The time has gotten away from me. My last doctor's appointment was 2 weeks ago, and I meant to post right after, but somehow it hasn't happened. It was a great appointment and I'm hoping this post can be somewhat informative because I've been doing a lot of research that hopefully will help my next delivery go better, and maybe help out others out there who carry the Group B Strep.
For those of you who need a refresher......my last labor was anything but normal, mostly consisting of back pain. And while I knew that I was a GBS carrier, I had always heard that by getting antibiotics during delivery that everything would be fine. Well, Lewis caught it coming through the birth canal which led to his own blood infection and a 10-day stay in the NICU. It mainly caused his heart rate to fluctuate randomly, and his breathing to be hard and difficult. It was a rough start to his life, and our parenthood, which we do not want to re-live.
With this in mind, I've been doing research about GBS and had a great chat with my doctor (Joseph Gass) at my last appointment. First of all, I have to give a shout out to Nicole Martin for recommending him. He has been a refreshing change from my last OB, who I was honestly afraid to talk to about a number of things. Dr. Gass treats me like a person, and has made it clear that how I choose to deliver is fine with him. If I want pain meds, great. If not, (which is my goal) fine too.
He had said that because I had passed GBS on to Lewis that we would go into this next delivery assuming that I am still a carrier and take every precaution to keep the new baby safe. The first time around, my OB nurse said that they like to get two rounds of antibiotics through before delivery. Because I was only at the hospital about 6 hours before Lewis arrived (and they didn't check me for quite a while because they were delivering other babies and didn't think I was in labor), I did not get that much before delivery. However, the studies I looked at show that it's not so much the amount of antibiotics the mother receives, but instead the time over which she receives it that makes a difference. Four hours of receiving antibiotics seemed to be a minimum amount of time that kept moms from passing on GBS.
In talking to my doctor, he said he really recommends six hours of antibiotics to insure safety for the baby. Because my last labor was so weird, we agreed that it would be okay for me to play it safe and come on in when I suspect I'm in labor and get checked out to make sure I'm not rushed like the last time around. Since I only live 5 minutes from the hospital, it will not be a huge deal if I get sent home.
The other random thing I found in my research was a connection between developmental delays and babies who have contracted GBS. Apparently there is a high statistic of those babies who have been infected to have delays, which may explain some of Lewis' issues. My doctor seemed to think I might be right about that too. He shared an example of a similar situation with me that would support my hypothesis.
All of this to say...........it is sooooooooooooo wonderful to have a doctor who listens and cares and shows his support of me and this baby I'm carrying. It gives me much hope that things will go better this time around. If you are pregnant and test positive for Group B Strep, keep these things in mind. Doctors and nurses are wonderful, but they are preoccupied with a million things, and you are the one who needs to ask questions and push for IV's to get started in case they are dragging their feet. Don't learn the hard way!!
The other thing is to find a doctor or midwife who cares. If you can't talk freely about the concerns you have it might mean another doctor would be a better choice. It's so much easier the second time around because you know more what you want. I really feel like God led me here and it's a good place to be. :)
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