leakage or what?

[seafox]

so two weeks ago, I had 'false' labor and what felt like to me an extremely liquidy discharge that I thought might be amniotic fluid. Certainly wasn't urine - based on smell, where it felt like it came from, etc. I ended up waiting the 24 hours and went to the hospital where they determined that I wasn't leaking (could have still been one, she said, high up, that might have stopped, etc) This was at 38wks.

So, last night, same thing, but in the middle of the night, so not as sure about urine or not, but still seemed like from vaginal canal, almost the way it feels if your period starts in the middle of the night. Then today, after being in the car for an hour, got up, and basically soaked my underwear. It didn't feel like urine, just from where it came from, same type of thing. I went to the bathroom right then, and did NOT have to pee, had to push even to pee a bit. Then later that hour, another wetness. Nothing since then.

Came back from our little jaunt, underwear is dry now, no ammonia smell or anything.

Could it just be that I have a super liquidy discharge right now? Or that I can leak here and there? I don't want to go back to the hospital AGAIN for the three tests again, I feel like a paranoid pregnant women here I was hoping that maybe I'd just go into labor so I wouldn't have to worry about the 24 hour issue (which technically would be 4am tonite, though maybe Ill just see what happens tomorrow and go in if no labor starts?)

am I fooling myself and it is just urine? Wouldn't it smell at all, and wouldn't I have to have something in my bladder for it to escape like that?

[rivkah]

Originally Posted by seafox

so two weeks ago, I had 'false' labor and what felt like to me an extremely liquidy discharge that I thought might be amniotic fluid. Certainly wasn't urine - based on smell, where it felt like it came from, etc. I ended up waiting the 24 hours and went to the hospital where they determined that I wasn't leaking (could have still been one, she said, high up, that might have stopped, etc) This was at 38wks.

So, last night, same thing, but in the middle of the night, so not as sure about urine or not, but still seemed like from vaginal canal, almost the way it feels if your period starts in the middle of the night. Then today, after being in the car for an hour, got up, and basically soaked my underwear. It didn't feel like urine, just from where it came from, same type of thing. I went to the bathroom right then, and did NOT have to pee, had to push even to pee a bit. Then later that hour, another wetness. Nothing since then.

Came back from our little jaunt, underwear is dry now, no ammonia smell or anything.

Could it just be that I have a super liquidy discharge right now? Or that I can leak here and there? I don't want to go back to the hospital AGAIN for the three tests again, I feel like a paranoid pregnant women here I was hoping that maybe I'd just go into labor so I wouldn't have to worry about the 24 hour issue (which technically would be 4am tonite, though maybe Ill just see what happens tomorrow and go in if no labor starts?)

am I fooling myself and it is just urine? Wouldn't it smell at all, and wouldn't I have to have something in my bladder for it to escape like that?

I don't have an answer for you, unfortunately. I think that it could be (1) super-liquidy discharge, (2) urine, or (3) a leak. Is everything fine otherwise? I think you should just pay close attention to your body and trust your instincts. Maybe pay pretty close attention to baby's movement and so forth.

I have never had a membrane leak, but I do know that if it "breaks" there is no mistaking it. It is like a balloon popping in your abdomen and it would soak far more than your panties. I also know that pregnancy can wreak havoc on your bladder, and you may just not realize you are going, especially as things descend in your last days, and nerves get kicked and smooshed and pressure makes all your bodily signals whacky. Also, due to the frequency of urination, it could be so "watered down" that it may not have much if any odor. And yes, weird watery discharge is also not unheard of.

Good luck, and I hope you get a better indication soon!

[dmariev]

my midwife friend said it is very possible to have a "leak" of amnitoic fluid and have it seal itself back up. and your water can break and come out in trickles (due to baby's head "blocking" the cervix, pretty common).... so really, it's kinda hard to tell. i'm sorry, not very helpful i'm sure. but she also said that if your urine has any color or smell, and the fluid does not, it is unlikely that it's urine. could also be very watery discharge, as pp said. i have had a lot of that, where i would stop and say "hmmmm, what was that?" but it didn't return enough to make me think it wat amniotic fluid. someone else on here asked where the "indicator light" was... wouldn't that be nice??
not knowing is the worst!

[seafox]

well I guess what's odd is that I've kind of been lucky and avoided most of the urination side effects of pregnancy. I only have to get up once in the night to go (and its more like at 530AM, so not even in the night) and I don't notice too much bladder pressure at all, I pee still somewhat normally (it seems to me, anyway) maybe a tiny bit more in the last week but nowhere near what most pregnant women seem to have to deal with! So my urine also is still pretty dark (also because I know I don't drink enough water)

so I guess that's why I'd be surprised if its urine. But I guess it could just be a super liquidy discharge, it just seemed strange is all.

I do feel fine otherwise! Although I do have a massive headache right now, but besides that fine. I think I might be a bit dehydrated. I've still been pretty active (biking to work, playing frisbee, etc) so I'd be surprised that I wouldn't accidentally have bladder issues then instead of randomly in the night or after a car ride I guess. Baby is moving around a lot, being pretty normal as well.

maybe Ill just give a call to my ob/gyn tomorrow and ask about it.

[seafox]

so since it didn't stop, and at one point actually 'trickled' down my leg, I ended up going into L&D today for the amniotic fluid check. I was oddly negative, despite it definitely not being urine (it happened enough times - 8-10 - over the last two days I was able to verify it was definitely coming from vaginal canal) and having the weird property of being much more right after getting up from laying down for a while.

they seemed to think it really sounded like amniotic fluid too, so I ended up getting an u/s to check fluid level, and ironically I am higher than normal! a 24 (7-20 is normal I guess) not sure if that means I have a big baby or what I look so small that I'd be surprised if I have a super big baby but I guess you never know!

I am still weirded out - the test they do checks the fluid that comes out right then when you cough, not necessarily the same fluid I've noticed over the last two days, so if its not a constant leak not sure how they can verify that what was seen wasn't amniotic - the trickle was definitely weird enough that I really thought it couldn't be discharge. But maybe my discharge right now is basically the exact consistency of water? is anyone else's like this?


I'm glad I went since I was stressing out about it but I hate going in and being wrong as well, I feel like such a paranoid patient! ah well. I hope I go into labor before I have another issue that I keep second guessing myself on

[lachingona1]

A few times within the last couple weeks I have had a watery discharge that has even trickled down my leg. Not sure why it is so watery.