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"Rng of Fire" during crowning - do you feel it with an epidural?
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Anonymous
| If you get an epidural, do you feel what has been referred to as the "ring of fire" when the baby is crowning? Or is the "ring of fire" for natural childbirths only? |
Anonymous
| I did not feel anything, just slight pressure with each contraction (which was good because it signaled when I needed to push). The epidural was a great choice (for me). |
Anonymous
| I don't know the answer, but from my experience with an epidural I did not feel it. |
Anonymous
| I've never heard of the ring of fire and I didn't feel anything other than pressure with both of my deliveries. |
Anonymous
If I did, I've blocked it out. I don't think so. For me, I remember thinking it was like trying to poop out a watermelon. It was a lot of pressure, and VERY uncomfortable between pushes - just a lot of pressure on your girl parts. I also had this horrible fear that I'd push the head out and then between contractions, it would retreat back in and I'd have to push it out again. This did not happen, but I was relieved when the shoulders came out too so there was no going back. 
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Anonymous
| I had an epidural for first child's birth, and second child's birth was pretty much non-medicated (tried to get epidural but labor was moving too fast). First labor: I felt pressure when it was time to push, but not pain, and definitely no "ring of fire". Second labor: heck of a lot of pain, quite a bit of what could be described as fire, and I know that when the baby was crowning it was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. |
Anonymous
|
I know this is not really your question, but I just wanted to say that with my first baby (8 pounds 11 oz) I had a totally natural childbirth and did not feel the ring of fire at all.
I think with an epidural, some women feel it and some women don't. |
Anonymous
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I had epidural with first and didn't feel the ring of fire.
I didn't have an epidural with second (couldn't get one on demand in another country) and definitely felt the ring of fire! Also, I felt the urge to push with the second (no epidural) and not with the first (epidural). There are pros and cons of both - I'm on the fence after my experiences. |
Anonymous
Correct, your experience is not at all what she was asking about, and having never had an epidural, you really have nothing to contribute here. |
Anonymous
i hope that was sarcastic. |
Anonymous
Ouch! Why all the hating? I think the PP gave some valuable (if tangential) input. She didn't come on and tell OP she should try natural child birth... she just relayed her experience. To the OP - I had an epidural, and I didn't feel anything like that. Epidurals can be kept either turned down or turned up so that if the mother wants to retain some feeling, she usually can... if she wants to feel nothing (like I did) she can do that too. It's not an exact science, so sometimes people end up feeling more or less than they want to. Usually, if you want to feel nothing, that's pretty easy. If you want to have some feeling, its a bit harder to get the dose set "just right". |
Anonymous
| Thanks for all the responses. I felt the ring of fire with #1 and HAD an epidural, but I think it either wasn't done right, was done too early, or was turned too far down. Like 10:40 said, it was the worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life! I am hoping with #2 that I DON'T feel the ring of fire and the epidural works better this time! |
Anonymous
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Another one here who didn't feel the ring of fire without an epidural and here's why I think it matters to OP's question; some people just don't get the ring of fire. If I didn't get it without an epidural, I can't see how I would get it with one.
So, OP, I hope you don't get the ring of fire regardless. |
Anonymous
Me too - mine was 8 lbs 3 oz. I too felt like I was trying to poop out a watermelon - like the craziest pressure ever that only pushing relieved but no 'ring of fire'. |
Anonymous
As a matter of fact, I HAVE had an epidural. It was placed incorrectly and therefore left me with the most horrendous mind-altering pain I have ever experienced in my life. I was screaming and writhing so horribly that I honestly did not notice whether or not I had a ring of fire. Personally, I thought my non-medicated experience might have been more useful to share with the OP than my epidural experience - my point was that some women experience ring of fire, some do not. My guess is that for some women, the epidural takes it away, and for some women it does not. |