Waters breaking - Advice badly needed

[CMIL]

Last night I was coming in from the garage when there was a sudden wetness in my knickers and onto my legs. I went inside to check and sure enough my knickers were fairly sodden with a liquid that was clear and had no real smell to it and it had gone through onto my jeans. On them the wet patch was about the size of my palm.

I went into hospital and they did the thing where I had to sit for an hour with a pad on but nothing more came out and she did an internal and said she really couldnt see anything. My cervix was definately closed and when I did the 'cough test' there was no leakage internally whatsoever so she felt my waters hadnt broken.

Now I am just so confused. I KNOW the leak wasnt a urine leak. You just know your own body and I havent had a problem with bladder pressure throughout my pregnancy, I dont leak when I laugh or havent even needed to get up in the night to go to the loo or anything. Plus I have wet myself before on numerous occasions through cystitis and I know what it feels like and the wetness last night definately didnt come from my wee hole. It came from under me. She mentioned about discharge but personally I have never had discharge like that before. It was just a small wet feeling, my knickers were sodden with a water type texture, not a 'creamy' texture.

I am just so worried because if my waters have broken and I am open to infection and without having an induction date to fall back on, I am increasing my risk surely.

Any ideas anyone? If your waters go, do you absolutely definately then keep on leaking onto a pad or can some water just sort of go but then you dont see anything else for ages? Has anyone else had anything happen like this?

I was just so certain this was it. I have felt different in the last few days, dull aches have started to come when they werent there before and braxton hicks have gone through the roof.

 

[bunnyhop]

If you have been checked over hun i would think you are fine, if it was your waters they would still be leaking as its alot of water when they go.

Try to relax x

 

[Hollys_Twinny]

It's could be your back waters Hun, they are known to trickle instead of gush, they don't leave u open to infection & it could be a week or two before labour starts. It's a good sign that labours on it's way though

 

[natasja32]

Hey sweetie...It could be your hind/back waters. If you are at all worried maybe go back to your labour ward and explain to them again,and tell them about the pains you have started having since too. How far along are you sweetie??

 

[rachael22]

hey hun did she sey nething about your membranes had gone because on my 1st i thought it was my waters it was about the size of my palm like u sed ...i was then giving birth hours l8a and the baby was still in the sack of water the midwife sed thats a lucky baby being born in her water (membranes are also very clear) x

 

[CMIL]

Thanks for replying guys.

I am 37+6. If its not urine and not discharge, I just dont understand what else it can be but equally the midwifes are experts and I dont want to question them too much and be the annoying woman who is hellbent on her own idea of things!

 

[rachael22]

i bet its the membranes they always go 1st thats what happens when the midwife does a sweep x

 

[CMIL]

No she didnt mention membranes. I will look that up.

I cant believe how emotional my reaction has been. I was just so certain I guess, in my mind there was/is nothing else it could have been and the adrenaline started pumping and my husband was so excited, we were like 2 kids! Then when I had to come home and nothing more came I just felt so, so down. I feel really crushed and its just a disproportionate reaction to what has actually happened!

 

[NickyT75]

Its possible to be just discharge hun...

I had a wet patch in my pjama bottoms a few days ago roughly the size of my palm as you described & I know for a fact it wasnt urine + it wasnt white/cloudy like id expect normal discharge to be (I was worried it was my waters as I had PROM in my last pregnancy)

I asked my MW and she said increased wetness is normal in the end stages of pregnancy as your babies head is probably engaged/engaging which puts increased pressure on everything which in turn forces a lot more moisture down & out that would normally stay inside you xx

 

[rachael22]

let me kno after u looked it up x

 

[NickyT75]

i bet its the membranes they always go 1st thats what happens when the midwife does a sweep x

No hun

the membranes are the sack around the waters so if her membranes had ruptured that would be the same thing as her waters breaking & its unlikely that has happened as she has been checked over and isnt still leaking now

(I know this as I had premature rupture of membranes in my last pregnancy) xx

 

[CMIL]

Ah right, yes that makes sense because the only info I can find seems to indicate that membranes and amniotic fluid are that same thing....so i.e. saying your waters have broken and saying your membrane has broken is the same thing.

I guess I will just have to play a game of patience. A few women talk of their hind waters breaking and then about 2-4 days later they go into actual labour so fingers crossed that might be the same for me!

There were really strange noises last night after the small-ish gush too that I have not experienced so far in the pregnancy. My belly started doing really weird gurgling noises as if some water had been let out and like you get in a bottle, the remaining water was kind of 'glugging' back into place.

I am not reading too much into the occasional dull aches because the MW was so rough with me last night when checking the babys position that it could be soreness from that.

 

[calais]

You might not think it but you probably did just wet yourself. I did in the later stages of my 1st pregnancy and its starting again now. I have great control of my pfm but still cos bubs is so low i leak. If it were your waters, they would still slowly trickle plus the midwife checked your cervix.
With me, i found my discharge to be thicker towards the end of my pregnancy so id def say it was a urine leak

 

[rachael22]

my membranes went way b4 i was giving birth and the baby was still in the sack of water well thats what the midwifes sed x

 

[NickyT75]

my membranes went way b4 i was giving birth and the baby was still in the sack of water well thats what the midwifes sed x

Its possible that your membranes sprung a small leak then resealed over hun but this is very unusual & only happens in a very small % of cases so is not likely to be the case for the original poster

when my membranes ruptured my fluid levels were monitored for the next few weeks to see if they would build back up (which can only happen if the leak seals up) but unfortunately if the membranes have ruptured properly there is no chance of this happening

If your baby was born in the sack of water your membranes HAD to be intact at the time of birth which means they hadnt ruptured properly (hope that makes sense?) xx

 

[madasa]

You might not think it but you probably did just wet yourself. I did in the later stages of my 1st pregnancy and its starting again now. I have great control of my pfm but still cos bubs is so low i leak. If it were your waters, they would still slowly trickle plus the midwife checked your cervix.
With me, i found my discharge to be thicker towards the end of my pregnancy so id def say it was a urine leak

Waters don't always slowly trickle. Sometimes they come in a big gush and sometimes something between the two. If it's a trickle, it's likely the hind waters. If it's a gush, it's the forewaters (the water in front of babys head). If it's the hind waters, and the FW are still there, there might not be enough pressure on your cvx to start labour, because the water is still tehre as a kind of cushion between LO's head and your cvx.

If the OP has wet herself before and knows the difference, then I say - trust your gut! you KNOW you didn't wet yourself... so this is either clear discharge or it's waters breaking. and midwifes don't ALWAYS get it right.... they are only human!

 

[CMIL]

Thanks Madasa.

I think the best thing to do is hope in an ideal world it is my hind waters and get on that birthing ball and walking around to try and put some gravitational weight down on my cervix and see what happens!

The good thing to come out of last night is that at my last MW app 10 days ago, the head wasnt engaged at all but last night she did say the baby was really low and engaged so progress has been made...

I'm just disappointed because I didnt want to get into one of those situations where you keep going to hospital but getting sent back for whatever reason because the hospital is about 35 mins away and its such an emotional upheaval getting all excited to that extent only to have to bring yourself down again each time.

Lets hope I get a clear as clear can be sign in the next few days that labour is definately starting. One that there is no question about.

 

[dt1234565]

i have no advice as usual really as my waters have never previously broken!

I would say though to keep an eye on yourself and go with your instincts, it never hurts to get a second opinion.

xxx

 

[madasa]

Thanks Madasa.



Lets hope I get a clear as clear can be sign in the next few days that labour is definately starting. One that there is no question about.

Oh you will, you will! Worse case scenario, it could be the baby actually coming out, but I'm 99% sure you'll get some warning before that happens!

 

[ellahstruts]

its prob a forewater leak hun they are seperate to your main waters and can leak like a tap, they did with me last time its also very hard to diagnose as they leak on and off, dont have sex or any baths only showers to cut down on infection risk if these are hind or aka forewaters xx