I do not need answer fast. This one is for the women of the Dope.
I met some friends tonight at the sports bar; among them Tommy and Sue (fictitious names). Sue is pregnant, and was drinking a glass of ice water while picking at a plate of nachos. I do not know what her due date is, but it could be anytime–including now, as events indicated.
Suddenly, she said, “My water broke. Tommy, we have to go.” Tommy (who had only consumed a half-bottle of beer and was safe to drive) scrambled to pay the tab, and the two of them took off in Tommy’s truck, presumably to get to the hospital.
My question: what happens now? I admit, I was married, but my wife and I had no children. “My water broke” is a trope in TV and movies, but I really don’t get what it means. Assuming Tommy got Sue to the hospital in time–and I’m pretty sure he did, as the hospital is only ten minutes from the sports bar–what happens next?
Tommy and Sue are good friends, and I’m curious, but it seems too personal a question to ask them, especially now. Lady Dopers, could you fight my ignorance?
You start having contractions, your cervix dialates, and big surprise you give birth. Water breaking is the beginning of labor ( or with me it was). It could be awhile or a short time depending on the circumstance.
That pretty much sums it up. If it is an unremarkable pregnancy and the water breaks around the due date, then it’s no cause for concern, but it does mean “okay, time to head off to the hospital now.”
If water breaks well before the due date (which doesn’t sound like the case here), it’s also time to move smartly to the hospital as it means something is going wrong.
My wife’s broke conveniently enough when she was sitting on the toilet just before bed. It took her 18 hours to have our daughter. Some are faster, some are slower.
And what happens next is you get your asses to the hospital, just like your friend did.
Did they have their labor bag in the car with them?
I don’t know. But given that it is only about a ten to twenty minute drive to the local hospital (where Sue was expected any day now) from anyplace in town, I’m sure that she would be fine, labour bag or not.
When the future-baby (which at that point is basically a ball of cells) finds the wall of the uterus, it sticks there. It grows three sort-of-separate parts: the placenta (which stays on the uterine wall, holds the whole thing into place and acts as the exchange area between the mother and baby), the amniotic sac and the baby. The baby grows up inside the amniotic sac; there is water in the sac, with the baby. When the sac breaks, the water comes out before the baby does.
Nava, thank you. I knew the basics of conception and gestation, but did not know about the science behind “water breaking.” That’s what I was wondering about.
Again, thank you, Nava. You have fought my ignorance.
Sue didn’t pee her pants, because as Nava said, it’s that sack breaking so the fluid is leaving like putting a hole in a water balloon. However, amniotic fluid largely is pee, but it’s the baby’s pee, not Sue’s.
When my water broke, I was walking back to bed from the bathroom. I remember thinking “Wait, am I still peeing?” until I woke fully and realized what was going on. So we headed to the hospital, and 12 hours later, our daughter finally showed up.
I’ve wondered what can be done in such a situation other than facilitate a premature birth. I mean it’s not like they can stick a patch on the amniotic sac so the fluid can build up again.
The egg white is the cytoplasm of a single large cell, of which the yolk is the nucleus. If an egg is fertilized, that single huge cell splits and splits and specializes and… eventually you get a baby bird. There’s no placenta and no amniotic sac.
In our parenting classes - years ago, admittedly - we were told that nope, once that bag of waters breaks that baby’s coming out. To keep it in - which I guess is feasible - is to risk very bad things. What those things are I either was never told or have forgotten.
With our second child the waters broke and we headed for the hospital. No sign of contractions, so after a few hours of observation we were sent home. Told to come back when contractions start or in 24 hours. Went back after 24 hours and still no contractions. She was kept in this time, but it was another 36 hours before labour really started. That probably explains why it’s always been an effort to get him out of bed in the morning!
Not necessarily. A coworker worked all day and was relaxing at night, when she told her husband it was time to go to the hospital. They got as far as the car and she said, “We’re not going to make it to the hospital! Call 911 and the neighbor!” They got inside and her nurse neighbor delivered the baby before the paramedics got there 3 minutes later. On the living room floor, not even in a bed.
My wife also did not start labor when her waters broke about 4 weeks before expected. She went to the hospital where they started her on something to induce labor. It worked and 24 hours later our 5 lb 2 oz daughter was born. She breathed fine and was normal in every way, although we paid particular attention to her weight.
My wife’s birth was similar. My in-laws lived about 10 minutes out of town on a country road. My MIL was in the kitchen doing something or other when her water broke. My FIL piled her into his old Suburban and they hauled ass into town. The ten minute drive took about 6 or 7 minutes. The hospital was only a few blocks further, and my FIL pulled up to the emergency room entrance with a cop hot on his tail. My FIL told the cop he could arrest him for speeding all he wanted, but he had to wait until his wife was in the hospital. The cop helper my MIL get out of the car and onto a stretcher, and the baby—my wife—was delivered before they could transfer her off the gurney and into a proper bed. So from water breaking to hello baby in 10, maybe 11 minutes.
My FIL never even got a speeding ticket.
My wife had to be induced for both our kids, so the nurses broke her water for her.
There is a high risk of infection. I don’t know how high, but I know they don’t mess around.
On the other hand, it’s also not unheard of for the water to never break–babies can be born “in their caul”, which means in their amniotic sack. It’s really unusual, and even more so these days–the doctor is likely to break the sack if it doesn’t break on it’s own. It’s quite common, however, to have your water break well into labor, long after you’ve gone to the hospital. It’s not always the starting gun for the whole thing.