Water breaking in public?

Snow1010 · July 2011

At 36 weeks and one trip to L&D, it's really hitting me that I could have a baby at any time!

I was joking with my husband that it would be my luck that my water would break at the worst time. Like at the grocery store or at the pool! He says "that only happens in movies".

So it got me wondering....has anyone had their water break in public?

SockMonkeySam · July 2011

I was admitted into L&D 15 minuets before my water broke at 23 weeks. I was feeling very uneasy called the doc and they instructed me to go there. If I hadn't my water would have burst at work. I soaked a whole bed and the floor.. I could not believe how much water there was.

pettycrocker · July 2011

From what I hear, it is very, very rare.

kjg5445 · July 2011

sort of in public... mine broke while taking a walk in my neighborhood. you just NEVER know when it'll happen!

Floyd.B · July 2011

I was at the hospital both times, but it did break on its own ... and, both times, I was shocked by the insane amount of water that just dumped out. lol

the first time I told the nurse that I started peeing. "I can't stop. I'm sorry. OMG - I just can't stop, I feel so bad." she was like - "it's ok, that's not pee."

haha

Cobra11 · July 2011

Floyd.B:
I was at the hospital both times, but it did break on its own ... and, both times, I was shocked by the insane amount of water that just dumped out. lol
the first time I told the nurse that I started peeing. "I can't stop. I'm sorry. OMG - I just can't stop, I feel so bad." she was like - "it's ok, that's not pee."
haha

That made me LOL. And it sounds exactly like something I would say...and then I would try to clean it up

DreamGirl21 · July 2011

My OB said it's not all that common. But she also told me the story of a friend of hers who, whenever she approached her due date and had to go out shopping, would go and grab a big bottle of pickles first thing and carry it around with her for the rest of the shopping trip. The idea was that if her water broke in the store, she was going to smash the pickles on the floor to cover up that her water broke. I don't think the friend ever had to resort to pickle smashing.

cwyland · July 2011

DreamGirl21:
My OB said it's not all that common. But she also told me the story of a friend of hers who, whenever she approached her due date and had to go out shopping, would go and grab a big bottle of pickles first thing and carry it around with her for the rest of the shopping trip. The idea was that if her water broke in the store, she was going to smash the pickles on the floor to cover up that her water broke. I don't think the friend ever had to resort to pickle smashing.

That's what my mother told me to do! She said it saves you the embarrassment of explaining what happened, and the poor bag boy the horror of what he's really cleaning up.

ShawMich · July 2011

With my first two births, my water broke at the hospital. Let's hope it happens again, because I have a track record for the baby coming pretty fast after that happens.

My aunt had hers break at the zoo. Good times.

mooninlv · July 2011

i was in a parking lot when my water broke with ds #1. got out of the car & boom. weren't too many people around and honestly i was so excited & my mind was totally not on if anyone was around. it was the middle of summer though and i was wearing shorts, and it was seriously gushing out of me. thankfully i'd just stuck a towel in my car-- the day before!

KOscar · July 2011

With DS my water broke at home, thankfully. It was so much water and it didn't stop for hours. I couldn't believe how much there was. Since I'm working until I go into labor I'm planning on bringing a change of pants and keeping a towel in my car just in case.

rxy5309 · July 2011

This is why I am thankful I am a teacher. I sit at home a lot since everyone else is working. I am So afraid it will break somewhere in front of a ton of people. the girl who taught our birthing class told us how so many people have theirs break on the wooden floor at the reception desk at the hospital so don't touch the floor (gross!!)

4LittleDucks · July 2011

mine did. I was at work - I worked at a nursing home at the time. Honestly, it wasn't as much water as I expected. my son had dropped so much that his head was blocking the exit so it felt more like I peed my pants and I thought at first that this is what had happened. It didn't even really make a mess on the floor, just soaked my pants (which were luckily black so you couldn't really tell). i ran to the bathroom and sat there for several minutes trying to figure out what to do. Whenever I'd change positions (i.e. sitting to standing) I'd get a good amount of gushing but otherwise it it was more like a drippy faucet. I didn't tell anyone because my closer friends were gone for the day and I wasn't positive that it wasn't pee. I was a therapist so I made my own hours so I just punched out and left and called my supervisor later. I ended up driving myself to the hospital, put a coat down on my seat and trotted into the hospital and checked myself in.

UnicornBee · July 2011

I know for my mom when she had me, her water broke at home. I'm hoping that if mine breaks, it breaks at home or somewhere not in my friends pool or at work.

Annabelle81 · July 2011

Note to self: stop wearing dresses and skirts to work, only pants from now on.

I think it is pretty rare, my Dr. had to break mine at the hospital. Most of my friends have had theirs break in the hospital.

asherwest · July 2011

Mine broke at work. I work in a medical clinic and with a bunch of women. i cried i was so excited and emotional and kept telling myself it wasn't really my water. But it was and I had been keeping a few larger pads in my office just incase this happened I would have something to use to help soak it up. Good thing to keep those with you, especially if you end up with a bunch of frequent gushes of water like mine!

Karen1998 · July 2011

My mom's broke with both children at home. With my sister, it was a large gush. With me, it was a slow trickle over two days (yes, she's that woman that delayed calling the doctor). My sister's also broke at home. It's pretty uncommon for it to break before contractions (as happened in all three instances mentioned above) and even less common than that to happen in public.

TheFannins729 · July 2011

mine broke at home, but you wouldn't have known it. it was a small pop feeling and then a tiny bit of fluid. I honestly thought that ds had just put pressure down there and I leaked pee. It took about an hour of me laying down and getting up waiting for the gush that never happened, but I did leak fluid every time, to convince me that maybe it was my water. I still wasn't convinced while getting hooked up to monitors in L&D. Then the nurse pressed on my belly and it was like niagra falls down there. No denying it at that point.

Treasa · July 2011

A friend of mine had her's break at Babies R Us. She was with her mom & she said they just dropped what they had been shopping for & ran out of the store. She said it started as a small trickle in BRU but the main gush didn't happen until she was sitting in the car.

FlashMeyer · July 2011

There's not always a large gush when the water breaks. When my water broke at home it was a small trickle. I thought I peed my pants at first. Think of the babies head acting as a cork. It wasn't until I went to the hospital to get checked shortly afterwards and they did an internal that the water gushed probably from the babies head moving. FWIW, I was 5 cm and in active labor at that point.

People on here always say how rare it is to have your water break and then have contractions but I wonder what the true percentage is because I know many that have experienced this, including myself.

ShannonSky · July 2011

cwyland:
DreamGirl21:
My OB said it's not all that common. But she also told me the story of a friend of hers who, whenever she approached her due date and had to go out shopping, would go and grab a big bottle of pickles first thing and carry it around with her for the rest of the shopping trip. The idea was that if her water broke in the store, she was going to smash the pickles on the floor to cover up that her water broke. I don't think the friend ever had to resort to pickle smashing.
That's what my mother told me to do! She said it saves you the embarrassment of explaining what happened, and the poor bag boy the horror of what he's really cleaning up.

lol it would have to be a HUGE pickle jar, there's a TON of water that comes out (if it's a gush, not just a leak).

Mine broke at home, while I was sleeping. It was so forceful, the pop woke me up and I ran to the bathroom holding my crotch hahaha....a lot came out on my pants, but most went in the toilet. And it just kept coming and coming! I kept wiping, but the water kept coming, so eventually I clogged the toilet. lol

itsmevkb · July 2011

Yes, with my first I was walking into a restaurant to have dinner when my water broke.

kymelissa · July 2011

rxy5309:
This is why I am thankful I am a teacher. I sit at home a lot since everyone else is working. I am So afraid it will break somewhere in front of a ton of people. the girl who taught our birthing class told us how so many people have theirs break on the wooden floor at the reception desk at the hospital so don't touch the floor (gross!!)

This is my fear. I am going back to work August 1st and will have students August 10th. I am going to work all the way up to my due date and I would really hate to explain to my students (5th graders) why Mrs. H just had a gush of water puddle under her. Oh well...it is a learning moment, I guess. My sisters broke at home but I think with my mom and my sister's 1st, they all broke at the hospital by the doctor. I doubt that makes a difference but I keep comparing my pregnancy with my mom's and sister's.

Monsieur_et_Madame_Ha · July 2011

My water breaking actually woke me up in the middle of the night. So while it didn't happen in public, it was completely spontaneous (I had ZERO contractions) so I am a little nervous that I might not be as lucky this time around.

Now make that my Monday Morning Flame Free confession if you will, but I fully intend on carrying a towel and a garbage bag around starting in the next week or two, just in case. I obviously won't have them on me at all times, but I will be keeping a set in my drawer at work for sure. And another in the car. It's not so much about the "in public" part but really more about the mess I'll be making...

SyrKristina · July 2011

In our birthing class, our instructor told us that when we are closer to our delivery date and we go grocery shopping, first thing you do is go to the pickle aisle and grab a jar of pickles. If your water breaks in the grocery store, drop the jar of pickles on the floor. The fluid is the same color and that way no one knows your water broke.

I still keep thinking, what about the wet spot on your pants? Maybe it started as a pickle fight before ther jar broke...

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