Last Sunday, at 18 weeks pregnant, I showed up to my hospital’s Labor and Delivery Department.
The women in the cubicles around me were hugely pregnant, moaning with contractions as they prepared to deliver and hold their new babies. I, on the other hand, was paralyzed by terror. The doctor had told me that he felt pretty sure my amniotic sac was leaking, and that my fetus and I were suffering from a preterm premature rupture of membranes (pPROM).
A fetus at 18 weeks is nowhere near viable outside the womb, and a broken sac would mean a miscarriage. The nurse was grim faced as she ordered the tests on the leaking fluid. “This doesn’t look good,” she said.
The leaking fluid had started as a gush—the day before, I’d squatted down while cleaning and suddenly my pants were soaked. As a woman who has experienced incontinence (what mother hasn’t?), I was struck by how it didn’t seem like I was peeing. It was sudden and uncontrollable. I called my doctor.
“Take it easy for the rest of the day, and call me if it continues,” he said. “Even if it was amniotic fluid, sometimes the bag of waters reseals and the pregnancy continues.”
Unfortunately, every time I stood up, I’d leak another teaspoon of fluid into my underpants. It was mortifying. Each time, it felt like a death knell to this pregnancy. That night, the doctor on call told me to wear dark underwear to bed, and to call him if it was wet when I woke up in the morning.
My husband and I slept fitfully, terrified by the “dark underwear test.”
As I tried to sleep, I could feel the baby kicking, and wondered if this might be the last time I would know that feeling.
In the morning, out came another teaspoon of fluid. When I called the doctor, he offered a grave apology for the suspected miscarriage, and told me to go directly to the Labor and Delivery Department.
There, the nurse performed a series of tests in order to identify the fluid. The primary test is a simple litmus strip applied to the fluid near the cervix, and we were intensely relieved when that test proved negative. Even if I did have amniotic fluid leaking before, she could find no sign of it.
Due to my 99.3° fever, the nurse also tested me for infections—whether bladder or uterine—which are a primary cause of pPROM. Both came up negative. We started to breathe a sigh of relief. Either the leaking had stopped, or it was never amniotic fluid in the first place.
Our last stop at the hospital was the ultrasound department. The nurse had ordered an ultrasound to ensure there was enough fluid surrounding the fetus. By this point, we were in better spirits, particularly after the ultrasound technician reassured us that the fluid levels looked normal.
Then she asked if she could do a full-body scan of the fetus. I whooped for joy. Not only did everything look well for the pregnancy, but now we could find out the sex of the baby too.
So, what was that leaking fluid? When I saw my doctor for a follow-up visit, he checked my cervix with another pH strip to confirm there was no sign of amniotic fluid. He then explained that the amniotic sac has two layers, and I might have developed a hole in the outer layer, losing the fluid contained just between the two layers. It may then have resealed and replenished itself with fluid.
Or, I might simply have had an extended bout of wild peeing, which is not unheard of in pregnant women.
Since this scare, I’ve discovered a panty liner that women can wear in order to distinguish between urine leakage and amniotic fluid. If I’d had my mitts on something by which to self-test, perhaps we could have better answers as to what exactly happened with the gush and trickle of mystery fluid.
But all’s well that ends well. My doctor told me to take it easy for a couple of weeks, and I have felt the baby kicking every night since.
I can’t wait to meet you, little girl. Let’s wait until June, though, OK?
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Comments (9)
AAHHHHH! Does it ever end?! Another scare, another relief. Thank God it’s all ok. Hang in there girls!!!
Erica, your posts never cease to astound me. Not only your roller coaster pregnancy ( i honestly dont know how you’re still sane!!!) but the frank, hilarious way you report it! Hope all is well, and stays well until June! Another little girl, how exciting!
Wow! That story really tugged at my heart..I am so glad to hear that you had an happy ending..and has yet to have another in June..Thank God, that little girl is okay..she’s truly a trooper! <3! Hope everything goes well!
hiya im so glad everythin is ok…i had pprom at 15 weeks..i thought i just wet myself but when i went for an ultrasound my fluids were low…im 27 weeks now and my amniotic sac as reaseled…im still on bed rest and antibiotics,,,me n my baby boy r goin strong xx
that actually happened to me last week and im 19 weeks pregnant right now but when they did all the test on me everything came back negative then when they did the ultrasound they did find that the fluid is low now im stuck on bed rest and when im 24 weeks pregnant they might decided to keep me in the hospital just in case something happens at least thats what the specailist told me but im very happy ti hear that yours resealed itself and you and your baby are fine
HI IM 16 WEEKS PREGNANT AND I HAVE HAD THE LEAKING TO BUT MINE IS THE FLUID FROM ROUND THAT BABY AS THEY CHEAKED AND IT WAS COMING OUT MY CERVIX, BABY IS FNE FOR NOW JUST HOPING THE LEAKING STOPS
I am only 11 weeks and after a fall one day and squatting for about 45 min mopping my floor 2 days later I went and sat down to work and my underwear got all wet.
I had leaking in the 3rd and 4th month of another pregnancy but felt this was a bit early to be leaking.
Yet everytime I got up I began leaking again…and hand to change 3-4 panty liners in a day, even when laying flat all day.
The tests I have done are not so conclusive. They don’t have the litmus paper test here in India. Thankfully when doing the ultra sound it seems the water is back up to level (2 days after the initial leak…have been in bed these past 2 days)
So I am praying for a miracle and that if it was a leak it will re-seal.
Just to give people some hope. Fri I had a gush of fluid which continued to come for about 3 hours. The nurses tested the fluid and it was my amniotic fluid. The doctor told me I needed to induce labor cause I was only 19 wks which means I would lose my son. My husband and I had hope so we stayed in the hospital on strict bed rest. Sun morning we did 3 tests which all came back negative for amniotic fluid. I was out of state so when I got home my doctor did all the tests again plus another ultrasound the tests came back negative for amniotic fluid and the baby looks good. No one can explain what happen. So miracles happen!
Thank you all so much for sharing your stories. my situation is similar , but maybe more severe. On Thursday i felt severe cramping and went to lie down. woke up about an hour later with my underwear soaked. went to the bathroom and clear liquid continued to run down my legs. threw on some clothes and drove to the nearest ER, which had no Ob/Gyn and had to be transferred. in the first hospital, each time the doc tried to look at my cervix water gushed out. now that i have been transferred , i was told that there is very little fluid around the baby. i will be 23 weeks tomorrow . i’ve been told that the fetus is considered viable at 24 weeks. i’m now on steroids and 2 antibiotics. was told today because of my bed rest in the hospital , where i am now that i will need to get 3 shots a day of a blood thinner so that i won’t get bloodclots. i am praying that i will carry the baby as long as possible , to give her a better chance of her organs maturing. i didn’t know that it was even possibly for the membrane to reseal. i just asked the nurse about the possibility and she said, it can happen more likely with small amounts leaking, probably not with the amount that i have . will stay positive and hope for the best, i may be here for months, given i don’t have contractions or get fever from infection . Just wanted to thank you all for giving me hope!