I have Group B Strep. :( Now what? Will this reduce/ruin my chances of a natural L&D?

[agnostic101]

@hageeministries I was positive, was told I could have a hep lock but the hospital vetoed it when I was there. I wasn't really coherent enough to care at that point.

But I did get thrush immediately upon his birth. No one believed me for a few days, until I reminded them I had antibiotics during labour, and they entertained the idea as in "we don't really think you have this, but you're so insistent that we'll treat you since the treatment won't hurt."

Now I battle with thrush constantly. No one told me that of you get it once, you're very likely to get it again.

Take lots of probiotics right afterwards. Lots! Even if you aren't showing any signs of thrush.

Edit: I wanted to add that I found bring in the shower the best thing for the pain, and the IV meant that I had to get out of the shower, and then I didn't really get back in.

 

[hageeministries]

@agnostic101 So they made you keep the IV in the whole time? I'm not sure what my hospital will do...I guess this is something I need to start asking about -- I definitely want to be in the shower as much as possible too. Thanks for the info.

Thrush...dammit, now that's one more thing for me to stress about and go google! But I'd rather be prepared...I just ordered some probiotics yesterday because I've been told it helps with GBS too, so at least that's already on my list.

 

[agnostic101]

@hageeministries I think I had the IV in the whole time... But I'd already been in labour (back labour) for about 24 hours by the time I went to the hospital, and had contractions on top of each other (no break in between contractions-ever) so I wasn't very with it at that point. I think I got in bed so they could place the IV and then there was an issue with the heart rate monitor (which I had no memory of them putting on me and my birth plan stated I did not want) so they forced me to stay on my bank in bed. 5 hours in hospital I got a medically-recommended epidural so then I was confined to the bed anyways...

 

[renmouse]

@hageeministries I had it, it wasn't really an issue at all. I was induced so didn't have to worry about getting to the hospital straight away or anything, and the antibiotics were barely an issue during labour. The nurses monitored my daughter's temperature every few hours after she was born to check for an infection, but she was fine.

 

[txman]

@hageeministries Not Strep positive, but I did need antibiotics after some complications during delivery. I wouldn't even have known I was getting them if they hadn't told me. . And baby and I had no side effects.

 

[earniesr]

@hageeministries I wasn't gbs + but I did get antibiotics due to third stage complications. Didn't notice any burning or anything. Like pp said, I wouldn't have known until they told me afterward.

 

[bearfromjapan]

@hageeministries Hi there! I'm here to rain on the parade!

I was strep B positive for my first pregnancy. No big deal right? Just some antibiotics, I can deal with that.

Water broke, 36 weeks. No contractions -- have to get that baby out, time for induction! 24 hours later, still no baby, only 3 cm. Time for c-section. Whatevs.

Because water was broken for more than 24 hours (it was EXACTLY 24 hours AND 15 MINUTES, this is what kills me) he had to be on antibiotics. He was in the nicu for this, also for breathing problems because he was early. They ran blood cultures -- he showed negative for any infection. BUT just in case we're going to keep him on the antibiotics for even longer. WHY?! I want my baby HOME. NOW. For an infection in MY VAGINA which he DIDN'T PASS THROUGH while I was on ANTIBIOTICS FOR 24 HOURS. That he was negative for!!! UGH.

(Can you tell I'm a bit bitter? )

Anyway. All is well that ends well. Baby is healthy, he came home after 6 days in the NICU. My midwives told me that my water may have broken prematurely because the GBS could have weakened it. So ... why don't they treat you with antibiotics when they find out you have it? I still haven't found an answer to that and it drives me crazy.

Anyway. Heads up. Not everything is super simple.

 

[hageeministries]

@bearfromjapan Wow, that's scary, sorry you had a bad experience. I'm already 38 weeks, so no need for me to worry about prematurity at this point...but I did make the mistake of googling a bit too much and read that GBS can cause complications prior to labor including stillbirth. Like you said, all's well that ends well. I'm glad your baby is OK. All I can do is hope the same for my own.

 

[jrdnoland]

@hageeministries Didn't affect my labor at all, seing as though it was pretty late into it, considering crappy hospital forgot.

Crappy hospital also thought my daughter had GBS, but turned out she was just dehydrated.