Wetting myself 32 weeks

[AlexandraCamden]

I have had flu since 30 weeks & every time I cough I pee myself. If I cross my legs I can sometimes limit but otherwise I’m wearing pads which still don’t seem to be enough.

what’s really worrying me is that this is happening through the night & im not waking up so I’m just wetting the bed. If scares me that my body is not giving me the signal to wake up as is normal & as was in my last pregnancy

I am so embarrassed & worried that i am now incontinent forever - any experience advice welcome

Hi @AlexandraCamden im only 21 weeks and this has started happening to me a bit as well, when I sneeze and cough. It didn’t happen at all in my last pregnancy but looking it up it says it’s extremely common and goes away after pregnancy. I really hope that’s the case for us. Sorry I don’t have any other advice other than that.

Are you doing pelvic floor exercises? I've found that it helps me with pee leakage. There's an app called squeezy that you can use to remind you to do them, some nhs trusts offer it for free to pregnant women.

Make sure you tell your midwife consultant because you might need a further referral. Hopefully once baby is born the pressure on your bladder will be gone and you'll be back to normal.

In meantime get a mattress protector for your bed. When I had a child you used to occasionally wet bed I put a mattress protector under the sheet then put a couple puppy training pads on top the sheet to absorb any urine. Then they are just thrown away in the morning.

have you been doing pelvic floor exercises? If not start now. Maybe book in to see a womens physio or see if your mw can refer you through nhs. But it’s an extremely common problem that often gets loads better once pregnancy is over - coughing/sneezing puts a lot of extra strain on the area which is already working extra hard carrying the weight of your baby. I wouldn’t worry too much.

33+1 here, just threw up and wet myself.
Pregnancy is a dream isn't it

Please ask your midwife to refer you for pelvic floor physio. I had it in my second pregnancy and it was genuinely life changing. I also had zero incontinence after DD2 was born as a result (unlike after DD1, where i had major incontinence issues). You need to alter your pelvic floor excercise technique when heavily pregnant and the physio was brilliant at showing me how to get the best out of them. If you can afford it, booking a one off consultation with a private womens health physio would also work.

I've brought some period pants from M&s as I just leak a bit of wee every now and then. They do lots of different styles and I feel dry throughout the day and don't worry overnight.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/3pk-heavy-absorbency-period-bikini-knickers/p/clp60604808?intid=mobile_app_pdp_share

Honestly it happens you are heavily pregnant plus a cold/ flu
... it really doesnt mean your pelvic floor is wrecked forever.

I had this and post kids 2 and my pelvic floor is fine now. I did some exercises as everyone does but didnt need extensive rehab or anything

I made sure i was going a lot more frequently and wore liners

Has your midwife checked its definitely not amniotic fluid? Sounds like a lot of leakage if it's causing a wet bed.

Oh I had this over Xmas when I was ~25/26 weeks. Every time I coughed I was being sick and wetting myself. Even liners were not enough I had to wear sanitary pads. It stopped as soon as I was well again.