Waters broke 43 hours ago, no signs of labour

[GoldenKippers]

Has anyone had a similar experience? I read that normally labour starts within 24 hours of waters breaking.
I had a bit of a surprise when my waters broke at 1am on Sunday (I was 36+6). Went to the hospital and was monitored. Baby fine but I wasn't in labour.
I've had a little bit of very mild period-type pain since then but apart from that nothing. I'm still leaking fluid in dribs and drabs but baby seems to be moving OK. I have to go back at 8am tomorrow when I think I will be induced. I gather that induced labour is more painful :( and I've no idea how long the labour will be.
It is all very different from the home birth I was hoping for but I will be happy so long as a healthy baby comes out at the end.

(This isn't the most positive of stories, but as you say, I got a healthy baby and I'm happy with it now, though was a bit upset immediately afterwards.)

I had DD2 7 weeks ago in similar circumstances. I was 39+3 though, so further along. I had also been hoping for a homebirth as I had one with DD1, but my waters broke and very little happened. After 24 hours they asked me to come in to be induced. It actually took ages to be hooked up to the drip as the hospital got incredibly busy.

Things got going pretty quickly once the midwife started the drip. I was at 3cm when they examined me before putting the drip in, and went from that to giving birth in 2 and a half hours.

They start it at a low level then crank it up every half hour. In hindsight I could have communicated more with the midwife as she was waiting for 4 contractions in 10 minutes before she would stop upping the level of syntocin, but I never got to that point. I had a feeling things were happening, and felt like I could be in transition (felt weak, a bit sick, and like I couldn't cope with it), but because I'd been quiet the midwife didn't have a clue how far along I was and kept increasing the drip. As a result second stage was incredibly quick (10mins), I felt like I had very little control over what was happening to me, and I got a third degree tear.

Sorry, probably not the sort of story you want, but I'll post as you asked for experiences. At 7 weeks post partum I've healed well and all is going well with DD2 :)

This happened to me - I was fortunate in that a couple of pessaries and some good walks in between got me going, and the rest my body just took over - so it was as close to a normal (hospital) labour as you could hope for. Induction doesn't mean it has to be a bad experience.

As an aside, have you had a GBS test? They may want you to, or give ABs as a precaution in case, as early waters breaking can be a sign (it doesn't have to be, and wasn't in my case, but DD had to have ABs in case - not sure if that is still routine or if they just observe these days. Worth asking.
Good luck!

I have just messaged you!

My mums waters broke at 38 weeks and my brother was born at 42 weeks.My mum and brother were both monitired through the 4 weeks by a midwife and a doctor. my mum went onto give birth to my brother at home without the use of pain releif. my brother was 10 pounds and a very healthy baby. and he is lovely little brother even if he is now a foot taller then me.
I'm not suggeting that you wait 4 weeks but i just wanted to reasure you with the correct care both you and your baby wll be fine.

Have you read up on the induction process? I'm heading for an induction because of OC and my hospital have a great online patient information leaflet on what happens with one.

I've just started a thread on how I can possibly make the process easier - staying in bed for a while after the pessary is inserted, but then staying as upright and active as possible seems to be key - don't spend all day lying in bed!

If you have to have a CTG, then ask for support to stay upright while on it.

I've also heard a few times that communicating with the MWs about the drip is crucial as getting them to tone it down can really help and if you don't let them know if it feels too much, they may keep cranking it up.

Thanks for your messages - after speaking to the consultant obstetrician today I decided to wait to see if labour starts over the next few days; if not I'll be induced at 38 weeks. It's done by a drip and you can't eat during labour. I've been prescribed antibiotics, have had a blood test and will have another check-up on Thursday. Woke up thinking I would have a baby today, and now it's going to be next week.
Wem, sorry to hear about your painful birth, but glad you are healing well.