Group B Strep

I had my 37th week appointment today, which went okay. I finally got to meet the last of the midwives, and she was really nice and easy for me to talk to. I feel better now that I've met all of the midwives, and would be happy having any one of them there with me when I go into labor.

Today I found out the results of my Group B Strep (GBS) test that I took last week. Unfortunately, it was positive. This means that I am going to have to be given antibiotics during labor. I guess it's not really that big of a deal, but I really hate needles and I am bummed that I am going to have to be hooked up to an IV. But it's better to be safe, and being on the antibiotics decreases the chances of the baby getting a GBS infection from about 1/200 to 1/4,000 if everything else during labor is healthy and normal (If a baby gets a GBS infection they can suffer from conditions such as meningitis and even death). The antibiotics will need to be administered as soon as my water breaks, if my water happens to break before I go into active labor. This, however, only happens to a small percentage of women. But if I hadn't had tested positive for GBS and my water broke, I would be able to stay at home until I was in active labor as long as the amniotic fluid looked and smelled normal. Otherwise, I won't have to be in the hospital until I am in active labor (contractions 3-4 minutes apart). They like to get a dose of antibiotics in at 4 hours before the baby is born. So if I am in labor for an extended period of time, they will keep administering the antibiotics every four hours. The midwife said that it takes about half an hour for the antibiotics to go in, and that I will be able to walk around with the IV if I want. After it is administered, I will be unhooked and free. I will still be able to labor in water and even give birth in water if that's what I choose to do. So overall, it's really not that big of a deal, I just have to not be a wimp about having something stuck in my arm, which I think I can do. The midwife gave me a great handout about how I can attempt to clear GBS from my system so that if I have the baby anytime after 41 weeks, I can get tested again and possibly not have to have the antibiotics. Here is what the handout said:

GBS is a bacteria present in the bodies of about 30% of healthy adults. There are natural treatments to help eliminate GBS and restore healthy balance to the body. These herbs strengthen your immune system and help to restore normal vaginal flora. You may choose to do some, or all, of the following remedies. Doing so will increase the chance of testing GBS negative and avoiding antibiotics in labor:

• Acidophilus/probiotics, 4-6 capsules per day, or eat a lot of plain cultured yogurt every day

• 500 mg of vitamin C every day

• Echinacea- tincture, capsule, or tea, as directed on product

• Bee Propolis, as directed on product

• Eat a lot of fresh garlic every day

Ways to get garlic down if you prefer not to cook with it:  

~Chop a clove of fresh garlic and mix with a teaspoon of honey. Swallow this without chewing it.

~Make a garlic elixir by blending 1/2 cup of honey, 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, and a bulb of fresh garlic. Take 1/2 teaspoon up to twice a day or mix with olive oil and use as a salad dressing or bread dip

~Take garlic perles (over the counter) according to the dosage on the brand you purchase.

I kind of wish I had known this information beforehand so that I could have tried to test negative for GBS the first time around. But I guess GBS comes and goes through peoples' systems normally, and just because you may or may not have it early on, things can change at the end of pregnancy. Even still, I probably would have actively been trying to prevent a positive result throughout my pregnancy. I had a very bad experience going on antibiotics a couple of years ago, where there was a chance I might develop Lyme disease (I had a questionable rash on my leg after working in a high risk area) so they treated me to prevent contraction of the disease. The first antibiotic I took made me sick to my stomach and I couldn't keep it down. So they tried a second type that made me more susceptible to sunlight (a bad thing when you are working in a salt marsh 8-10 hours a day in 95 degree weather), and I was able to keep it down though it made me feel kind of crummy still. I also had to wear long sleeves, a hat, gloves (my hands got sunburned the first day I didn't wear any, despite putting sunblock on them every hour), and lots of high SPF sunblock. The antibiotics gave me horrible digestive issues and yeast infections off and on for over a year, until I found some great vitamins that helped me get my system back to normal (New Chapter Organics). So now I am a bit nervous about having to deal with antibiotics again, though now I have a better idea of how to get my system back on track than I did last time I dealt with this.

Besides this GBS annoyance, everything else is going well. My blood pressure is normal, and I am measuring normal at 36.5 inches (height of fundus). The baby's heart rate was in the normal range, and he is in a great position (though he is still moving around at this point). The midwife was giggling because she felt how his feet like to push right into my ribs. Hopefully everything stays on track and the baby and I are healthy and happy all the way through labor and childbirth.