Not So Natural Childbirth

Yet again this kid has thrown me for a loop.   First, the surprise of finding out I was pregnant, then the orneriness of not letting me find out the sex in the ultrasound, now this. OK, message received.  You're #4 and you're making your mark.  I get it!

For all 4 pregnancies I have tested positive for Group B Strep.  I went to the Center for Disease Control (which, thanks to The Walking Dead, will forever make me think of zombies!) and got a few GBS facts.

• In the U.S., group B strep is the leading cause of meningitis (infection of the fluid and lining around the brain) and sepsis (infection of the blood) in a newborn’s first week of life (early-onset disease).
• A pregnant woman who tests positive for group B strep and gets antibiotics during labor has only a 1 in 4,000 chance of delivering a baby with group B strep disease, compared to a 1 in 200 chance if she does not get antibiotics during labor.
• Most early-onset group B strep disease in newborns can be prevented by giving pregnant women antibiotics (medicine) through the vein (IV) during labor.
• Newborns are at increased risk for a group B strep infection if their mother tests positive for group B strep during pregnancy.
• The antibiotics used to prevent early-onset group B strep disease in newborns only help during labor — they can’t be taken before labor, because the bacteria can grow back quickly.

This is not an uncommon occurrence.  25% of all pregnant women test positive for GBS, but they also tend to have labors that last longer than mine do.  Everything was OK with Caden, I was in the hospital 12 hours with him.  Ellie was fine, but didn't get any antibiotics because I was only at the hospital 45 minutes before I delivered her.  Vince was similar to Ellie, but was not ok, well maybe.  There were a few complications with my littlest guy that I honestly don't even really remember what they were, but I know he turned purple after they gave him his bath and he had to be taken to the nursery to be under a heat lamp, he had low blood sugar and was given his ONLY bottle despite my protests that I just wanted to nurse him again, about an hour after birth and then of course, the eyes.  We think he had an allergic reaction to the ointment put in his eyes after birth.  Which made his eyes red.  I mentioned this to two nurses, who assured me that it just happens in newborns.  The night nurse finally looked at him and agreed that yes, they did look a little red and crusty.  So she dampened a wipe from the bassinet and tried to wipe away the crustiness.  This is where it gets bad. Those wipes, as moms know, are really rough, unless totally saturated.  Dampening them was kind of like wiping his little irritated newborn eyes with a used dryer sheet.  It took off the crustiness, but also the skin.  The next day I had a baby that had been under the heat lamp, had low blood sugar and now had red, scabby eyes.  This was most likely in no way related to GBS, but because I was positive and  he wasn't treated, the course of treatment for him was much more drastic than it would have been.  Hours before I thought I was taking my little man home, they took him to the NICU.  They did a spinal tap (and for some reason thought it was a good idea to tell me he was a fighter and squirmed when they inserted the needle!) gave him an IV and hooked him up to all kinds of wires.  It was awful.  I didn't know WHAT was going on with him.  But it turned out that he was find.  We were in the NICU for 72 hours, came home and he's been fine ever since. 

Red, scabby eyes in the NICU.

SO, back to the original topic, I'm GBS positive again.  My last two labors were 3 and 4 hours, respectively and I need to have the antibiotic 4 hours before delivery.  Even if math isn't your strongest subject, you can see that there's pretty much no way this kid will get the antibiotics before delivery.  So the doctor is concerned.  And suggested an induction. Now, this may come as a shock to you, but I prefer the most natural child birth possible.  I was supposed to be induced with Caden and in true Caden style, he was born 5 minutes before that scheduled induction.  Ellie was all natural and so was Vince.  But as I said before 3 and 4 hour labors make pain management much easier.  I had an epidural with Caden and was not happy with the experience.  I was much happier with the last two births being medication-free.  I very much wanted and planned on this one being similar to the last two, rushing to the hospital, medicine-free labor and a few hours later (or minutes, in Ellie's case) I have a baby.  Clearly that's not how it's going to work.  Don't get me wrong, I agreed to this induction, reluctantly.  I know that it increases my chances of having a c-section, will draw out labor (which is really the point of the whole thing!) and is going to make this labor much more painful and difficult than the last two.  I hate the idea of intervening in the whole process of birth.  This kid isn't ready to come out yet, or she/he would.  Then I look at that picture of my little V and remember him in the NICU and think, if I do this, and it prevents even ONE of those events from happening to this little one, then I think it's worth it.  And Vince didn't even HAVE GBS!  That's a whole other nightmare I don't even want to think about.  Protecting this child with antibiotics during labor is doing what's best, even if it's not how I planned my birth experience.  Right?  Then why do I feel so guilty?!  You would think with this being my fourth, that I would have learned by now that childbirth does not always go according to plan.  In my 3 experiences, it never did.  So this one shouldn't be any different.  So in a very "un-Melissa-like" fashion, I'm going to just try and go with it.  I'm going to forget the fact that I've done this 3 times before, because I haven't.  Each birth is different.  I'm going to do my best to go without pain medication because I know that in the long run, for me, it's easier, but I won't rule out pain-meds altogether. 

Thursday, August 2nd is the day.  7:30AM I'm showing up at Aultman Hospital.  We'll see where it goes from there.  So I'm signing off for awhile. When I return I'll no longer be green, I'll FINALLY know whether it's pink or blue!