Want to work until due date but worried waters will go at work...

[Laurilee]

Not sure if this is a silly thing to worry about...

My mum was a SAHM and when her waters went with all 4 of her kids she had a movie-style flood of fluid! I really want to work until my due date however am concerned my waters will go somewhere embarrassing and I will end up with my whole office witnessing me with a huge wet patch between my legs!

Never had a baby before, so would love to hear from some mums who worked until their due dates. What were your experiences?

Also, what was your experience of your waters going? Big gush or a steady leak?

Nobody tells you these things as a mum expecting their first....

@FrozenMargarita17 Ha, I was pootling around Sainsbury's too (in very early labour.)

OP, I wouldn't have wanted to walk to the station though (obviously you could take a cab!) as once DS had dropped I was only capable of walking very short distances.

Haha looks like sainsburys is the place to go! My husband was hoping if my waters went we would get free stuff.. he was sad that they didn't go !

The midwife broke my waters for me as I'd been in labour for 36 hours and stuck at 9cm for 12 of them. We hoped that if she broke them it might speed things up... it didn't! But anyway I was totally shocked by the amount that came out and every time I moved it seemed to flood out of me and this went on for hours afterwards. I found it really embarrassing as kept thinking the midwives would think I was peeing all over the floor!

@60sname *reads post for a second time and assures self that you were in fact 'pootling' around Sainsbury's not 'pooing' around Sainsbury's...

Another one here who vomited throughout labour, ended up with 4+ ketones in my urine and put on a drip to rehydrate. My waters went about an hour into established labour, literally felt a pop and then I was soaked.
It's worth doing some reading about what to expect in labour, and postnatally (and definitely if you're planning on breastfeeding). Knowledge is power. Millie Hill's Positive Birth book is meant to be good! I attended Positive Birth meetings which were really informative. They were run by a Doula and it was great hearing other women talk about their experiences and what worked for them.
I saved up my annual leave so I finished at 35 weeks, officially started maternity leave at 38 weeks and didn't have dd until 41 weeks. I had PGP so could not have managed working until term. So glad I went off when I did

Mine broke in the middle of the night both times.

My waters went in a big gush bith times, but I’d been having contractions for a while. Everyone is different so just listen to your body. I fully expected to go over my due date with my first and would probably have worked right up to it if I’d been in a less physically demanding job but DS arrived 10 days early, labour was 10 hours from the first sign which was a show to the actual birth. Second baby was 12 days early and labour was 12 hours from first contraction to birth. I would easily have been able to travel on a train through contractions until about the last 2.5 hours.

*both

The trouble is you just can't predict it. Personally I couldn't have traveled anywhere on the train. When my contractions started and waters went they had meconium in them as my daughter had pooped. This mean I had to get into hospital straight away and they put me on a hormone drip to get her out ASAP. My waters also kept coming out in a steady stream for quite a while after they went.

When my friends waters went they were full of blood, she had had a placental abruption and had to be rushed into hospital in an ambulance and have an emergency C section.

It's a massively unpredictable process ☹️

@Laurilee thankfully not! It's my favourite supermarket, I couldn't afford to get banned. DS2 is due fairly soon though, so there's always time...

Worked til expected week of childbirth (was due at the end of it) with dc1 who was then 2 weeks late. I was bored silly waiting.

Dc2 I decided to go for the actual due date. Gave birth 5 days early but it was the weekend so no impact on work.

Dc3 I said I would work till I went into labour- which I did. Was 2 weeks over but worked from home from due date as I was (to quote me boss) "making people nervous". Work up with contractions so phoned in to say I was in labour.

Never regretted working so late and never had an embarrassing moment (despite 2 of the births being precipitous labours)

I had contractions first with both of mine, Waters popped by the midwife with baby 1 and waters went as I pushed with baby 2.

Didn’t have much Waters with first DC - in fact the midwife attempted to burst them again after doing it as she thought there should be more. Not sure how much with DC2 as I was in the birth pool. X

Oh and #2 child was a VERY fast labour. Midwife was horrified that I was 300+ miles away from home for work at 37 weeks. I figured if it happened, it happened.

Mine went with a big gush in the middle of my kitchen while standing chatting to a friend. No contractions or other warning signs. About 3 weeks early.

I did have a colleague whose waters went at work. Luckily she had just gone outside so it was in a car park not the office, but it was a couple of weeks before she was due too.

@60sname don't talk it up

I wouldn't hang on to hard to the idea of working right up until your due date- I wanted to do this (first pregnancy), but after speaking to HR they advised that I HAD to go on leave two weeks before my due date (Irish employment law).

I was pretty annoyed, and then actually got to 34 weeks and by that stage I was ready to go- I'd had an easy pregnancy, but the hour long commute, lack of sleep due to constant night time weeing and midnight vomiting (reflux) meant I was constantly tired and REALLY grumpy. After dealing with a dick head on the phone one morning and giving back to him as good as I got (unprofessionally) I just realised I was too pregnant for this shit and told my boss I was finishing at 36 weeks. It was the best decision I could have made to be honest.

I am another one who did the early labour shop around sainsburys- picked up some lucozade sport to take into hospital!

@dinosaurkisses I'm planning on working until 38 weeks and taking leave until 40 but am aware that things can change completely.

Not sure how much mat leave I can afford to take so would really like to work as late as possible!

Baby #1, it took me a couple of hours to realise I definitely was in labour (had had bad Braxton Hicks the week or so before and was overdue). Water went late on in labour not before. Vomitting was when the contractions started getting proper bad. It was a few hours between realising I was in labour and it being a real problem that would affect travel due to pain.

I planned to work until due date but decided to stop a week before due because I was so bloody exhausted. I had about a 45 min journey to work on the train, it was v uncomfortable at the end even though I was lucky enough not to have any problems like SPD in my pregnancy.

Both mine went when I was asleep in bed. 2 x electric blankets ruined

Personally I'd be preparing to get a taxi or someone to drive you as things can change very quickly, my 3rd was my only one where it started off when I wasn't already in hospital, and I was able to get the kids to bed and be home for about an hour completely fine, left once childcare arrived and in the space of walking to the car with DP the contractions had changed from mild and just making me pause to too painful to talk and DS was out 2 hours later.

Mine broke at night but wasn't a big gush. I wasn't really sure if they had broken but something woke me up and I had wet knickers. The bed wasn't wet though and I wasn't trickling as I walked to the bathroom. I was thinking maybe I had just wet myself but then within minutes of getting back into bed the contractions started thick and fast. There's no way I would have been able to do an hour commute home from work at that point. By the time I got to the hospital about 15mins later I was already 5cm.

I had 2 inductions so my waters were broken for me but the 3rd just started as a leak but contractions didn't start til a few hours later. The leaking carried on for 12 hours until I gave birth.

I worked to my due date with ds but I wasn't allowed to work past it due to works HR rules, I was 2 weeks over due and had been in labour for 12 hours when the doc broke my waters (it was a massive gush), with dd they broke whilst in the birthing pool again after over 10 hours of labour. No vomiting though - I didn't realise that was a 'thing'. If you had my labours you'd be perfectly fine to travel but everyone is different.