[Contented73]

Round two.....computer just ate my post.....

okay, so I've been leaking fluid since the middle of the night, and I'm wondering how long you would wait to call your midwife? I have ZERO intention of doing anything to stimuate labor at this point, and don't even want to engage in a conversation about it. I'd rather just do my thing at home (get on with my day, go walking, let my toddler nurse, etc.) and see what happens. But guess I'm just wondering how long you would feel comfortable waiting?

By the way, I am not having a homebirth. I'm going to a free standing birth center (my insurance only covers the bc, not at home WAAAHHH), and the practice does 80% homebirth and 20% birth center, so they are pretty homebirth-minded, but still they have their OB backup who they send people to quite readily if need be. Since I never expected to be part of the 10% of women who had ROM without labor (with DS, I asked them to break my water when I was 8cm), I never even asked them how long they "let" people wait before trying more aggressive induction measures. And, like I said, now is not the time I want to start a conversation about it lol!

What do you think? Also want to add that I guess I'm not 100% it's amniotic fluid, although I have no idea what else it could be. It feels like I've got my period (little gushes, but no blood of course) and I'm soaking a pad with clear fluid every few hours. Also want to mention I'm GBS negative (yay!!!!).

 

[georgia]

What does the fluid smell like

If it smells sort of bleachy, in a good way

, it's most likely amniotic fluid. I would feel comfortable waiting until I didn't feel comfortable

I don't mean that snarky! You might want to call your mw once your labor starts in earnest....sounds like you've got a good plan (letting toddler nurse, just going about your day, etc)

Best wishes, mama!!! Let us know when

is here

 

[tika]

I've heard of this little "test" to do to determine if you are leaking amniotic fluid. Have not tried it myself.

wear a panty liner to catch some of the fluid
pour iodine on it
If the iodine stays reddish it's likely urine, if it turns clear, it's amniotic fluid

I agree with the PP, as long as you feel comfortable with keeping quiet and don't develop a fever or anything funky then just go with it and see what happens.

Your plan for the day sounds perfect.

 

[Contented73]

Thank you thank you for your encouragement! It definitely is amniotic fluid. It is leaking enough to soak an overnight-size pad every hour or two, plus I was coughing and it was really coming out - I put my hand down to catch some just to make SURE it was coming from my vagina, lol -- not that I've ever had one iota of urinary incontinence, but anyway......

Yeah, I am going to wait until I'm at least contracting. I have a funny feeling that won't be until tomorrow, but I'm okay with that.

What I'm *not* okay with is actually having this baby now! LOL! It just seems too early, sometimes I still have that "am I really pregnant?!?!" type of feeling, and it just seems crazy to think that this is happening. Plus it's early - I'm only 38 weeks, and with DS I went right to his due date. I honestly thought I had at least two more weeks. Sigggghhhhh......at least the heat wave has broken THANK GOD!!!!!

Thanks again,
Suzanne.

 

[flapjack]

As long as nothing goes up there, and you don't have any baths, you can reasonably hang in there for up to 96 hours. I'd start taking your temperature regularly, though, and maybe add some zinc and vitamin C to your diet to ward off any risk of infection.

 

[Kidzaplenty]

Remember, if you are talking birth center. The moment you tell your MW your water broke, you will be on a clock (if it is like any birth center I have heard of). Once your water is broke for 24 hours they may not let you use the birth center any more, but make it a hospital birth.

SO, if it were me, I would NOT tell the MW until my labor really got started, unless I felt like something was wrong or I developed a fever or pain.

My BOW broke with my first baby at 8am. I did not have any contractions for half the day or more (can't specifically remember, but they did not start until atleast after lunch), but I had my daughter 20 hours after ROM.

Congratulations! You are really going to have a baby! Maybe today!

 

[cinnamonamon]

Sounds like you have things under control...I'd only add that I heard "through the grapevine" that you want to make sure you are drinking plenty of fluids to keep fluid levels safe... No idea if that is true or just an "old wives tale" (or worse a Doctor's "tale"), but I wanted to throw it out there for ya.

Good luck & congrats!!

 

[Contented73]

For anyone who is interested, here is the end result.........(cross posted in August ddc)

Spontaneous membrane rupture, eventual hospital transfer, but successful vaginal delivery and a mostly happy mama! Read on....

My water started leaking around 5am on Wednesday August 9th. I wasn't due until the 21st, and was completely NOT ready (emotionally) to have a baby. I was in denial all morning that my water was broken - even though I was soaking a pad every hour lol. Anyway, I spent all day Wednesday relaxing and trying to get mentally ready for the baby, just waiting for contractions to start.

By Thursday morning when I still had not had any contractions, my midwife wanted me to come into the birth center so she could check me out. We met her there at 10am, and she confirmed it was amniotic fluid, but unfortunately I was not dilated or effaced AT ALL. We decided that since I'd been ruptured for a while already, we needed to try to get labor going. So I did nipple stimulation for an hour with the breast pump. Nothing. So midwife asked if I'd be willing to try Cervidil. I hadn't realized that we could use that out of the hospital, but at that point I was happy to hear that we could use it.

After the cervidil went in, I spent Thursday afternoon active and trying to get things moving - walking outside, nipple stimulation, an enema (yuck, but better than castor oil!), and some homeopathic medicine meant to help an "unyielding" cervix. By evening I was finally feeling some good contractions and got a second dose of cervidil (the first dose fell out in the toilet, ooops) to help things continue. By midnight I was working really hard and had made it all the way (insert heavy sarcasm lol!) to 1cm dilation.

There were several times throughout the night that someone would comment to me how close I must be, guessing that I only had a few hours left. So I kept working and working through each contraction, moving and swaying and moaning. It was a good, hard, night. But early in the morning when we checked, I was only at 3cm. Back at it; more walking around outside, eating, nipple stim, a warm shower. The contractions were so painful, and sometimes so close together, everyone was sure I was "getting there". Unfortunately I had the ghost of my first labor hanging over my head (45 hour labor; each centimeter of dilation took hours - but I still had a successful natural birth-center delivery), so I thought I was progessing, but probably not that THAT fast. Anyway, when I was checked at 1pm on Friday, I hadn't changed AT ALL in the past 7 hours. Big bummer.

Since my water had now been broken 50+ hours, we agreed it was time to transfer to the hospital for Pitocin. MAJOR change in plans of course, but I agreed - under the condition that I got an epidural the moment I walked in the door lol!! By this time, I was emotionally and physically strung out after all the waiting and hard work, and I simply was not willing to endure Pitocin contractions at that point without pain relief.

We all drove separately to the hospital, and once I got checked in at about 3pm on Friday they discovered I was 5cm. Amazing, eh? An hour later when they went to give me the epi, I was 7cm. Unbelievable. Even though I was obviously progressing again, doc still wanted to start the Pitocin, and that meant I still wanted the epi! The epidural worked okay for a couple hours and then bam! Huge pain again. This time of course I was strapped in bed and unable to do anything to help deal with the pain (I typically move A LOT in labor to help cope with contractions). Anyway, it didn't matter, they checked 20 minutes later and it was time to push. I pushed for about 10-15 minutes, and out came my little guy.

Born 7:53pm, Friday August 11. 7lbs 3oz, 19 1/2 inches. After 60 hours of ruptured membranes...I think I set a record at the hospital! LOL! I didn't have a single tear, and he got to stay with me for about three hours after delivery - he nursed the entire time. After that he went to the nursery for about an hour but spent the entire rest of the (too long) hospital stay right by my side. I was ready to leave by 10 Saturday morning but they kept me captive until Sunday by telling me my insurance wouldn't pay for the delivery unless I stayed. Dingbats.....

Anyway, we are home now and I'm fairly happy with how things turned out. Obviously in hindsight, I wound up progressing and if I'd just stayed at the birth center I might have delivered within a few hours. However, given the circumstances, I felt like we all made reasonable decisions, and my birth team was fabulous and supportive all the way through delivery. The worst part was the rediculous hospital stay afterwards - I feel like like they do everything possible to make you feel like an incompetant invalid. Oh well. That's their whole "managed care" gig I guess. Hopefully when baby #3 comes along, I will have a more *normal* labor and we will actually get to have the homebirth I've been wanting.

Suzanne.

 

[pamamidwife]

I would just monitor your temp every four hours. If the fluid color changes or if your temp goes up past 99', I'd talk to your mw. If you would have a high risk of your mw freaking, I would think you're fine to wait.

I would wait indefinitely as long as my client wanted. As long as baby was moving well and mama was doing well, there's no reason to hurry. By being in your own home, you're in a much safer place re: bacteria and risk of infection than being somewhere else - birth center or hospital.