I posted Wednesday that I woke up with a considerable damp spot in my underwear (I could feel it and see it, but it didn't soak my pants or the bed). Throughout the day, I continued to have little "trickles," but never enough to soak my underwear or pants. I had an OB appointment and an internal and mentioned it to the doc and she said she didn't think it sounded like amniotic fluid, but didn't test for it.
I started having contractions yesterday afternoon. By 9pm, they were pretty intense and 2-3 minutes apart, if not closer. A few of them brought tears to my eyes, which concerned me a little since I never really found contractions to be all that painful with my first two deliveries. I had occasional "trickles" throughout the day, especially after particularly strong contractions. I drank lots of water and tried lying on my side. When that didn't work, I tried getting up and moving around. That only intensified them. I called my doc around 12:45am. She suggested I take a hot shower to see if I could "scare" the contractions away (apparently sometimes heat helps). The shower made no change, so H and I headed to the hospital.
The monitor showed I was having contractions every minute and a half, but that they weren't of high intensity. My cervix hadn't changed from my Wednesday appt. -- still 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. The nurse said that if I was a week or two further, they'd have me walk the halls to intensify the contractions, but since I was only 36 weeks, they'd like to see that baby cook a bit longer. I was given an Ambien and sent home to see if a deep sleep would relax my "irritable uterus."
I'm still having contractions and have been since they woke me up around 9 this morning. I've had the "trickle" sensation and dampness multiple times. It's very likely it's just watery CM or urine, but I'm a bit nervous that if it is amniotic fluid, that it's been over 48 hours since I first noticed it and there's a potential for infection.
I don't have a fever and the baby is moving. My contractions are the same as they were last night and I was advised to come back if they intensified, if I had bleeding or if I had a gush of fluid.
Since neither my doc or the nurse seemed concerned about the dampness, should I just not worry about it? I'm thinking I'll try to go to bed now and see what happens with the contractions, but I have a nagging worry about the baby's risk of infection.
Re: Is it possible to have a reeeeeallly slow leak?
Yes it is possible. This happened with me and they kept trying to tell me I was leaking urine.
Did they test to see if the fluid was amniotic?
I would call the Dr and request and Ultrasound to check your amniotic fluid levels.
Carina 12.28.2010 | Aurelia 9.23.12 | Chart - Round 3