Most women get plenty of warnings that things are about to start (a show, waters breaking, hours of
mild contractions), and
first babies often like to keep you on your toes with plenty of false starts and trips to the hospital only to be sent back home again!
The
first couple of hours after my water broke were manageable — the
contractions were
mild as my husband and I walked around the corridors of the labor and delivery ward, showing off my new leopard - print slippers to the night - shift nurses and practicing how we were going to tell all our friends the story of my water breaking right after the creme brulee had been cleared.