Water broke to start labor last time? Should I be concerned this time?

[sky_and_lavender]

I guess I'm still processing the birth of my 3 year old daughter. I found this thread which I think is what happened to me. My water broke before anything else seemed to have happened and I immediately started having pretty strong contractions about 3-4 minutes apart for a couple of hours. Then they slowed down and decreased intensity for a a pretty long time (around 6 hours), and then they heated up again and stayed intense until birth. My baby was born 26 hours after my water broke. So would this be described as "water broke at start of labor"? Or was it that water broke, I had some contractions to adjust the baby, and then "real" labor started 6 hours later?

I'm trying to figure out if it's really a problem that my water broke first thing, and whether or not I need to worry about changing anything to make it less likely to happen this time around. My umbilical cord was uniquely positioned on the placenta (marginal insertion right next to the edge but not on the edge), and I read somewhere that this could be a factor in water breaking early (though I don't understand why.)

I know the recurrence of PROM is more likely because I had it once, but if my placenta is more typical this time, is it still more likely? Last time I had spent months with no more than 2-4 hours of sleep a day and went into labor after 2 days of very little sleep--could that have been a factor?

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

[katelove]

I don't think what you described is a concern. Your waters broke and contractions started straight away. I would probably describe the first 6 hours as "early labour" and after that as "active labour" but it's probably not that important.

I wouldn't even really characterise what you describe as PROM since you started contracting immediately, so yes, I guess I'd say spontaneous rupture of membranes at start of labour. I doubt the cord insertion or lack of sleep had anything to do with it.

What are you trying to avoid this time around? It sounds like everything went fine from what you wrote in your OP.

[berrymama]

I agree that there was nothing unusual with your labor (and actually, for a first labor, you did well to be patient and have it progress naturally). Also, there is really nothing you can do that will prevent your water from breaking. It is pretty much out of your control. My water broke first for both of my labors, with contractions starting within 15 minutes both times (first labor was 3 hrs, second was 1 hr).

[greenemami]

Sounds fairly normal to me. ..my water broke in the very beginning of both my labors-well, at least I consider that the beginning of my labors :) With my first, my water broke, contractions began immediately, very strong, and she was born 4 hours later.  With my second, water broke, no contractions for a couple of hours progressing into mild contractions with lots of walking, slowed down when I would rest, and baby ended up being born about 15 hours later. 

[sky_and_lavender]

Thanks for the feedback! When it broke and we called the midwife, I got the impression it was a problem--I think she didn't believe that my water fully broke or that I was having real contractions. But everything went fine (though I did hemorrhage in the end). I guess I won't worry about whether this will happen again this time around or not. I am going to get an extra ultrasound to make sure everything is okay with the placenta, though. 
 

[allisonrose]

With my first, my water broke before any contractions. I ended up having my labor augmented because my cntractions were not picking up like they wanted. (I had tested GBS+.)

With my second, I didn't really do anything different but my water stayed intact throughout a long labor and was ruptured by my midwife in an effort to see if things would finish at home rather than transfer to a hospital. (Didn't work.)

[Chloe'sMama]

My first, water broke, no real contractions for at least 8 hours, but then they started (Doc started pit a while later), DD1 was born 7 hours later.

DD2- water broke and labor started soon after (early labor then just an hour of active labor then DD2 was born)

So, with both, water broke then labor started... We will see what this new babe brings in Feb.  

I agree that nothing really sounds abnormal about your story... but I expect my labor to start by water breaking.

[stephbrownthinks]

With DS 1 I had been having a few light contractions, water broke, and labor stalled and started a few more times until he was born about 24 hours later. DS2 my water never broke and he was born in the caul.