can I ask some silly questions...........(if you have children already)

[babygsmummy]

I had an antenatal class last week then my next four start next tuesday.But things that have been going round in my head are really getting to me.Please be aware they are really stupid questions.

first were where you when your waters broke?

Yes Im haveing nightmares of being somewhere like out shopping and this happens.

second what time of day did your waters go?

there was something on the telly the other week that said most people go onto labour in the night time,wondering if its true.

thirdly (really really silly) what does your water smell like and will it stain my carpets?

I told you it was silly we had new carpets fitted last week,I dont know why.

I dont want to ask people in real life they might laugh at me,I dont mind if you do,cause I know they are silly questions,but if you knew what else was going through my head.............you wouldnt be able to stop laughing.

In bed, at one in the morning, didn't really notice a smell. Luckily I had a maternity pad under me, so our nearly new mattress escaped unharmed!

Established labour both times before waters went (they are more likely to go when your cervix is well dilated and not supporting the heavy 'balloon' of water any more.

I went into labour about lunch time both times. Delivered 9/10pm.

I remember my waters having a really distinctive smell but can't remember what it was like.

For me with DD1 it was an awful scenario but not in public. We knew there was a very noisy festival going on in the centre of town where our flat was, so a colleague of my DH, with a flat in a quieter area, sid we could stay at his flat as he was away on buisiness. The night we stayed there I was 5 days overdue. Hard.y slept the whole night due to strange bed, excitement etc and then lo and behold at 7 am they broke all over this guy's bed, and it was a flood. It was the beginning of labour for me, I hadn't had any contractions before. We went to the hospital and my husband had to clean up the flat and bed after DD was born, while we were staying on hospital. I don't know how well he mnaged it! Te poor guy is still talking to us though.

I was dozing in bed and wondering why I couldn't get comfy...it was the contractions!! I felt a little trickle at that point, but not much.

The first gush came as I got out of the car at the hospital and continued as I was stood at the doors of the delivery suite waiting to be let in!! DH also said there was quite a lot when DS was finally born...he likened it to a tidal wave!!

Don't know if it smelt or not though.

A friend of mine whose waters broke before labour with her 2nd DC had started, said she knew they were her waters (and not, as Jim Royle suggested, a really big piss) because they smelled the same as her first child smelled when he was born.

I don't remember the waters smelling at all and they were colourless and clear.

I was only about 0.5 cm dilated when mine broke. (if that -that was what they measured when i went to hospital afterwards)

spiritedwolf thanks....how far are you?

but I do think some of my thoughts are abit mad and I talk myself down from the ledge of my lifes so going to change (it will but for the better).I might buy 'what mothers do' and have a read.

Im 32 weeks and the mad thing is I think I have only just....how can I put it,umm found my maternal instincts.People would say look bgm,a baby and Id think oh yeah I wasnt intrested,then 2 weeks it kicked in thankgod as I was getting worried,Ive had alot of other things going on.So now all these thoughts are there.

I didnt think it happened like in films or tv but I needed to ask.....and thanks for all the answers,you have all calmed my fears and I will be buying a matress protecter or the pads.

My waters breaking woke me up in the middle of the night. It took 3 trips to the bathroom and 2 pairs of knickers to realise it was my waters breaking and not me losing control of my bladder!!

My waters never went

For my first two normal deliveries my waters were broken well into labour as they were bulging.
For the third they were broken to induce labour.

On all 3 i have laboured through the night

Mine broke with dd, but more with a trickle than a gush. I think if you are standing up the baby's head acts as a plug. They were clear and didn't smell of anything. With ds the midwife broke them when I was in labour. Both times I went into labour in the middle of the night.

ICanTuckMyBoobsInMyPockets - that was my experience as well. By the end of my pregnancy I was going to the loo so often that when my waters went I finally thought I'd become incontinent!

I was laboring at home, the midwife has just left and said I would be in the hospital by the morning. My water broke about 11:30 pm.
I was sitting on the edge of the bed, not sure about a smell or cleaning, my mom had cleaned it by the time we got home the next day. I don't remember a smell.
We got to the hospital about 12:30, dd was born at 1:07.

I'm 27 weeks so still a way to go if everything is well.

Do have a read of 'What Mothers Do' by Naomi Stadlen, it's subtitled 'especially when it looks like nothing'. Its a very reassuring book about the emotional and practical adjustments that happen when we become mothers. It's not about telling mothers what they ought to be doing either, she doesn't get into particular parenting styles, instead says its about mum and baby working out between them what works best for them and that it can be different with each child.

My older sister didn't (and apparently still doesn't) feel maternal towards other people's children when she was pregnant. But she does love her new son eminensly and considers him the most attractive baby. So don't worry if you don't feel generally maternal, you my well fall in love with your own baby once you meet him/her and it'll grow over time too. I've told my sister that she better get good at lying if she doesn't find my first born cute.

If you're worried OP, do the mattress protector thing and wear pads, its normally a trickle rather than a gush

1. Waters broke at 2 in morning with a massive contraction which woke me up, 1 week early
2. DS born 9.45 after birthing pool helped slow everything down
3. Waters didn't smell of anything tbh and were clear

I do have a friend who's waters broke as she came out of Sainsburys, her immediate thought was whether she could make it up the street to John Lewis and THEN ask for help :)

My waters broke at in bed, about 4am, before labour started.

They didn't smell of anything much and were clear.

A friend of mine's went while we were at work together though. Was very public! She was more pregnant than me, and it made me very nervous. I wore a pad everywhere from then on!! Turned out there was no need and mine broke with a gush as I got out of bed at 6am.

It would appear she was in the minority.

Mine were burst by the MW before I pushed.

Dont worry if they go in public, people will help, not laugh. My colleagues went behind the reception desk of the Hotel we work at. She was packed in a car and took to hospital and another manager took care of the mess

I was worried about this before due date too, as was one of my friends who would only let me sit on the leather sofa not the material one in her house

I was in bed asleep when my waters broke (with both ds1 and ds2)

It was the early hours of the morning, about 3am with them both.

My waters started as a trickle (like a little bit of wee escaping ) so my knickers soaked up the fluid then I put a towel on the bed and a sanitary towel in my (new, clean) knickers and went back to sleep for a while.

I didn't notice any particular smell, they are straw coloured or pale green if meconium is present.

Any other questions we can help with?

Mine went at home, I felt a short sharp twinge, but it was more trickle than gush - I wasn't in labour either.
As I got near my due date I put an extra towel under the sheet on the bed when I made it - came in quite handy.
Fluid was clear, pale coloured - mine did get sniffed (by MW) to check it was amniotic fluid, and it smells sweetish and not unpleasant.

in the birth book i have it says that less than 10% of women have their waters break before labour starts. and even then, it's not usually a gush, it's more like a trickle because there are no contractions pushing the fluid out iyswim.

it's actually considered a bit of a problem if they break beforehand, you are at risk of infection if you don't deliver within 48 hours of them breaking.

the vast majority of ladies only have the waters go once they are in established labour. or actually pushing, baby on her way out etc.

DD1 waters broke at home on sofa, 16.05pm sunday dd was born 23.55 tuesday long labour, didn't notice a smell and no staining

DD2 waters broke in the pool at 16.53 DD born at 16.55 that one was a bit of a shock.

My waters broke at home at 5pm and it was litres of clear warm liquid gushing everywhere. I could not believe the quantity and I continued leaking for hours. Thank god I was at home and we have wooden floors. I would have been mortified if I had been out.

I wasn't maternal when pregnant. Not at all.

Much more maternal and broody now!

My waters broke at 3am in bed. I rolled over, felt a warm wetness everywhere in bed. Poked DH and told him I think I'd peed myself Stood up and it all gushed out over the floor. Had wooden floor at the time so didn't stain or anything.

It smelt sort of sweet but was clearly a bodily fluid, if you know what I mean. DS was born 17 hours later hadn't had any contractions etc before the waters broke and he was born at 39 weeks.

Mine broke an hour into contractions and while I was in the bath! Got up to dry and was dripping the rest out. Mine smelt really sweet like sugary water, I was amazed! It happened at 4am but I didn't have her until 10:07 28 hours later!