Water Broke?

Updated on January 14, 2010
A.S. asks from Springfield, MO
21 answers

I was sleeping and woke up in a huge wet spot! I am due one week from today. However i have not been having very many contractions. My husband is convinced i just peed in the bed, but the fluid was on my legs and it was a white cloudy color. Does anyone know what this may have been? Did my water break or did i actually pee while i was asleep? Please help! This is extremely embarrassing for me!

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So What Happened?

So i went to the doctor on the 14th and quite embarrassingly it was not my water that broke. However i was in active labor! They gave me pitocin to help progress things, and Gracie Dawn came into this world at 8:20 pm. She weighed 7 pounds 1 1/2 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long! I want to thank everyone for their advice!

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S.M.

answers from St. Louis on

This is number 4---girl get to the hospital now and check it out!!!! The last time I had a baby they told me the very next pregnancy I better be in the hospital at least two weeks early. I only had two and yet the last came faster and more leaking than the first, so that meant the next would be even faster. So what are you doing reading this go check it out!!!! Congratulations on your newest addition to your family!

1 mom found this helpful

B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

Is it a constant leak? Or has it stopped? I've heard sometimes the baby can kick you in the bladder and that can make you have an accident. If your water broke, it's not likely it would stop leaking. Talk to your Dr's office.

1 mom found this helpful

S.L.

answers from Kansas City on

Urine and amniotic fluid don't smell anything alike. Sounds like he's being a jerk and you better get to the hospital to check it out either way.

Actually, it can be very different for every person. It doesn't necessarily leak with every contraction. I didn't know until my daughters pregnancy/birth that there are really 2 layers of the bag. My daughter had leaking and then nothing for a few hours. Then they had to break the bag at the end.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.L.

answers from St. Louis on

Obviously, we all agree that your water broke. I doubt you are still reading responses and hope you are not panicking. For many women, the first sign of labor is the water breaking. It was for me. But, there is no reason to be alarmed and I am sorry so many people seem to think there is. There are a lot of overreactions due to the way many medical professionals present information in a frightening manner. Yes, at some point today you want to get yourself to whoever is going to assist you in the birth. You just do not need to panic or get in a rush.

It is standard medical practice to induce labor after the water breaks if contractions do not begin within a number of hours. The understanding is that the child should be born within 24 hours to prevent any possibility of infection. I've known of women who waited up to 3 days to go into labor after the water broke. As long as there is no medical staff sticking their fingers up there to check for dilation stages there is little chance of introducing bacteria that would likely cause any concern. Your baby is still in a moist and safe environment and is still connected to the placenta and is getting everything it needs. Anyone - be they doctors, nurses, or midwives - who assists in birth and does not know how to lubricate the birth canal is not worth their salt. So you don't need to panic about the 'dry birth' unless your doctor is incompetent.

Some women will actually wait a few hours before going to the hospital just to see if taking a walk will trigger labor to start on its own rather than rush to have labor chemically induced. Whichever way helps you to be most calm as you move through this is a good choice. By the way, bring the bed sheet with you so they can see the fluid. You did not describe any brownish, blackish, or greenish streaks, which could indicated that the baby had its first BM. This can sometimes happen just before the water breaks and is referred to as a merconium stain. If there is any indication of merconium stain in the fluid, they will be in more of a hurry to induce labor.

Anyway, hope you get this in time for it to be of some help, but I doubt it.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.L.

answers from Kansas City on

If you have not already delivered by the time you get this message, run to the doctor. In the old days they said girl you might have a dry birth if that was the water breaks and it sounds like it was. Don't worry they will check to see and then induce labor if needed. It happened to me too. Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful
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V.D.

answers from St. Louis on

get to your doctor they have a test to determine if it is amniotic fluid or not.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.W.

answers from Kansas City on

My third was a trickle throughout the night... I thought I was just sweating and peeing... My fluid was so low when they started monitoring the baby & I, that the doctor almost did a c-section because the baby was STRESSED!!!

Go now, best to have it checked than end up with issues for the new little one!!

1 mom found this helpful
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R.D.

answers from Kansas City on

Go IMMEDIATELY to the hospital!! IF your water broke - and I am positive it has - then the environment your baby has been developing in is no longer sterile. Contractions or not - GO! If it was not your water (the hospital can do a simple test to see if is or not), you can always go back home. You don't want to jeapordize the baby's health so go have it checked.

1 mom found this helpful
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R.W.

answers from Kansas City on

Go now! Don't wait.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.C.

answers from St. Louis on

I would DEFINATELY call your doctor

1 mom found this helpful
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B.J.

answers from Kansas City on

When my water broke it was a SLOW trickle. So slow I kept thinking it stopped. My contractions never started after that. Please be sure and go to your doctor. I was afraid I peed too, but it's always better safe than sorry.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.K.

answers from Birmingham on

When my water broke it was a HUGE gush of water that just kept coming.If your not sure, though, the only draw back to going into the hospital for them to check you is that they might send you back home if your not in labor. But at least you would know for sure then.

1 mom found this helpful

S.L.

answers from Kansas City on

With my first baby, who was born at 32 1/2 weeks, my water broke in the night, my husband thought I had wet the bed too. What is up with these men thinking we suddenly wet the bed? :-)
I would think in a short time you would start having contractions, will have a baby soon after hopefully not being induced.
I have 8 children and was always told each one comes faster, not true. You may have time and then again may not so each pregnancy is different no matter how many you've had. Just check with your doctor to be sure, don't panic, don't get in a bathtub as if the water did break you could get infection from a bath tub but I think you can still shower. Best to check with the medical profession though.

1 mom found this helpful

D.B.

answers from Wichita on

Call your OB right away and you can go in for a checkup. THey can tell you if your water broke for sure.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.M.

answers from Kansas City on

Get to the doctor and get checked Immediately.I had my water break 13 years ago at 4:30am and I was only dialted to a 1 then they gave me pitocin to start contractions and by late afternoon I was only a 3 still so they said it was dangerous to have a dry birth so they did a c-section at 730 pm .It pays to go to the doctor in the case of a pregnancy for the sake of a healthy child .

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G.T.

answers from Kansas City on

go to the hospital now and get it checked out. It sounds as if the water is broke especially since the white would be vernix. The longer you wait the higher chance of infection for you and the baby.

C.B.

answers from Kansas City on

A., sounds like it's probably your water breaking, like the girls have said. i'm probably too late and hopefully you're at the hospital, but if not, go! don't be embarrassed, i know that feeling too. (tell hubby shut up and if he would like to bear the next one feel free. probably just grouchy from being woken up early! men can be buttheads!) the thing is with the water breaking, it keeps coming, it doesn't stop. i was embarrassed, too, i wore a pad to the hospital, and every time i moved or even breathed wrong, i leaked. gross! but it's childbirth, it's supposed to be messy. i even apologized to the nurse because when i went into the bathroom in my hospital room to put the gown on, i leaked on the floor. don't be embarrassed. this is nature at its finest ;)

we had to call my mom and mil to find out what to do, so don't worry. but yes, if your water has broken that is when you go to the hospital. congrats and good luck!

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Q.F.

answers from Kansas City on

If it was your water it would break again everytime you have a contraction...

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K.J.

answers from Kansas City on

call your dr, get to the hospital, do something soon!

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S.D.

answers from Topeka on

My water broke inmy sleep with my 1st I woke up to a huge wet spot followed by contrations by husband thought the same thing I wet the bed ya I did my water broke,my 2nd I was up several times to pee then I just knew if I layed back down I wouldn't be able to get back up well I did slowly lye down & sure enough my water broke it actually felt like a ballon popped in my belly & a gush of fluid,my last not so lucky they had to break my water.So your on your 4th child that's ok not everyone know's exactly when to go to the hospital but a good rule og thumb is if yoour extremly in pain unable to sit stand walk or talk through contractions head to the hospital.All my delivers were natural & quick my first was 6 hrs 3 pushes,2nd 2 hrs 5 min of pushing my 3rd well barely made it luckliy the OB was there to break my water so for I can push she was here in less than 30 min from start to finish.

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V.G.

answers from Kansas City on

Call your doctor and have them check you out. They can determine if your water has broken with a simple test (a thin strip of paper will turn a color if there is aminiotic fluid present. My water broke with my third child and I didn't really have contractions. Also, this happened to my sister and she was convinced not to go to the hospital since there was bad weather. Her son ended up needing antibiotics because she went several days before being induced. He was fine but better safe than sorry.

Don't feel silly. It is hard to tell.

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