Conference moira::parenting_v3

You should definitely call your doctor when they do break.  When mine did, 
I called her and she said okay wait a few hours and then go to the hospital.

So you can hang out in some cases, but it should be the doctor or midwife that
makes that decision.

    I had to go to the hospital within 1 hr after mine broke because of 2
    things. Contractions were immediately 5 min apart for 1 hr and I had
    Meconium when it broke. If you don't know what that is, it's when the
    baby moves it's bowels inside. And you have to have the nurses monitor
    you closley all through labor so the baby doesn't swallow it and get it
    in their lungs. It causes infection. I knew there was meconium when it
    broke because of being a clear liquid like the Childbirth instructor
    said, it was green and had the consistancy of applesauce! Yuk!
    
    Anyway, what we were told in class was, the only time you go right to
    the hospital is when your contractions are 5 min apart for 1 hour, or
    your water breaks. Usually after the water breaks your contractions
    start immediately anyway.
    
    
    Sandy

    
    I agree with .1.  Definitely check with your doctor.  They can run a
    litmus-type test to quickly determine if the water has broken then
    take it from there.    
    
    Personal experience: My water broke on Tuesday morning at 7am.  My
    son was born on Saturday (yes, that's not a typo) at 10:42am with
    absolutely no infection.   I was instructed to take my temperature
    every hour and drink lots of fluids and went into the hospital twice
    over the 4 days for non-stress tests.   Usually people can't believe
    this happened but my doctor's were very adamant about letting labor
    begin on its own in absense of infection (which would be indicated
    by an elevated temperature)
    
    But, do call your doctor.
    
    Carol

    My water broke while I was working.  It was on a Tuesday at 2:45, I
    took a shower, called the Dr and they asked me to come into the
    hospital.  Arrived at hospital around 4 had an ultra-sound, was sent
    home only because I lived so close.  Contractions started around 6 and
    by midnight it was time to go back to the hospital.  Kyla was born at
    7:23 in the morning (just about 3 weeks early).  # 2 is due in 38 days!
    
    

    They had me come into the hospital right away for an ultrasound,
    after which they put me on pitocin to start labor -- partly
    because the fluid was just gushing out, partly because I'd been on
    the edge of gestational diabetes for most of the time, partly
    because they didn't like the way David's heart reacted on the
    monitor.  I don't know whether they saw anything on the
    ultrasound.
    
    I would have been more comfortable at home, certainly.  I wound up
    having to have a lot of things I'd rather not have, like the IV
    for dehydration and the full-time monitor, and had to labor on my
    side to keep David's heart rate from dropping.  But the most
    important thing was to have a healthy baby, and I knew my doctor
    wasn't prescribing this stuff just for the heck of it.  
    
    --bonnie

My doctor had me come on in to the hospital (my water broke at 11PM), after
I took a shower.  I hadn't started contractions yet.  Labor started shortly
after I got to the hospital and I had Katelyn at 12:15 the following day.

I would have preferred to not come in so soon, because I got hooked right up
to the IV and could not walk around.  Definitely check with your doctor...

Kristen

    My water broke around 5:30am on a Thursday.  I called my midwife's
    office and the answering service *did not* answer!  I was not too happy
    about that, but did get them around 7 or 8:00am. I had an appointment
    anyway that morning so I went as usual.  They verified my water broke
    but did not do an internal for fear of infection.  They sent me home. 
    That afternoon I watched my husband windsurf and I had mild
    contractions that were 10 minutes apart.  I went back to the midwife at
    4:00 and I was only 2cm dialated, so they sent me home again. 
    Everything else was checking out fine and they didn't seem worried. 
    Well, that night I tried to get some rest but my phone kept on ringing. 
    At 10:30pm I called my midwife and asked if I could come to the
    hospital.  I was a bit uncomfortable, but I just wanted to get away
    from the phone.  To make a long story short, Jackie was born at 9:05am
    the next morning.  They did check my fluid and there were signs of
    infection, so they did a blood test on my daughter and she checked out
    fine.
    
    I believe different practices do things differently, depending on their
    philosophy.  My midwives were very calm about my water breaking and
    basically told me to go home and relax.  I have friends who's water
    broke and they had to go to the hospital right away.  I don't think
    there's a right or wrong way, just different ways of care giving.
    
    Good luck when you have your baby.  Don't pay any attention to horror
    stories - your experience will be different and the outcome is
    wonderful.
    
    Mary
    Mary
    

    My water broke at 6:03am.  I called the doctor, by the time he called
    me back it was 6:45am.  I had contractions start at 6:25 and they
    started coming at 5 minute intervals.  The doctor told me to come on
    in.  By the time we got there, the contractions were 3 minutes apart
    and I was already dilated to 8cm.  
    
    Stephen was born at 12:03pm.  It was quick and easy but definitely not
    painless.
    
    Kathy

I just wanted to mention that your water may not break until you are
already in labor and/or already at the hospital.  That's what happened
with me.

With my first, I felt contractions on a Fri. night and they were 7 minutes
apart. So I went to bed (at 10:00).  At 1:00 a.m. the dog woke me up. I
noticed I lost my plug, so we went to the hospital. I was 6 cm. dialated.
Baby was born around 5:00 a.m.

With my second, I had a bad side ache, went to the hospital at 10:30 on a
Sat. night, was 4 cm. dialated with minor irregular contractions. They wanted 
me to go home and get some rest but the pain in my side was too bad, so they 
gave me a pain killer.  My labor did not progress (probably due to the 
painkiller), I had a fever, so they tried to speed things up by breaking my 
water.  What a gusher!!! That poor doctor!!! (I'm so glad this didn't happen 
in the car, or in a store, or anywhere else!)  I ended up being induced with 
pitocin which is not a fun experience, because an ultrasound showed part of my
placenta had torn and they were worried about infection and wanted the
baby out as soon as possible.  The baby arrived around 7:00 next morning.

So I never had the experience of having my water break prior to labor.

� �ori �

    For my first, my water broke at 2:30am.  I phoned the Dr and he said
    that contractions should start shortly, if they don't call him back by
    8am.  Well, I wasn't having contractions, I had been 3-4 cm dialated
    for 2 weeks!  The Doc called me back at 7:30 to check on me and since I
    still wasn't having contactions he had me come to the hospital as he
    wanted to start pitocin.  Unfortunatly due to the lack of labor rooms
    they didn't begin the IV until noon and even then I didn't have my
    first noticable contraction until 4pm and they had injected me with the
    extra shot of pitocin.  Jason was then born 3 hrs later at 6:55pm.
    
    Every Dr is different, find out what your Dr would like you to do when
    certain things arise.
    
    Donna

    
    With my first my water broke but I didn't realize it was my water
    because their was lots and lots of blood etc.  I was 4 weeks away from
    due date, so here I am looking up the mucus plug information in my
    "what to expect when your expecting" book.  It was about 4:00 am, and i
    didn't want to bother my Dr.!  I remember being real frustrated because
    the book didn't really say how much/big etc the mucus plug/bloody show
    was.  I had no idea!!  Well, finally a real big clot came out and i was
    constantly flowing, I finally called my Dr., I went right away (they
    sounded worried on the phone!) My water had broken, and part of my
    placenta had torn away from the uterus, thus all the blood.  I didn't
    even know it was my water that had broke to, cuz they tell you its
    clear etc etc.....Spencer was 4 weeks early but fine.
    With my second, they had to break my water at 7-8 cm dialated.....
    
    Call your Dr.  mine was upset that I had waited until about 7:00 or so
    and I was worried about waking them up on  a Sunday morning, but it
    could have been serious...Better to be safe than sorry..
    

    With my second, my water broke at 7:00 PM.  Just a little gush, then it
    stopped.  I had a cramp all across my middle that just stayed there. 
    Called my midwife.  She said that it didn't sound like my water had
    broken and labor cramps come and go, they don't just stay.  She told me
    to stay quiet and call her back in an hour. I then mentioned that I
    probably had a flu bug as I was having chills too.  Thank goodness I
    mentioned that because she then told me to get right to the hosp. as
    chills are a sign of advanced labor.  On the way out the door my water
    broke the rest of the way and the contractions were 5 mins apart.  It
    took us an HOUR to get to the hosp (normally a 25 min - 30 min trip)
    because it was the first SNOWFALL!  The only thing that kept me calm
    was my husband - he was soooooooo nervous I HAD to stay rational!
    
    We got to the hosp. a little after 8 PM and Ryan was born at 9:12 PM. 
    Cut a LITTLE BIT TOO close for me!
    
    My third one I labored for 4 hours.  My water NEVER broke and my
    midwife had to break it right at the end.
    
    My first one was a dry birth but that's a whole other topic!
    
    One person = Three completely different experiences!
    
    Linda

    ohhh god!!my water broke around 4am!i called the doctor right away and
    they asked about cramps and everything which i had none.they then said
    to come but don't rush for i wasn't having any contractions.believe it
    or not i told my hubby to go back too sleep and that i'd wake him when
    i was ready for i felt perfectly normal(other than being excited).
     i ended up going down into the family room and started cleaning then 
    i tuned into the television and what happened?i fell asleep!my husband
    came rushing down looking for me for the hospital was on the phone
    wondering why we hadn't arrived within reasonable time(i slept til
    about eightam)!we then arrived there and around 11am the pains started
    to come and did they ever.i gave birth to a beautiful baby girl at
    4:48am!
    

    If you call immediately the doctor most often will tell you to come
    right in.  They have to - they'd be liable if something happened and
    they had okayed you to stay at home.  My thoughts are - you'll know
    when it's time to go to the hospital.  For my first my water never
    broke - they had to do it in the hospital 2 hours after I had arrived
    there.  For my second, my water broke at home at 2:45am and I did not
    leave for the hospital till 5:00am.  I did not call my doctor till 5:00
    either, cause I knew he'd tell me to come right in.  I walked around,
    had a cup of tea, took a shower read, some of my book, double checked
    my bag and when everything geared up - I went in.  
    IMHO, you should wait at home as long as you can.
    
    Kathy