by Anne Warchol

Created on: October 30, 2008

While on the hunt for a new house, I felt a leak running down my pants. Knowing the leak came from an unfamiliar place, I whispered into my husband's ear. "My water broke." He ignored me. After repeating myself two more times, he paid attention to my fervent pleas. A horrifying hour passed, leaking all the way, before we pulled into the hospital parking lot. The real estate agent wore a non-believing as we drove away, thinking we faked the event to escape her sales pitch.

Water continued to leak, but fortune smiled on me - we were driving a company car. I remember the urgency stressed by my doctor to report on the double to the hospital in the event of water breakage. Some doctors believe that without the amniotic fluid protecting the baby, the baby is susceptible to infection. [Amniotic fluid]"completely replaces itself every three hours, even after your water has broken" (about.com).

My daughter was two years old as my second pregnancy progressed. Two weeks before my due date, at three am, my daughter called me up to her room to change her sheets. With the old sheets lying on the wood floor, my water gushed out, no trickle this time, and I slid the sheets into the puddle to hide the deluge of water. Later, I heard my older daughter telling everyone that "Mommy peed on the floor."

My contractions started and I went downstairs to begin my Lamaze breathing. The contractions stopped after one hour and the baby lay still. I waited until business hours to contact my doctor. He believed in the infection theory and ordered me to the hospital. I refused to go to a hospital with no contractions.

As the day progressed, the baby stayed quiet and I cleaned the house while I waited for the contractions to resume. The doctor called while I was mopping the kitchen floor. He ordered me to report to the hospital and I refused again. On his third phone call, his agitation pronounced, he regaled me with the dangers of broken water without delivery. I conceded.

I spent two hours waiting for contractions to start, while the baby slumbered away, uncaring if no water surrounded her. The nurse came in with the Pitocin (a drug that induces third stage labor) and my first contraction hit. Two hours later, my daughter introduced her tiny body to the world. Twelve hours passed from my water breaking to my daughter's birth. I never experienced a problem.

If and when your water breaks during pregnancy, call your doctor and follow his instructions. Despite my stubborn attitude, I suggest you listen to your doctor's advice. Your water breaking is the prelude to the main event; your baby is on the way.

Mother to mother: Be prepared for your water breaking in the grocery store and every time you shop, buy apple juice in a glass container. If you water breaks, drop the apple juice bottle to cover your personal body leakage.

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