong urge to push (it also puts pressure on your rectum so most women say it feels like the urge to poop). It’s pretty unmistakable when it comes. A decent low-dose epidural should actually let you still feel that pressure so you can tell when/where to push.
I was able to feel the urge to push no problem with my epidural, but the epidural wasn't 100% effective for me. It turned out to be perfect though - it hurt, but wasn't excruciating, and pushing felt good, like others have said. Hopefully the same thing happens again, haha. But yeah, I felt like I had to poop, so I called the nurse in, she checked it out, and yup - time to push.
I was drug free with both of mine and definitely agree you know when it’s time - with my second my midwife kept telling me not to push so I didn’t ‘explode my vagina’ (her words) from him coming out too quickly since I was way better at pushing the second time. Not pushing when the urge is so strong was almost impossible!!
Re: Questions 4/27
I understand what “pushing” means, but at what point is it the “right time to push”? How do I (or the medical providers) know when that time is?