Group B Strep

I did have another son after my GBS+ baby. I was terrified. My OB was wonderful,though. She was also pregnant at the time and due to deliver around the same time as me. I had previous GBS+ meningitis baby all over my chart. She talked to all the docs in the practice about me, in case they were to deliver my child. I also talked to my ped., because we had to decide whether the baby would get antibiotics after he was born until his blood cultures came back negative. We decided I would not be tested for GBS during this pregnancy-I would just get the Penicillin. Because if I tested negative I would have insisted on getting the Penicillin anyway. Then we decided that I should not have my membranes stripped or any internals. And this was relayed to all the docs in the practice. I was to be induced at 39 weeks. But I went into labor on my own the day before I was to be induced. My L & D couldn't have been more perfect. I called the OB when my contractions were about 8-10 minutes apart-so I could get in early enough to get the antibiotics. I went to the hospital, and got my first dose of Penicillin right away. I expected to deliver rather quickly, because my second DS0the one with meningitis-was only an hour and a half labor. But I was able to get the second dose of IV antibiotics. No internals until after the second dose. And then they broke my water and 5 minutes later my son was born. NICU came down and started an IV and he was treated for 48 hours until the blood cultures came back negative. My pediatrician had me come in the day after discharge-we discussed prophylactic Penicillin for late onset GBS and DS got that for 2 months. And man, was I a freak about people washing their hands before they touched the baby. I live in a relatively small city and I made my story very public to bring GBS awareness to everyone's attention. I am a nurse practitoner, but I work with adults and had never heard of GBS. I wanted to make sure that some baby or abies could be saved the agony that my son had to go through. So, my story is pretty well known amongsth the OBs around here, so everyone was VERY careful.

Michelle