Fluid? How to tell?

My underwear was continually getting wet even with a panty liner, so my midwife told me to put in a pad wait an hour and see if its full. But I don’t know how to tell if it’s full. 🤷🏻‍♀️ These thing are so darn absorbent. I slowly poured about 1/2 cup of water on one of the pads and it just soaked it right up. So if the fluid I’m leaking is clear, how am I supposed to tell how full the pad is?