1. The smell a1
2. The colour and consistency.
I thought my water broke im 37 weeks but it didnt just the amount of discharge increased.
If u can wear a panty liner and it deals with most of the discharge your fine.
Also you can start peeing yourself hahah it ***** but its true.
I normally change my underwear during the day I also notice as you get bigger you might start sweating more down there. Have fun ;)
I can attest to the sweating, which I am completely not used to! Ill be 38 weeks on saturday and Before I got pregnant I barely sweat, ever! Now its like I pour sweat all the time!
I actually asked my doc this question and was monitored for 4 hours for fluid leakage. I thought I was leaking fluid but nope. As someone already said- water breaking is like peeing yourself (no joke). If that happens then yeah def water broke. As far as leaking all the doc said was if it soaks a panty liner then go back in- otherwise you should be ok. They can do a pelvic swab to see if you're leaking fluid if you're really worried.
With my first pregnancy I thought I just had some discharge I later found out that I was loosing amniotic fluid if you are ever worried about it contact your doctor to make sure it's just discharge