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post #41 of 56
6/3/05 at 3:56pm
I had a super fast pushing phase (just got the notes back from the mw and it was less than 1 hour) but this was all my own doing, not any cheerleading (I remember thinking, I just want this baby out). I birthed in water and DO NOT remember feeling the ring of fire at all, though it was something I had worried about too. I do remember feeling Annie's head being born & thinking how incredible it was (as well as unreal!) I did tear though and got 4 stitches afterwards, with no freezing b/c the area was still so numb from the birth...
post #42 of 56
6/3/05 at 4:24pm
dc #1 - had an epidural. i could feel the pressure of her head and could actually push effectively, but no pain.

dc#2 - arrived at the hospital, water broke spontaneously within a minute and i was PUSHING. i didn't experience *pain* but it felt like i was pushing against a brick wall. it didn't feel like it was possible to get his head OUT. but he was born about fifteen minutes later, so clearly, it was very possible
post #43 of 56
6/4/05 at 3:22am
I haven't read the replies but just thought I'd post my experience...

I've had 3 natural births... It doesn't hurt when the head is in the canal or when it is crowning. When it's crowning, you just feel TONS of pressure, like you have to poop and the poop is about to come out! It doesn't start to burn until you are actually pushing the head out. And even then, it's not that bad. Sure, it hurts, but it's tolerable since it doesn't last for very long. Once the head is out, then you can rest for a tiny bit. And then, once the shoulders are out (I can't remember if delivering the shoulders hurt much or not), then you're home free because the rest of the baby sort of just slithers out!! haha.
post #44 of 56
6/4/05 at 3:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by littlebeagle
I haven't read the replies but just thought I'd post my experience...

I've had 3 natural births... It doesn't hurt when the head is in the canal or when it is crowning. When it's crowning, you just feel TONS of pressure, like you have to poop and the poop is about to come out! It doesn't start to burn until you are actually pushing the head out. And even then, it's not that bad. Sure, it hurts, but it's tolerable since it doesn't last for very long. Once the head is out, then you can rest for a tiny bit. And then, once the shoulders are out (I can't remember if delivering the shoulders hurt much or not), then you're home free because the rest of the baby sort of just slithers out!! haha.
respectfully: this really depends on the person, the baby, and the position the mama is giving birth in. seriously.

for me, the pain WAS intolerable, only i *had* to tolerate it, since there's not a whole heck of a lot you can do while the baby is crowning, except keep on keepin' on, yk?

if i can be honest here ~ i freaking *hate* the feeling of the baby crowning. it hurts in a way i can't even describe.

everyone is different. period. and even though there are things all mamas can do to relieve some of the pain, like ~ relaxing in water... relaxing in general... *not* being on your back to deliver... etc., for some mamas, it's just going to hurt like heck.
post #45 of 56
6/4/05 at 12:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by klothos
respectfully: this really depends on the person, the baby, and the position the mama is giving birth in. seriously.

for me, the pain WAS intolerable, only i *had* to tolerate it, since there's not a whole heck of a lot you can do while the baby is crowning, except keep on keepin' on, yk?

if i can be honest here ~ i freaking *hate* the feeling of the baby crowning. it hurts in a way i can't even describe.

everyone is different. period. and even though there are things all mamas can do to relieve some of the pain, like ~ relaxing in water... relaxing in general... *not* being on your back to deliver... etc., for some mamas, it's just going to hurt like heck.


I already posted, but I gave birth again since then (6 days ago), so it's fresh in my mind. This birth was different from my first and I definitely felt the ring of fire. I actually thought of this thread during crowning and breathed instead of pushing. I swore I was going to tear, but didn't during crowning (an arm flipped up with the shoulders and I tore a little). And it hurt like hell! but it was over pretty quickly.

Megan, who knows how it will feel to you, but vaginal birth is worth it!!!
post #46 of 56
6/4/05 at 11:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by annakiss
Megan, who knows how it will feel to you, but vaginal birth is worth it!!!
YES it is SO worth it!
post #47 of 56
10/26/05 at 7:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sleet76
I definitely felt the ring of fire, and it was very painful. My midwife was excitedly telling me that the head was visible--they could see about an egg-sized amount of it. I think that was th hardest moment of my labor/birth. I was so worried that if I felt so much stretching/burnng with just a small part of the head coming out, what would it be like with the whole circumference?! The thing I wish I knew at the time was that it didn't hurt any more--the burning continued, but I sort-of got used to it and it didn't get worse. Knowing that would have put me at ease. I did have a teeny-tiny, maybe 1st-degree, healed in a week, skin-only tear. Not bad at all, though.
What a helpful post!! My good friend just had an unpleasant run in with the ROF in her first unmedicated birth, and this pg is the first i'm trying a homebirth and reading up on all these details. So she;s freakin me out a little but wow this is soooooo god to have read THANK YOU
post #48 of 56
10/26/05 at 7:35pm
Quote:
The ring of fire was very memorable for me but it was right at the very end seconds before she popped out. I just remember hollering "it burns, it burns..." But then it was gone soon as her head emerged.
That is EXACTLY how DS#2's birth went for me.
post #49 of 56
10/27/05 at 10:40am
I had the 'it burns, it burns' ring of fire with my 6/8 baby, my first.

I would say with #3 8/8 (compound presentation) and #4 9/8 )very fast labor) it was more like a tunnel of fire but agree that it seemed to get so much better once the head really started making an appearance

Keri
post #50 of 56
10/28/05 at 3:44am
I didn't get the ring of fire with my first... but I had an episiotmy so...
post #51 of 56
11/1/05 at 5:43pm
With my first I had an episotomy so I didn't feel when she crowned. With my second he was coming so fast all I felt was a lot of pressure and a slight burning sensation when his head came out because I tore in a couple of spots. With my third I was in a lot of pain from the time his head entered the birth canal until he was out. I remember yelling at my OB to get him out now!
post #52 of 56
11/25/05 at 9:37pm
I don't remember with my first or second, but with my third, I felt an intense stretching and pressure which was actually very cool! I only pushed for 4 minutes, including the "Hold on so we can suction out his mouth and nose, and unwrap the cord from around the neck", two pushes total. (Watched the video later and timed it.)
post #53 of 56
11/26/05 at 9:30am
I just had my second, and wow did it ever burn... I also tore, and I think it burned as I was tearing. I pushed in less than 15 minutes, and it owuld have been quicker but the Dr. had me slow down and stop quite a few times so they could ease her out (tearing) and use warm compresses.
post #54 of 56
11/26/05 at 11:51am
I was extremely surprised that after I gave birth, I realized I felt no ring of fire. I always wondered if my OB injected local anesthesia while I was pushing and didn't tell me. I had an epidural, but they turned that off when I was 10cm. I pushed for an hour, and feeling returned after half an hour. Maybe it still was because of the epidural that I didn't feel the ring of fire. Birth was very frustrating for me. I was just pushing and pushing and nothing was happening.
post #55 of 56
11/26/05 at 3:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stafl
during my vbac, I only felt the "ring of fire" as baby's head was passing through my cervix. Once her head passed my cervix, it quit burning so much and I quit holding back during pushing. All I can remember about it now is how I put my hands down there and felt her head come out of me. I remember very distinctly how her head felt, how it was all wrinkled up, how I felt it changing shape, how suprised I was that it didn't feel hard. But I don't remember any pain after her head got past my cervix (though I remember remembering pain the next day).
Thought I would correct a little nomenclature here. If you can put your hand down and feel the baby's head, that isn't the cervix, it is the opening of the vagina,where the labia are, on the perineum. So the ring of fire is actually felt as the baby's head is passing the perineum, not the cervix, which is internal and most have never felt *that*. The cervix is so thin at the time of maximum dilation, they can injure it and never know it...so the ring of fire is external, not internal. HTH....
post #56 of 56
11/27/05 at 10:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pandora114
Iit just feels REAL cool when the baby makes it's journey down the birth canal. I was one of those rare ones who had an "orgasmic birth" so I think the "ring of fire" was clouded by the "Holy this ain't supposed to feel GOOOOOD"

lol
Ditto!! I also had an orgasmic birth (thank goodness I knew about them before I had DS - would have totally taken me off guard).

The orgasmic feeling would get worse (or better, depending on how you look at it) with each push, and then the tiny step back he would make after a pause from pushing.

There are some pretty funny pictures of me with a HUGE smile on my face as he is crowning...
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Mothering › Forums › Pregnancy and Birth › Birth and Beyond › "ring of fire question"