Monday, February 20, 2012

Flashback: Did my cat break my water?

Someone recently asked me what caused the slow amniotic fluid leak that led to an induction at the end of my pregnancy with Carina. Truth is: other than just random occurrence, the only other thing I can think of would be the time my cat fell from our 12+ foot loft railing and landed on my stomach.

I went back through old blog posts trying to find the one I wrote about this semi-traumatic event so I could see what date it actually happened, but as it turns out, I never blogged about it. So I will now because I don't want to let it get lost in time...

I *think* it was less than two weeks prior to Carina's birthday. I was sitting on our couch, in the corner directly below the railing in our loft apartment. All of a sudden, BOOM. My 11 lb. cat who is usually quite agile awkwardly landed on my very pregnant belly. She had fallen about 12 feet. She bolted into the other room and I chased after her, wanting to make sure she was okay. Then I cleared my head and realized that I should probably make sure that I was okay, too.

I freaked out. I didn't remember much from physics class but I did know that a not-so-skinny kitty + a 12 foot free fall = sizable force on poor little still-baking Carina. I called my OB and he assured me that so long as I wasn't cramping or experiencing any spotting, all was likely fine and that I should just try to relax. So I did.

A few days later I noticed what I thought was an increase in discharge. But of course when I finally went to the hospital to get checked out on December 27th (as it had progressively gotten worse), the amniotic fluid swab turned positive before I could finish saying "I'm sure it's nothing." I was induced, and Carina was born 18 hours later.


Did kitty want to meet Carina?

Could the force of kitty landing on Carina have caused the slow leak? Who knows. But it's interesting to think that maybe Layla (the kitty) was impatient and just wanted to meet the baby already.

Has anyone else ever had a slow leak?

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13 words of geekdom:

Unknown said...

I didn't have a leak at all, since my water didn't break until literally thirty seconds before I started pushing, but a friend of mine had a similar experience with the leak. It went of for several days and they finally induced her as well. She said this labor was the worst of any of her four, because it just went on for-evah. (I think they just fall out now....)

Katib77 said...

I feel like this had to have been in your blog somewhere, because I've heard this story before. Maybe you wrote about it post birth? Or it's a sentence or two buried in another post. I believe that is totally the reason for your slow leak.

Jaclyn said...

I had a slow leak. I was 38 weeks pregnant and feeling great - I'd spent the previous day shopping for the rest of the stuff Alex needed, and was running around for 7 hours. I woke up the next morning, got out of bed to pee and felt a little pop in my belly. I didn't think anything of it until I realized I had a slow leak. It was 7 am and my doctor's office opened at 9. We figured since I wasn't sure it was amniotic fluid and I didn't have any contractions it was safe to wait. We got to the ob's office at 9, and alarmed the receptionists by telling them we thought I might be in labor. They said, "but there's no doctor here yet! Well, we'll make sure he sees you as soon as he comes in." The doctor came, told me my water had broken (I still wasn't sure) and sent me to the hospital. They induced me, and Alex was born by 6 o'clock that night. He was 7 lbs, 6 ounces so we were very glad he decided to make an early appearance.

Wendy said...

haha! You are so funny! Just your post titles...
Maybe it could have happened...I know FOR SURE that my little girl kicked hard and broke my water.

Hopefully you can keep your cat away from high surfaces this time around :)

-W.

Heather said...

LOL! What a story! I'll have to make sure my cats stay away from my belly...Unless I'm just really ready to have this baby... ;)

Unknown said...

I had a slow leak as well, but there were no cats jumping on my tummy. I thought it was just extra discharge as well, but it turns out that because I wasn't dilated at all it was a leak and not a gush!

Kristin said...

I don't know...I wouldn't think it would actually break your water. I hope I get to experience the big gush this time! (as weird as that sounds). I had my water broken in the hospital with James.

Unknown said...

*raises hand* I have no idea WHEN my water broke. I'd seen show that morning, but that was about it. They went to break my water late that night, and it was all gone. It had to have been slow because I never noticed it coming out.

Melissa @ Growing Up Geeky said...

Kati - I think I put it on Facebook when it first happened. Although I can't seem to find it there, either...

Allison said...

I remember you posted it on The Bump BMB. I was a fellow January Joy turned December baby. See if you can find it there? Great story :)

Melissa @ Growing Up Geeky said...

Allison you're right. And I found it!

http://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/46703061.aspx

Heather said...

Do you really think that could break your water? Mine broke three weeks early.... wonder if it was something I did.

Melissa @ Growing Up Geeky said...

@Heather - it didn't break my whole water, it was just a slow leak. So there was a small tear in my bag of waters. A 11 lb. cat falling from 12 feet generates a lot of force. While I'll never know if it was the cause, it's certainly a funny story in retrospect.

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