Explain the "Ring of Fire" - Page 2

[lovebug]

so its kind of like a snake bite (or a really bad snake bite) you did on your arm as a kid?

[noah's mom]

I don't recall feeling it with either of my births either (first one was hospital birth, DS1 finally came out when I was on the bed but I did push in the water for quite awhile, DS2 was home waterbirth). Hearing others' responses, I'm wondering if laboring/birthing in water makes a difference? Like maybe the water loosens up that area so it doesn't burn? or maybe it's just related to head size - neither of my DS's had particularly large heads. who knows...

I did feel quite a bit of pressure when their heads came out, but no additional pain.

[laughingfox]

The homebirthing doctor I had with DD told me that the ring of fire is how your body tells you to take a break and give it more time to stretch.
She told me to push until it burned, then lay off for a second, then push again. With each push, I could push farther before the burning started again. I did have a skid mark, and I felt it as it happened, it was when I pushed through the burning because her head was almost all the way out and I was too excited to stop.

ETA: I was in water, and still felt it, but DD's head was pretty big.

[tessie]

I didn't feel it. It was a very quick and painless pushing stage though (eight minutes).

Hospital birth and I birthed in an upright on my knees position. If that makes any difference at all.

[Turquesa]

I felt it. It hurt like a demon, but paradoxically, it was the best part of my birthing experience. It meant that it was almost over and my baby was about to be in my arms. The positive psychology of it seemed to numb the pain somewhat.

[Xavismom]

Originally Posted by AimeeandBrian

i didn't tear, but it did feel like i was being ripped from front to back. i kept asking if my clitoris was even still attached because it really felt like it was being ripped off. and then there is this amazing relief once the rest of the head is born.

Omg... I felt this too actually... but I was so scared to know if anything WAS actually wrong with it that I didnt ask, I didnt want to know what kind of damage happened to it until after my son was out, turns out there wasnt any.

[Talula Fairie]

Originally Posted by Turquesa

I felt it. It hurt like a demon, but paradoxically, it was the best part of my birthing experience. It meant that it was almost over and my baby was about to be in my arms. The positive psychology of it seemed to numb the pain somewhat.

Totally. I was excited to feel it! It made me want to push even harder because it meant I was just seconds from meeting my baby.

[~Boudicca~]

Originally Posted by MyBoysBlue

Take your finger and hook it on the side of your mouth and pull. As the skin streatches it sorta feels like it is burning. That is what it was like for me. I only felt it with my first.

Yes yes yes! Whenever my friends who haven't had kids yet ask me what it felt like this is exactly what I tell them. It was horrible with dd1 but for dd2 I had a waterbirth and it was a non-issue.

[Tofu the Geek]

Originally Posted by MyBoysBlue

Take your finger and hook it on the side of your mouth and pull. As the skin streatches it sorta feels like it is burning. That is what it was like for me. I only felt it with my first.

Good description.

[Amatullah0]

i never felt it. the pushing pain really just felt like i had to poo really bad, but nothing would come... only, it did come... lol.... i would have never known the head was out if someone didnt tell me.

[etsdtm99]

my DS had a 15 inch head and i felt the ring of fire just when his head was coming out.. it hurt, but it wasn't bad enough to want to stop pushing or any of that... it just felt like stretching, the worst part was that i felt like iw as going to tear and that was scary, but not that painful..

[jeminijad]

[QUOTE=laughingfox;14922725]The homebirthing doctor I had with DD told me that the ring of fire is how your body tells you to take a break and give it more time to stretch.
She told me to push until it burned, then lay off for a second, then push again. With each push, I could push farther before the burning started again. QUOTE]

YES!! They were telling me to push, push, but I had to go slow through the burning. I truly believe that is what kept me from really tearing- stopping pushing when it really burned.

[jeminijad]

Originally Posted by laughingfox

The homebirthing doctor I had with DD told me that the ring of fire is how your body tells you to take a break and give it more time to stretch.
She told me to push until it burned, then lay off for a second, then push again. With each push, I could push farther before the burning started again.

YES!! They were telling me to push, push, but I had to go slow through the burning. I truly believe that is what kept me from really tearing- stopping pushing when it really burned.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Turquesa

I felt it. It hurt like a demon, but paradoxically, it was the best part of my birthing experience. It meant that it was almost over and my baby was about to be in my arms.

:

It was intense! I did not have control of my body at that point - the pushing was out of my control, and I was fighting it when I started feeling the burning, trying to slow the pushing down, but I really couldn't. He had a 15 inch head, even with the moulding, and a compound presentation (hand next to his face), so I REALLY had to stretch (before I had him, even sex required stretching). I did wind up with a small tear (no stitches necessary), but it literally felt like every centimeter of my labia was being ripped to shreds.

[StoriesInTheSoil]

I was really out of it from exhaustion and being generally overwhelmed during the pushing phase of my labor with DS but I remember a couple of things from pushing and one is when I sat straight up, looked at the OB right in the eyeballs and yelled/said forcefully "OH wow that BUUURNS!" and he said "yep, okay- reach down and catch your baby."

I like the pulling at the mouth analogy- seems pretty accurate to me

[Lynn08]

The feeling itself was bad enough (not really painful, but not comfortable either - I the hooked mouth analogy!) but it was made infinitely worse by the midwife. She was "massaging" me to prevent a tear by running two fingers (dipped in warm oil) around the baby's head, thus stretching me even more. Ugh, I didn't tear and the pain went away immediately, but d@mn if it didn't hurt like heck !

[JennTheMomma]

It felt like my vagina was on fire. It only lasted for a few minutes until Hunter was out and then it was gone.

[mariekitt24]

yeah, just a burning sensation. I was already in tons of pain anyway so I dont remember it sticking out too much from the rest. If anything, I felt relief that he was finally coming out.

[paxye]

I have never felt it either....

[MegBoz]

I don't remember feeling it. My doula said, "Meg, reach down & feel" & I was totally surprised to feel his head was right there (I had no idea how far I'd progressed with pushing!)
Next push or so he was coming out, I did tear (just a little 1st degree) and that felt, well, exactly like I would imagine tearing in your perineal skin to feel! I said "F--- F--- F---" real quick & kinda low but it only lasted a second. I totally forgot the whole "don't push as the head emerges" thing. & no one reminded me to pause there, so I kept pushing with the ctrx as I had been for the past 40 minutes. I suspect pausing, breathing & resisting the urge to push may have prevented that little tear.
(Unlike lots of mamas, I totally could fight the urge to push! I had done so for 30 min while on the way to the hospital. It wasn't easy to resist, and at the apex of each ctrx - just for a few seconds, I couldn't fight it & felt my body push a little, but otherwise I could stop.)