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Natural Birth
lindsay.lou
member
Moms: If your water broke at home....
lindsay.lou
member
How long was it before your contractions started?
With DS, my water broke at home, but nothing happened. No contractions, no pain. Finally, after 9 hours of nothing, I consented to pitocin (because I was "on the clock" since my water had broken).
Anyways, even though this is #2, I feel like a newb in terms of knowing when labor has started because I never got natural, spontaneous contractions at home. My OB said that since my water broke early in labor with DS, it's more likely (but not guaranteed) to happen again. Part of me feels like if it DOES, it's pointless to wait 9 hours again and I may as well just go straight to L&D for pitocin. But who knows, this time could be totally different.
Again, I just feel like a total newb.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Moms: If your water broke at home....
I woke up in the middle of the night to to go to the bathroom and my water broke while i was on the toilet (super convenient & hope that happens again lol). My contractions began immediately but were very mild. Its possible that I was having contractions while I slept as well but its hard to say....
No big contractions though until hours later when I too was "on the clock" and they had already started me on pitocin only an hr or so after arriving at the hospital. I went to the hospital immediately after my water broke just like a good little girl and WISH that I hadn't. I blame pitocin for the issues i had in the hospital so I will not be repeating that same cycle again this time. I would advise you to stay home and let your body labor in its own time. If nothing happens right away so be it. Give yourself those first few hours to rest, eat...or whatever before the real show starts!
That's a good point. Plus, I responded well to Pitocin, DS was born 7 hours after we started it. It was just such a mindfck to sit home (after my water broke) anticipating and waiting for contractions that never came.
I had the same with my water breaking at home....got up in the morning to go to the bathroom and gush. I was like there is no way I just peed my pants! Ok fine, I waited til 9am when docs office opened and called to say "I think" it happened. They said ok well see ya at the hospital when you can get there (hubby was at work). We arrived at lunch time. By the time they did all the computer entries and verified my water was broke. They started pitocin at 3pm and DS was born by 6pm! Yea what can I say we work fast! It was a little hectic but honestly I would take that over the waiting and waiting I did with DD. I was induced in the morning, a few other emergencies happened on the VERY small maternity floor, so the pitocin was turned off for a few hours. Doc came in to break my water at 6pm had DD by 8pm.
I am hoping that my water does again break at home so I know what is going on. Being my 3rd you wouldn't think I would be nervous about L&D but the whole unknown gets to me.
DD1...15hrs after it broke they started a "whiff" of pitocin since i was still in early labor.
DD2...3hrs after it broke I went into active labor on my own
I don't have any personal experience with this as I was the complete opposite and my MW broke my bag of water right before DD's head was crowning.
But I asked my CNM at my last appointment what the plan is if my water breaks and there are no contractions. She said they start with least invasive first, so that would be breast pump. She said particularly since I'm a second time mom that should do the trick. If not they go to cervical ripening and finally as a last resort Pit. I know this wasn't really your question, but this might be another option to discuss with your doc.
With baby #2: My water broke at 7:30pm, and I went to bed around 11pm (no contrax yet), later woke up maybe 1:30am and was having contractions. So, it was about 5 hours later that I noticed them enough to wake up. DS was born about 3.5 hours after that.
When my water initially broke and I called my midwife to give the heads up, she let me know that contractions would likely start in the next 24 hours. So, it might be awhile and still be normal. Sleep while the sleepin's good!
My water broke at 9am. I went into the hospital to get my dose of antibiotics for being GBS+ and while I was there hooked up to the IV contractions started--probably around 11am. I left after getting the medicine to labor at home and around 1:30/2 I was already on my way back to the birth center attached to the hospital with more intense contractions.
So it took about 3 hours for them to start and 4.5 hours for them to feel intense.
My water broke with my first and contractions started 5 minutes later...and I had her 40 hours later.
My water broke with baby #2 when I was pushing- about 11.5 hours into labor. I had her a half hour or so later. My second labor was VERY different than the first, so I would not assume that anything is going to be the same. Even if your water does break before labor- it might not take 9 hours.
Personally I think that many care providers jump the gun on this one way too quickly. If everyone is keeping their hands to themselves, the risk of infection is actually very low. The whole 24 hour thing is based more on financials than anything else. Hospitals don't want patients taking up precious L&D space for too long. The faster they get them through, the more patients they have, and the more $ they make.
My secondary MW had both of her babies at 37 weeks after spontaneous water breaking and then 24 hours of no contractions. Once the contractions started she had both with in the next 12 hours. This is of course an antidotal story, however this is how they tend to operate in the home birth setting.
GL
DS - partially broke, no contractions until hours later
DD - didnt break until I started pushing
With DS1, it took a few hrs. I walked, cleaned the house (it was 0300), etc. They were painful but tolerable when we left for the hosp. They slowed down on the way/while I was sitting around getting admitted, and it took some walking to get them back again. No Pit at all.
With DS2, I had a tiny, high leak. Nothing happened til they AROMed me. After that, I felt my first real ctx in abt 15mins and was holding a baby in 3hrs. Obviously no Pit that time, either.
With #1 I did''t get a gush like break...just some trickle throughout the day starting at 10 am...contractions startedto become more regular & intense about midnight, finally got into room at 4 am and was given pitocin, had DS #1 around 10 am next day
With #2 full on gushing water break at about 1 pm, mild contractions started within the hour, had DS #2 7 hours later without pitocin this time
Can't wait to see wait #3 has in store for me...I'll probably go straight to L&D since last one was fast and I don't want to take any chances, but I guess every labor is different...can't really plan for anything.
Good luck...i'm sure you'll make the right decision when its time!!
With DS my water didn't break on its own.
With DD my water broke at 8PM. I had the lightest contractions beginning around 4AM (so 8 hours later), but after a light hike and walk around the neighborhood they still hadn't amounted to much by 8AM so we tried nipple stimulation but that hadn't helped by 10AM, so I took some castor oil and went for a walk. Contractions didn't get remotely noticeable until 12:30 or 1PM but by the time I was actually feeling them I immediately began to feel pushy because I was already dilated to 8 and DD was born shortly after 2PM.
With a care provider who is more natural birth friendly perhaps they will be less obsessed with "the clock"? Having your membranes rupture at home is ideal since you are already accustomed to and have an immunity against the pathogens in your own home. You can reduce your risk of infection by using a hibiclens rinse after each time you use the bathroom then air drying instead of wiping, avoiding internal exams until you are feeling ready to push, and sitting in the shower instead of the bath to help manage contractions when they do come. If you are doing those things and don't notice any increase in your temperature then you should be able to go beyond 24 hours.
Home Birthing-Breastfeeding-Cloth Diapering-Baby Wearing-CoSleeping-Delayed/Selective Vaccination Mama to Charlie (5yrs) and Madeline (21mos)
With DS my water broke at 1:45 pm and I got my first contraction about 11:00pm so about 9 hours. I didn't get pitocin until my water had been broken for 17 hours and DS was born 1 1/2 hours later.
With #1 my water broke as I was climbing back in bed after a bathroom trip shortly before midnight. Contrax woke me up around 4:30 am. With #2 I woke up for the day and felt kind of crampy but went to work, came home at 1 (since I had texted my mon that I was having contrax and she was an hour away so she came right to my house) and my water broke as I pulled into the driveway as I was picking up dd1 from daycare at 3:30 pm.
#1 water broke at 2AM (at 38 wks) contractions never really got going. Had little ones, but really no big deal. Had to start pit around 2PM (was still only about 2cm at that point). As you know pit is awful, but I was still able to go med free.
#2 water broke at 2AM (at 39wks, 5 days) small contractions started on their own 30 minutes later. Then the big ones started within a few hours. I progressed fine on my own, so no pitocin needed, thank goodness!!!
Hopefully you will have a similar story!
Trying for #2 since July 2010
BFP 8/1/10, missed m/c, D&C 9/15/10.
BFP 1/8/11, chemical pregnancy.
BFP 3/4/11, measured behind all along, no more HB 4/18/11. D&C 4/29/11. HCG didn't drop, Repeat D&C 6/17/11; confirmed molar pregnancy 6/23/11.
Forced break, including two Hysteroscopies in October to remove retained tissue.
BFP 12/29/11! Betas @ 10 dpo = 85, 14 dpo= 498, 22 dpo = 7242
Heard HB 1/24/12. 144 bpm!
Luca Rose born 9/9/12! More than worth the wait!
When my water broke at the beginning of labor, it was 30 hours till the birth my son. I am glad my midwife didn't enforce the "24 hour" rule. Pit was never started.
The next time I think my water broke I am not informing my professional healthcare provider. You can go days leaking fluid without getting an infection as long as nothing goes into the vagina (no internal checks, etc)
Birth is safe as life gets - Harriette Hartigan
Thanks for all the input.
It's funny because I thought 9 hours was a SUPER long time for nothing to happen after my water broke, but from reading your replies, it sounds like a lot of you had similar experiences.
For some reason, I always assumed contrax would start ASAP after my water broke. It was sort of anticlimatic because my water broke and I was thinking, "here we go!" ... then 9 hours later I was just annoyed....and wet.
I did have slow contractions right away, but my bag had only "pierced" so they didn't firm up into the pattern we were looking for, for quite a while.
Just FYI, that clock differs greatly from practice to practice/setting to setting.
I delivered with a midwife in a hospital. I was given pitocin 24 (+) hours after my water broke (she bought me some time in other ways... re-broke my bag which had not fully broken... went to assist a c-section...). I delivered at 44 hours.
The birth center that I am using this time would sooner give an antibiotic at 24 hrs, and transfer to hospital at 48 hours for pitocin. (This is if all other factors that they look at are in line with waiting this long.) I actually plan to discuss this in detail with my midwife, because I may opt against the antibiotic if I am in this situation, and head for the hospital for the pit if I am given no other choice, because I feel that the flora in the birth canal are very important to pass to the baby. They give the baby a head start and a better grip on digesting breast milk, for one.
So, it may help you to ask some questions about that "clock" where you plan to deliver, and know your options.