This is my birth story about how my water broke at night with a big POP. Something that “almost never happens,” according to the nurse in our prenatal class. Well, it can happen!
How My Water Broke at Night in Bed
Early Stages of Labor Without Realizing
I’d been so achy and tired the days prior to delivering my son Aiden that I hadn’t realized that nearly an entire day before my water broke, I’d been in the early stages of labor.
I woke up on a Saturday morning with a nagging pain in my side, I felt awful, and nothing was comfortable, as was usual by this point. All I’d wanted to do all that Saturday for some reason was to walk and walk I did.
With a break for lunch, I walked with my husband for 5 hours or more all over the city.
Then My Water Broke at Night…
I was 36 weeks 4 days pregnant, i.e. in pregnancy week 37 when my water broke just before 2 AM on that following Sunday morning.
Being a first-time mother I had attended some birthing classes with my husband. I remember being told that a woman’s water breaking doesn’t happen as it does in the movies. That it’s very RARE for it to splash out suddenly or spray. Well, I can tell you that it can happen like that!
I woke up suddenly to a POP low in my belly, as someone flicked me gently with their fingers. The pop was followed by a massive rush of warm water all over my legs which quickly puddled and flowed up towards my belly.
I gasped in disbelief. It wasn’t time! I could be peeing. No, this was not peeing! It just kept coming! I threw back the covers and rolled to my back elbowing my husband. “My water just broke!” I yelled as I pushed at him, practically punching him to get up.
He heard but didn’t quite understand. He mumbled and turned on his lamp. As he got out of bed lazily his own eyes widened in disbelief. “It sure did!” he was surprised too!
Of course, he reminded me that the nurse in the birthing class had said this wasn’t supposed to happen.
I was covered nearly head to toe by that point, I just couldn’t get up in time and the fluid was even in my hair. As I moved it spilled off onto the floor like a waterfall. Our queen-sized bed looked like someone had dumped a kiddie pool of water in the middle of it.
I wasn’t really in any kind of pain, though. The nagging side pain of the day before was gone.
My husband and I looked at each other and laughed; he hadn’t escaped getting wet either. I asked if he’d care to go for another swim. :-)
Being in no rush, seeing as my contractions were far apart and not intense, I took my time showering, getting dressed, checking my bag, emailing my college professors, and even checking my email before I decided it was time to go to the hospital.
At the Hospital
The biggest irony is that when I finally got checked in, the nurses couldn’t get a sample of the amniotic fluid and didn’t want to believe me that my water had broken!
I was kept at the hospital due to an exceptionally high fever I’d developed until my doctor could be gotten ahold of.
I delivered my son just after 6:30 that Sunday after several more hours of waiting for my cervix to slowly dilate and 3 hours of difficult pushing.
Aiden was a tad early but great size at 7 lbs 7oz and in perfect health.
Thanks for reading my birth story,
CJ
More Birth Stories – Premature or with Water Breaking
Or head over to our main Birth Stories Section to read about other types of birthing experiences…
If your water broke at night too or you have any comments or questions, please share below! You can also share your own birth story by using the form on this page.
Paula Dennholt founded Easy Baby Life in 2006 and has been a passionate parenting and pregnancy writer since then. Her parenting approach and writing are based on studies in cognitive-behavioral models and therapy for children and her experience as a mother and stepmother. Life as a parent has convinced her of how crucial it is to put relationships before rules. She strongly believes in positive parenting and a science-based approach.
Paula cooperates with a team of pediatricians who assist in reviewing and writing articles.
