You can just picture it can’t you? An extremely pregnant woman. In public. Surrounded by people. Suddenly, the camera zooms in on her face and she stops… startled. “I think…” she says, “I think my water just broke!” Every sitcom or movie that stars a pregnant character has a scene like this. People rush to her side and she is whisked away to the hospital. And anyone who has never been pregnant blushes and thinks I sure hope that never happens to me. Having your water break, in public, when you least expect it, seems absolutely mortifying; like wetting your pants… but worse.
But did you know that only 10 percent of pregnant women actually have their water break as a precursor to labour? Most women either have their water break while they are already labouring (and therefore unlikely to be in public) or they have their waters broken by a medical professional. Some babies are still born in the amniotic sac.
I am one of these 10%. With Cameron, I woke up in the morning, my water broke, and labour started. It was simple, it wasn’t even very messy (I could feel it happen so I rushed to the washroom), and I knew that without a doubt, I was in labour.
Fun Fact: When my water broke, I felt a POP! It felt like a bubble bursting inside of me. I’ve also heard that some people hear a pop when their water breaks.
When my sister was getting ready to have her baby, she expressed concern that her water would break in public. It is a really understandable fear. I remember talking to pregnant friends when I was pregnant with Cameron about how to prepare for our water to break. But the reality is, we don’t live in a movie. Most women aren’t even going to have to worry about their water breaking in an inopportune way.
But here’s the thing: These days, I am really hoping my water will break. Anywhere. At any time.
As I type this, I am experiencing my first Braxton Hicks contraction of the day. It isn’t painful… yet. But as the day progresses, my contactions get more painful. This has been going on for days, and I am not in labour yet. When I first started experiencing these contractions, I hoped it meant that my body was finally getting itself ready to deliver a baby. But as these contractions have continued on for so long, I find them leaving me discouraged.
Each day, especially in the evening, I feel like I am moments away from going into labour. Contractions are strong and I feel painful twinges in all the right places. Then, I go to bed and wake up feeling perfectly normal. My hopes that labour is imminent are dashed each time I wake up and feel only pregnancy – not labour.
So now I am seriously hoping that my water breaks. I feel like at this point, I am never going to know when I am actually in labour without it. I feel like I’ve been pregnant forever and probably will continue to be so – forever – so a good gush of water might convince me that this baby will actually be in my arms at some point soon.
At this point, I will even celebrate wet pants in a grocery store aisle!
Did your water break? Or better yet, did it break in public?
With DS#1 my water was broken in hospital by staff.
With DS#2 I had had contractions for about 8 hours (10 minutes apart) then I rolled over in bed and heard that “pop” but didn’t think anything of it until the contractions suddenly became only 2-3 minutes apart and intense and when I got up out of bed I could feel the little gush of the fluid and then realized the popping noise was the actual sac rupturing. It didn’t come flowing out like a bucket full or anything :-P Within 2 hours I was holding DS#2 :-)
My water actually broke twice with Cameron. The second time was more than 24 hours after the first big “gush”. The sac had a time to repair itself in that time. But by that point, I was in the hospital and finally had some drugs in me and was able to rest for the first time in a while. I said to the nurse “Can my water break again? Because I think that just happened. But if I just DON’T MOVE, the spot right underneath me is still dry… so I’ll just stay here until I have to get up again.” Ha. I was SO tired!
Laura recently posted..Splash!
My water broke about 30 minutes after my 3rd dose of the “gel”. The nurse came in and said, “Ok, we’re going to get you to move onto your back now” (I was on my side) and when I rolled over, I felt something let go and then a gush. “Oh,” I said, “I think my water just broke.” The nurse, my husband and dear SIL all said, “Really?” and I said, “Uh huh, and it’s still going. Oh dear. Oh dear.” At that point, the very sweet nurse started to giggle and we pulled back the sheets to find me sitting in a rather large puddle. The nurse giggled even more and so did I. My husband helped me walk to the washroom to have a shower and we all laughed harder when I slipped a little on the puddles I was creating as I walked. Lucky me, the baby’s head didn’t seal things up and I had lots and lots of amniotic fluid despite the fact that I was overdue. ;)
Yup – my water pretty much broke and kept going until it broke again. No wonder we get so freakin’ huge when we’re pregnant.
It is also amazing how much surprises us when our water breaks. Seeing these comments reminds me that we all have different experiences, but still they all seem so surprising. Big gush… Kept going… Little trickle… Happened more than once…
Thank heavens we have senses of humours.
Laura recently posted..Splash!
My water broke at 9:30 am on a Sunday morning – I had no idea that that’s what it was (honestly thought I was peeing myself b/c I didn’t do my kegals…lol). I guess I was expecting the big gush which never happened, only little squirts – didn’t have any contractions and just went about my day running errands (wearing a pair of Depends underwear – ha!). It was only when I got home in the afternoon that hubs suggested we go to the hospital to be sure and lo and behold, my water did break but since I still had no contractions they put me on pitocin to get the labour moving.
I’ve heard that can happen when the amniotic bag ruptures near the top instead of near the bottom. It is all so very interesting.
Even though I did have my water break and did have contractions, I still needed the max amount of pitocin to dilate passed 3cm. Bodies are funny sometimes.
Laura recently posted..Splash!
Well, didn’t break for any of my babies – had to be broken and even when the Dr supposedly did for our last child, Mollly was born “en caul”…an interesting experience to say the least. And where births 1 and 2 were relatively ‘quick’; first 2 hours after checking in at the hospital, second 1 hour, labour for baby 3 was intense and long… But no water breaking over anything except the bed.
I remember reading that babies born in the caul carry special significance throughout life (obviously a superstition or an old wive’s tale, but interesting none the less). So I googled it.
Yeah. Don’t google it. Or at least I shouldn’t have. Now I officially know what a baby looks like being born. I don’t think I wanted to see that only hours/days before I give birth.
On the other hand, did you know that it has been calculated that only about one in every eighty thousand births is a baby born like that. Or maybe that’s just what this sketchy internet page is telling me…
Laura recently posted..Splash!
My husband, as his mother is fond of reminding us, was her third child and he was born in the caul. She blames that for his stubbornness, strong individualism and often times callous behavior. ;) As I’m waiting on my baby, I’m following your advice and not googling it, so I have no idea if her characterizations are on par. :)
I was one of the 10% too the first time around. I got up around midnight to go to the bathroom, came back and flopped into bed and felt that “pop.” You’re right – it definitely feels like a bubble popping inside you. What I didn’t realize is that my water would KEEP going – there was the initial gush yes, but as labour started I continued having gushes every time I had a contraction. I thought it would never stop! Made for a messy drive to the hospital :S I kept having small gushes during contractions right up until he was born 6 hours later.
With number two labour started first and was very fast and very intense! My water didn’t break until I got to the hospital and got changed. I collapsed onto the hospital bed, and my water broke with the next contraction. No gentle “pop” – it felt more like a “BANG” and there was water EVERYWHERE. As in, the entire bed was soaked, I was drenched down to my toes – and no time to clean it up because baby came out with two more contractions!
While I liked having my water break at home with #1 because that meant I KNEW I was in labour for sure, I actually am pleased with how things went the second time around because there was no messy drive to the hospital. No sense waiting around in labour for hours and hours right, just arrive at the hospital and push out that baby! ;) For your sake I hope that it goes faster this time around than last time!
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This is a perfect example of why women should have very heavy and thick pads at home before their babies are born. And, as a friend commented above – even Depends Underwear! :) I had to double up the pads and change them often while water continued to come out of me.
Every time I turn around in bed now, I keep hoping I will feel my water break. It makes for a very apprehensive night!
Laura recently posted..Splash!
There is nothing more vulnerable feeling than having your water broken. I had my water broken for DS 1 and DS 2. For #1, I had been contracting for days–but they led nowhere. For #2, I was contracting for 13 hours prior to even arriving at the hospital. They broke my water within an hour and a half after arriving at the hospital, and he was born about half an hour after that.
I am so sorry it was such a vulnerable feeling for you. As you saw here, I really hope it is something I don’t have to experience. Ideally I want my water to break and then I want good ole’ get-the-baby-out labour to start.
But, births aren’t controlled by what we WANT to have happen. I keep having to tell myself that as I continue to wait.
Laura recently posted..Splash!
Looking back on my comment, I realised I wasn’t very encouraging! Yes, I felt vulnerable, but it was exciting nonetheless. What my Mom would call “scary-exciting.” You know something good is coming, but you also know some less-than-pleasant experiences are going to happen before that. That being said, after your last labor experience, I sincerely hope this labor is as close to what you want as possible. Or at least moves fast enough that you are like “whoa–what just happened?”
My water actually broke while I was at my doctor’s appt! Crazy, I know…I really wanted to go home first b/c we hadn’t brought any of our stuff..but the doctor sent me right to my hospital room LOL.
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Oh that IS crazy! I keep thinking I should throw my bag into the car so it is there when we need it, but I know then I won’t have my ereader or my netbook or my camera or any of my chargers… so I just figure I will send my husband for the bag if anything like that happens.
When my water broke I called the telehealth line and they told me to go to the hospital within an hour or two of my water breaking (contractions weren’t close together or anything). So I showered, called my family, got everything together, braided my hair, etc. And, as expected, they checked that it was my water that broke and then they sent me back home.
Laura recently posted..Splash!
Well my first babe was induced and the doctor broke my water for her. It felt so wonderful, such a surprising sense of release and relief. I also had been unaware that it would keep going a little through each subsequent contraction. I must have missed that lesson in the childbirth classes, lol. But for baby 2, my water broke in the parking lot of a shopping mall where I was going with a friend to check out a sale. I felt it let go and started to laugh. My BFF thought I was horsing around until she saw the wet spot on my jeans starting to develop. She called my husband to tell him to start getting our daughter ready and he asked where I was so she had to tell him I was laughing my head off on the way back to the car. She drove and I sat on a towel I had been keeping “just in case”. Once we got to the hospital he was born in less than two hours. I hope that happens for you.
Yes! You’re my first “it happened in public” story! And I am THRILLED that you took it in such good spirits! I can imagine some women would just be mortified.
Laura recently posted..Splash!
I too have enjoyed reading everyone’s stories. With Jonathan I was a week over due and had one application of the gel at 3pm, I was due to get another before bed at 10pm then again first thing in the morning before getting the drip. But luckily my waters broke ‘popped’ around 10pm, so no more gel and less than 3 hours later he was born. Jace was a week early. I had been having little contractions all week, finally on Saturday I felt in my gut it was going to happen. At 6pm we put baby sitter on stand by, 8pm went to hospital and got sent home, midnight back to hospital, 4am finally had my waters broken by midwife, 4:30am Baby! Won’t be long till you have another story to share :)
Isn’t it frustrating being sent home? This time for us I think they wanted to keep us close by when we went into the hospital. They encouraged us to walk around the hospital for a couple of hours – and then a couple of hours more, but never really encouraged us to go home. Apparently they call second-time mothers “untrustworthy” because their labours are so unpredictable, so they wanted to keep us nearby.
I want to say that I also had that gut feeling this time around that I would be going into labour – but let’s be real… I had that “gut” feeling for like two weeks prior! :)
Laura recently posted..Mama Home
Popped in from SITS! My husband and I are trying for kids…these stories are intimidating! :)
So glad you popped by! And… um, I’m sorry for the intimidating stories! :) I really hope you’ll be filled with some intimidating stories of your own in no time!
Laura recently posted..Mama Home
With #1, my water broke after dinner, after I took a shower (of course) so I was comfortable and at home. And it was more like a leak then a huge gush (though that happened an hour later). 3 hours later, contractions began, and 12 hours later the baby was born. It was really not very dramatic :)
With the second one, I’m hoping it’d go the same way, as with waters broken, there’s a ‘deadline’ for the baby to be born and I’m sure you’ve gathered by now that I’m very impatient and I really dread a long labor!
I’m hoping for you that your baby will come really soon. Before your dad has to leave for Israel. That’d really make everyone’s weekend, wouldn’t it? :)
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I totally know what you are saying about how water breaking gives you a deadline. You know, without a doubt that labour has started and a baby will be arriving within hours (perhaps MANY hours like it was for me with Cameron, but still…)
I’m interested now in knowing how long your second labour will take! Even my second one was longer than your first (16 hours) and that was down from 38 hours the first time. 12 hours seems super short to me – based solely on my own experiences! :)
Again, good luck! Thinking about you as you continue to wait.
Laura recently posted..Mama Home
You probably don’t want to hear my birth story right now, but no, my water did not break. My doctor had to break it b/c we knew Donut was coming any time at that point and I was already at a 9. Laura, I’m praying for a quick and easy labor and delivery this weekend for you!
Rach (DonutsMama) recently posted..Life’s Lessons: Parents Just Don’t Understand (Or at Least This One Doesn’t)
Since I went through it before, I didn’t mind horror labor stories, even right before giving birth again this time around.
Thank you so much for the prayers. They definitely worked!
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