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10 Signs and Symptoms of Water Breaking during Pregnancy
You are pregnant and nearing your labour, and apart from many other concerns, the thought that your water may break anytime soon might be freaking you out. You must have heard about it from many moms but you don't really know how it will happen and what you should be doing. Therefore, it’s better to gear yourself up in such a situation. If you are looking for the information that may help you know about water breaking during pregnancy, then browse through the following article.
Water Breaking Signs That You Should Know
You may have heard about 'water breaking' during pregnancy, but in reality, only 15 percent women may actually experience their water breaking before they go into labour and out of those women, only 1 in 10 women may feel a liquid gushing out. But you may not know which category you may fall in. So, here are some signs of water breaking that you should know about:
1. The Bloody Show
The name may scare you, but as your delivery nears, you may lose your mucus plug that seals your cervix by making you ready for the upcoming labour. Sometimes losing a mucus plug and the breaking of water may happen side by side, while sometimes, you may lose mucus plug, but your water may not break immediately or it may not happen at all. Whatever be the case, once you lose your mucus plug, you should get the hint that your water can break anytime.
2. Infections
Sometimes infections in your vagina, cervix, kidney or bladder may make your water break. However, this is harmful to you and your baby. In case you feel any signs of fever, flu-like symptoms, back pain or other such symptoms, seek your doctor’s help because you may have an infection down there and it may cause water breaking too.
3. Frequent Toilet Visits
As you near your labour, your body releases prostaglandins, which help in labour. But this hormone-like substance may excessively stimulate your bowels, making your bathroom visits frequent. This is an indication that you are in early labour and that your water may break anytime, so be prepared.
4. Hind-water Breaking
It may sound weird, but before your actual water or fore water breaks, you may leak some hind water, which leaks from a hole in the sac behind your baby’s head. Hind water breakage may be felt as a dribble, and this may stop on its own when the membranes reseal it. Therefore, if you experience a little water show before you actually experience a waterfall, understand that this is a sign of water breaking.
5. You May Experience Cramping
Your tummy may feel all tight and churned up, the same way when your periods are near. Though these may not be the actual contractions, however, this cramping may be an indication that your water may break anytime soon. So, grab a plastic sheet or a towel and prepare yourself.
6. You May Hear a Popping Sound
When the sac of fluid around your baby ruptures, you will hear a popping sound. It may feel more like the crackling of bones or popping of a balloon wrapped up in a towel, but you will hear that popping sound. After that, there may be a sudden gush of warm water between your legs.
7. You May Think You May Have Leaked Urine
Towards the end of the pregnancy, there is too much pressure building on your bladder that you may find yourself leaking urine occasionally. This may happen while coughing, laughing, or due to other such activities that may put pressure on your bladder. However, the smell of urine and amniotic water are different. Amniotic water is pale or light yellowish in colour with no odour contrary to urine, which has a distinctive smell. If you are leaking odourless liquid, it is your amniotic water.
8. The Litmus Test
The litmus paper test is also helpful in establishing whether what you are leaking is amniotic fluid or something else. In case, the litmus changes colour, it is a clear indication that you are leaking amniotic fluid and you should get in touch with your doctor immediately.
9. Trickling Sensation
You may sometimes feel a trickling sensation when liquid leaks out from your vagina. You may mistake it for urine and think that amniotic fluid usually comes gushing. But that is not true, amniotic fluid may sometimes come slowly, and in case you are confused about the liquid that you may be leaking, you should seek your doctor’s advice on the same.
10. Excessive Vaginal Discharge
Vaginal discharge increases during pregnancy, which is very normal. However, if you have excessive vaginal discharge that is stringy and clear, this may be your cervical mucus. In case you find too much vaginal discharge, this may be one of the signs that your water has broken.
The above-mentioned are some of the signs and symptoms that may help you know when your water may break. However, our body signals us enough when it is ready to go into labour. You may rely on your gut and recognise the symptoms that your body may exhibit to you. If you think that what you may be leaking is amniotic fluid, it is advised that you get immediate medical assistance.
Also Read: How to Increase and Decrease Amniotic Fluid during Pregnancy Naturally Read more
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Teaching Kids To Measure Length, Breadth and Height
Children generally develop the basic concepts of measurement by comparing objects with each other. They need to play and experiment with a variety of things before they can move to using formal units such as inches or yards when describing or measuring quantity.
Learning to measure is an important and practical skill that’s frequently put to use in real life activities such as when buying groceries or painting a house. Teaching your child basic measurement concepts doesn’t have to revolve around solving problems on paper or math textbooks. Kids, by nature, are great observers and learn more by doing rather than listening or reading and this holds true for measurement skills than almost anything else.
Teaching Measuring and Comparing to Preschoolers
Through Fun, Everyday Activities
Talk about who is ‘taller' and ‘shorter' when comparing the height of family members.
Spread out a sheet of newspaper on the floor. Count how many books will fit on top of it.
Ask your child to build a tall tower up to about 2 feet in height by stacking up blocks.
Talk about the size of a tablecloth or bed-cover needed to cover a table or the bed.
Recording your child's growth on a height chart is a measurement activity for children that always gets them excited.
Roll out two ‘ropes' of different lengths using play dough. Tell him about one rope being shorter and the other longer.
Trace your child's hand or foot on a piece of paper and cut it out. Use it to measure the length of things such as a table or the bed.
Walk around objects and talk about how many steps it takes.
Use a stick to measure distances between seedlings when planting in the garden.
Another lesson in measurement for kids can be to point out the distance your car has travelled.
Through Visuals for Better Understanding
Children learn when they play. Being visual learners, they grasp concepts about shapes, colours and sizes all while playing with different objects. Measurement games for kids help them learn about length, breadth, height and area through playing with things such as play dough, blocks, ribbons and even scale model toys. While playing, they observe things like the size and shape of objects, how cubes can be stacked up while round objects can be rolled, how things fit together, and how one object is longer than the other.
Through Practice
Once your child is able to understand the concept of size and measurements, he can then be introduced to ways to measure things using different tools, whether it’s a ruler or a tape or something else. Then comes teaching the units of measurement to kids. He’ll learn how to express quantity in certain units of measurement like inches or centimeters and not just a general ‘big’ and ‘small’.
Kids need to be encouraged to learn such mathematical concepts through activities that teach measurement. By encouraging them to explore and manipulate objects, they gain the practical experience required to cement their understanding. Read more
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Breathing Exercises during Pregnancy
An average human being can live without water for 3 days, without food for 3 weeks, but cannot live for more than 3 minutes without air. One of the most important things a pregnant woman can do is making sure she is effectively breathing for two.
So, what do you need to do if you are breathing for two? Breathe twice as fast? Let’s find out.
Video: Effective Breathing Exercises during Pregnancy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrMbD6xFFy4
5 Effective Breathing Exercises
Breathing is very important during pregnancy; it ensures efficient removal of waste products as well as a plentiful supply of oxygen for both the mother and child. Effective breathing purifies and calms the nervous system and induces a feeling of pleasant well-being.
Pregnancy and childbirth are both situations that are helped by effective breathing. There are some breathing exercises that can be very beneficial during pregnancy both for you and your baby.
Before beginning any breathing exercises, make sure you have a yoga mat or a folded blanket to sit on. This can be substituted by a comfortable chair where you can rest your feet on the floor while exercising. Exercises where you hold your breath are not advised during pregnancy since they can restrict oxygen intake and compromise oxygen supply to the baby. It is advisable to wait around three hours after the main meal, or an hour or two after a light meal or snack to practise breathing exercises.
1. Breathing through Morning Sickness and Early Pregnancy Fatigue
Calm breathing exercises for pregnant ladies help immensely when you are suffering from morning sickness. It also helps with fatigue, muscle, and joint pain. Relax your body and sit on the ground, cross your feet and take your awareness away from the discomfort in your stomach and throat area. Be aware of the ground beneath you and the support it gives you as all the tension in your body melts away muscle by muscle, with each breath. Breathe deeply and rhythmically through your nose. Keep your attention on the sound and rhythm of your breath. Now try to slow down and deepen each breath. Be aware of the air filling and leaving your abdomen. After a couple of minutes, you will notice how much calmer you are. Take a power nap if you want and get ready to eat a healthy, sustaining meal.
2. Breathing from Your Stomach
Practise doing this by keeping an object on your abdomen as you lie relaxed on the floor. Focus on the object and on moving it up and down as you take in deep breaths. Count a number in your head, as you bring it up and the same number as you bring it down. Belly or diaphragmatic breathing is excellent for pregnancy since it can result in 1/3rd more oxygen being inhaled.
3. Breathing from the Chest
After around 5 minutes of belly breathing, start chest breathing. The rib cage and thoracic cavity expand to the sides, front and back for each inhalation and exhalation. Practise for as long as you are comfortable. Practise alternatively with stomach breathing.
4. Shallow Breathing
When done in between deep breathing practice, shallow breathing helps by giving a good boost to your lungs. Do this for a minute while you get ready for more deep breathing.
5. Cool your Body with Practices like Sheetali & Sheetkari Pranayama
Inhale through your mouth. Extend your tongue out of your mouth and roll it like a straw. Suck in cool air through this straw with a loud noise and exhale through your nose. Alternatively, bare your teeth and suck in air noisily through your mouth and exhale through your nose. Both these practices cool the body. Pregnant women need cooling because of the added metabolic activity and hormonal changes.
Breathing Techniques for Labour
Using breathing exercises during labour can help you manage the pain by helping you work through it. First, find a pattern that works for you, then work on practising your breathing. Practise regularly, many times a day. You can use these breathing patterns to get through daily irritations till they become deeply ingrained in you as a response to stress.
1. Slow Breathing
Slow breathing is the art of breathing through contractions when labour begins. The contractions can be intense, so it would be difficult for you to talk during this time. Practise slow breaths, counting to a number comfortable for you, and exhaling while being relaxed. Make your muscles limp when you exhale to help you relax.
2. Shallow, Faster Breaths
At the active phase of labour, you can shift to light breathing. You can do this in between contractions with faster, shallower breaths at around one breath per second. The inhalation should be quiet with clearly audible exhalation. Practise by visualizing a panting dog. Doing this for small intervals in between episodes of pain can help in pain management.
3. Expulsion Breathing
This is a practice where slow breathing is interspersed with exhalation, a sigh, and a blow. It is to be done when your cervix is dilated. Many inhalations - up to 5-6 shallow breaths - should be followed by one long sighing exhalation. Take a big breath, curl your body forward, and bear down, while holding your breath. Try to relax the pelvic floor while simultaneously bearing down.
Benefits of Breathing Exercise
Most situations in a pregnancy are helped largely by breathing practices. Some of the main benefits are:
1. Helps Deal with Morning Sickness
Staying curled up in bed, unable to keep anything down, can be a miserable experience. Try calm deep breathing. It will help you deal with the nausea.
2. Breathing to Fall into a Deep and Rejuvenating Sleep
Deep breathing with active visualization of images of your muscle groups relaxing can put your body in a state of relaxation. After this, one can imagine the healthy growth of both the mother and the child to help you fall into a happy sleep.
3. Breathing through Pain and Discomfort
Delivery pains can also be managed through deep breathing.
4. Breathing Through Times When You Think Your Pregnancy is in Trouble
Take 5 deep, slow breaths while you think of 5 symptoms which tell you that there is a reason for panic. If there is nothing – good, crisis averted. If there is something – breathing helps you rationalize the problem so that you can inform your doctor in a calm and coherent manner.
5. Breathing When People are Giving You Advice
You may be troubled with unwanted advice during pregnancy. Breathing exercises can help you deal with this. This needs to be done with a smile as you grit your teeth and think to yourself “I'm pregnant, not uneducated, or stupid, or ......” Whatever the reason, breathing helps.
Breathing is the essence of life yet we do it without being aware of it. Many forms of exercise such as yoga and karate understand the importance of breathing. It helps calm the mind and can even make excessive pain tolerable. While being pregnant, one can employ some of the listed breathing techniques to help with any pregnancy-related pain.
Also Read: Trouble Breathing during Pregnancy Read more
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Dr Muhsina has added a new answer
Expecting Mom due in 2 months
4 hours ago
Q. now I am in 30 weeks of pregnancy I have vomiting.I couldn't control what the reasons for this vomiting
Dr Muhsina
Expecting Mom due in 3 months
3 hours ago
A. Some women may have vomiting throughout their pregnancy. The most common reason for vomiting during the third trimester may be gastritis. Make sure you eat small frequent meals, preferably every 2 hours. If your baby's weight during checkups are adequate..u needn't worry much about this. You can also consult your doctor and take anti emetics and PPIs if the vomiting is bothering you or interfering with your daily activities.
Ranjitha has added a new answer
Guardian of 0 children
2 hours ago
Q. Is it okay is the baby does not pass stool for one day?
Ranjitha
Guardian of 2 children
16 mins ago
A. yes absolutely okay.no issues
Dr Vandan H Kumar has added a new answer
Guardian of 0 children
2 hours ago
Q. Is it okay if my baby does not pass stool for one day?
Dr Vandan H Kumar
Paediatrician
1 hour ago
A. no need to worry about the frequency and colour of the stool if the consistency of the stool is semi solid to solid.
also there is no need to worry about the smell of the stool if the consistency is normal.
you have to meet the doctor if it is watery inconsistency or hard consistency otherwise semi solid to solid stool is normal.
also passing stool after taking food is normal. r
Rashmi has added a new answer
Expecting Mom due in 6 months
2 hours ago
Q. Q.Asktheexperta# I m an expecting mother of 29 yrs. LMP 10 Feb 2024 . my husband's HPLC report shows thalassemia minor trait while mine is hb d Punjab trait . can we continue with this pregnancy ??
Rashmi
Mom of a 9 yr 7 m old girl
1 hour ago
A. Well you should check with your gynaecologist for that she has to go through all the reports and the issues that you are facing you and your husband and accordingly she can tell you what is the situation how your child is going because lot of things depend upon how the child is growing
Rashmi has added a new answer
Expecting Mom due in 1 month
44 mins ago
Q. Hi doctor, I had scan on 33 weeks 2 day, it stated that AC and HC Is <2.3% which is corresponding to 31 weeks. So overall growth of baby avg is 31 week and 2 days.
will there be any issue with the baby.I have attached my report
Rashmi
Mom of a 9 yr 7 m old girl
43 mins ago
A. Doesn’t seem like it I think it’s going fine and pleasant -1 or two weeks is completely fine during the time of pregnancy further more whatever doubts you have you can take it up with your gynaecologist is they would be able to give you proper clarity and whatever doubt doubts you have explain it to you in a better
Dr Ghouse has added a new answer
Guardian of 0 children
4 mins ago
Q. I am having pain on my right breast while breastfeeding. Latching position is correct. it is a mix of burning sensation and pain. Pain lasts for few minutes after breastfeeding also
Dr Ghouse
Paediatrician
2 mins ago
A. nipcare ointments ok. if there is no relief it is better you see your doctor for proper examination particularly physical examination if there is need for doing investigations to find out the problem and treatment ok
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