concerned about strep b results...

[krissyy]

hi girls, i had the most irritating doctor appointment ever!!  my office is SO unorganized, it isn't the first time they've screwed up.  i am 38 weeks pregnant, last week i had my strep b test done and was to find out the results at my appt today.  turns out they don't have the results.  apparently one of the nurses or secretaries lost the test and never sent it in to the labs.  i asked them if they could redo the test today and they said they didn't have time (it takes 20 seconds!!).  they plan to do it at my next appt--my next appointment isn't for 8 more days.  i know that strep b is common and not a big deal if you know in advance and treat it with antibiotics, but we are getting down to the wire!  i asked, "what if i go into labor next week?"  they said, "well, we will just put you on the antibiotics when you are in the hospital just in case..."  is that okay to do last minute?  how should i handle this situation?  am i making a bigger deal out of it than need be?  no one in the office was able to answer my questions...they just looked at me like i was some crazy, hormonal pregnant woman and i just wanted to cry!  

[krissyy]

it would definitely give "labor day" a new meaning!!  i am screwed out of the baked beans either way because i have heard it is a "no no" to eat such gassy foods while breast feeding... :-(  so, i have her before, i still won't get to enjoy my beans!

[Wendy80]

krissyy:  
Lol... yup... that would be quite an interesting delivery after eating baked beans all day... I'd be tempted to apologize in advance.  =)  And there's also the added fun irony of going into labor on LABOR day... in a cheesy sort of way.  

katebud:  
That is a very cute name idea... Skye Luna would be beautiful!

[krissyy]

katebud-i love luna!  skye luna is beautiful!  i will actually consider that...  do you know what the funniest part is???  my MIL HATES the name skye, but is okay with paige and said that she would call the baby by her middle name, but refused to call her by her first name...so if i changed it to luna, she would freak out!  haha!  i know she wouldn't go for luna.  she would have to call her, "hey you!"  thank you!  your comment was the highlight of my day!!  

wendy-yes, those doctors should watch what they say to anxious pregnant women!  maybe we will both go on the day of the moons!  i think i will end up going on sept.1 after my mom's labor day picnic where i will eat baked beans all day and surely embarass myself on the delivery table!!!  tmi--i think so!! ;-)

[katebud]

Hey Krissyy,
My 3 year old niece's name is Luna, which means moon.  :)  You could change the baby's name to Skye Luna if she's born on the 27th.  ;)  Or Luna Skye!  That's the name of a beer though... hehe

[Wendy80]

I think that's the one problem with the OB giving any kind of a prediction... we know they're really only making an educated guess, but we still can't help but plan our thoughts/days around that estimate (and therefore get disappointed if we pass it).  It's probably good that I didn't notice when I lost my mucous plug, b/c then I'd be having the same feeling of excitement that it's right around the corner (especially if the doc told me to expect delivery in the next 2 weeks like he/she did for you).  It's not like I'm saying "oh my God, get her out now!!"... don't get me wrong I've been quite uncomfortable the past few weeks, but mainly I just want to meet her and hold her (and now that I've got this prediction of earlier than scheduled delivery, I'm that much more impatient).  Who am I kidding... I've never been very patient with anything.  =)  Besides like you said, my due date is Sept 3rd (close) and even if I make it to that day, that's only a week and a half away (I don't think they want me going past my due date).  

I hadn't heard about the Mars thing... so that would be cool to have her that night... and I think if YOU happen to have your little girl on the 27th, you should definitely tell your mother-in-law that you've decided to go with Moon Beam as your daughters name.  It would be worth the look on her face!  

[CYW]

if you happen to go in labour before they do the strept b just make sure you tell the hospital and they will put you on antibiotics at the hospital.. dont worry...

[krissyy]

that is great!  i wish my uterus was irritable...hehe.  i think i will be baking up to, maybe even pass my due date because i don't feel any different...just the same cramping and contractions i've been having.  i am fine with that, but just got excited when i lost my plug and had myself convinced i'd be holding my girl now :-)  

nope, next appointment isn't till saturday :-(  you are right, if you make it to friday, you will feel very discouraged.  when i lost my plug almost 2 weeks ago, my doctor told me it would probably happen within the next 2 weeks (again, that was 2 weeks ago).  today is the day i predicted i would have her all along and it's not happening.  i should be more patient...and i was until i got my hopes up because of that hunk of mucous!!!  i think you will definitely go this week...you are due sept.2, right?  that is just over a week anyway and i don't think you will be overdue.  i am going to predict august 27th for you...and that would be an exciting day to have her because that is the day that mars will be so close that there will appear to be 2 moons in the sky!!  i told my family that if i deliver that day, i am changing my daughters name to moon beam.  hehe.  i'm only kidding, but it is tempting because it would freak my uptight mother-in-law out!  ha!

[Wendy80]

Well, I think it might have been a combination of the dilation/effacement, but mainly I think it was b/c of the "irritable" uterus.  He did the internal and told me about the dilation/effacement but he didn't mention anything about having her in the next week until AFTER I was hooked up to the fetal monitor.  At that point he mentioned that it looked like my uterus was definitely irritable... not a bad thing.. I guess it just means that my uterus was being quite active (no contractions while I was there, but there was never a "non-active" moment).  He said between that and the fact that I was 70% effaced, he could tell my body was definitely well on its way to having this baby... so I'm thinking he was basing that estimate mainly on the fetal monitor results (he wasn't overly clear about that part tho).      
And I'm the same way about planning stuff... I'm pretty much as prepared as I'm going to be whenever my baby decides to arrive, but I still like having some kind of an idea as to when that might be (even though I know that's near to impossible unless you have a planned c-section or induction... course even with those there can be surprises).   So your next appointment isn't until next Friday right?  That's the one thing that stinks for me... now that he's told me I probably won't make it until my next Friday appt, if I do end up making it to Friday with no delivery in sight, it's going to make for a VERY long week!  

[krissyy]

i'm glad that your question was answered :-)

yes, it is very annoying.  i am not a fan of medication anyway, i avoid any medicine at all costs!!  so the fact that i am getting something i may or may not need is irritating, plus, i will be charged for this medicine that i may or may not need.  that is fine, because i just want my baby to be healthy...but i am irritated that this is happening and it was because the office screwed up.  i am sure that they will be billing my insurance for the second test that i will be given if i don't deliver first.  everyone makes mistakes, i just think this one was handled very poorly!  plus, i am so hormonal these days!!!  that doesn't help the situation any :-(

[kelliestarr]

First of all thank you for writing this post. You actually answered my question thanks :)

I tested positive for Strep B and the doctors will only give you the IV of antibiotics during labor. I really think they should give you the test again asap. Yes they could just give you the IV of antibiotics anyway but that's giving you something you may have not need.

[krissyy]

i lost my mucous plug 11 days ago and nothing!! i was excited last night because i had the teeniest bit of pink blood on my tp when i wiped, but then remembered that i had an internal and that is probably what it was from...not a bloody show :-(  sounds like you are experiencing the same as me...BH and crampiness.  it feels like i am going to get my period!!  ugh, fun memories!!  i wish it were as easy as it is on the movies.  i feel like every day is a big ??? and it couldn't happen at any moment but at the same time, i feel like the day will NEVER come!  i am such a planner so not know is driving me bonkers.  i wish my doctor would be like yours...."you probably won't make it to your next appointment" but instead, mine is like "you could go any day, or it could be another week or so..."  what lead your doctor to believe you are probably having her this week?  is it because you are progressing well with dialation and effacement?

[Wendy80]

Lol... yup... here's to getting a competent doctor on the day of our deliveries!  I can toast to that!

It's funny... I kept waiting for the more "typical" signs like the mucus plug and the bloody show and the water breaking (of course that won't come until the very last minute anyway... if at all)... and I haven't seen any of those yet.  But I have definitely felt different in these past 2 weeks.  This past week I've mostly just felt crampy ... but I've had an increase in the BH contractions too (some with pain and some without).  It's weird... I don't know if I actually "feel" ready b/c I always envisioned labor to be the typical version you'd see on tv (even though I know that's not how it goes always)... I always expected that your water breaks, you start gradually getting contractions, you go to the hospital, and so on and so on.  But it definitely helped to make it more of a reality when the doc told me he didn't expect I'd make it to next Friday.  

Have a good weekend... go for a walk or two ... get that cervix dilated!!  =)

[krissyy]

i can't wait to see the pictures and hear your birthing story!!!!  how have you been feeling?  do you feel like you are going soon?  i'm having many of the "classic signs" they talk about, but i just don't feel like i am going to go soon.  i think i am going to make it pretty close to my due date.

i am hoping that we have a wonderful birthing experience and happy, healthy little girls :)  and, the doctor of our choice doing our deliveries!!!

[Wendy80]

Oh that's a bummer about the doc being on vacation... I guess you could just hope that you hold off until the following Monday, right?  =)  I'm in the same boat... there's one doctor in the practice that is just awesome (he listens, he asks questions, he lets me ask questions, and he actually seems to care about you as the patient)... but I really don't care for the other ones at all (in fact, one of them sort of reminds me of Frankenstein, so I'm REALLY hoping he doesn't delivery my baby).  
They're not going to bother doing any more ultrasounds to check on her weight (unless they decide to do one right there in the hospital when I go into labor)... I guess they decided that based on the "feel" of my stomach, I have nothing to worry about.  I hope they're right.  The last u/s I had showed her at 7 lbs 4 ozs and that was at 36 weeks... so to me, there's still the possibility of her being a 9+ lb baby.  Well, it sounds like we'll find out in the next week or so... fingers crossed for a healthy (but reasonable) 8 lb baby!  

[krissyy]

justice-thanks, i'm so glad to hear that.  now i just need to relax and try not to worry about it.

wendy-girl, that is great!!  wow, this time next week you could be holding your little "big" girl!  i am so envious!  any more word about her size?  your office sounds exactly like mine!  i also have 4 doctors and no clue who i will have for labor.  the worst part about it is that i only like 1 of the 4 doctors and i found out she is on vacation all next week!  so, if i do go soon, i will have one of the other duds delivering my girl :-(

pink-that is scary!  i don't even know if i have it--that's almost worse than knowing that i do!  i am guessing since it will be another week till i test and then a week after that till i know the results, i will just end up on the antibiotics either way...

[pink140580]

i found out by accident i had strep B with my first pregnacy i had some bleeding and went in at about 36 weeks to be told i had it nothing to worry about would give me antibiotics and not to look it up on internet so obviously first thing i did was look it up and omg thank god they found it as it is really dangerous if you dont have the anitbiotics you can result in having a still birth or your baby can contract menagitus or be severely disabled but as long as you get antibiotics its safe and they will just monitor baby after for few days, i was so angry as i said there should be a test for it when you get pregnant for everyone but they dont test it i was told that now its in my system i would have it when i got preg again and so when i had my 2nd child they just gave me the antibiotics 3 hours before for about 3 hours before i was induced i was scared i would go into labour as they say thats when the baby can get effected when waters break dont mean to scare you but as long as you get the antibiotics your be just fine xx

[Wendy80]

I'm actually having the same thoughts about finding a new doctor before my next baby... not that there's been anything big and drastic, but I have the same problem with the nurses/doctors... I get the sense that I'm a number instead of being a patient whenever I walk into the office.  I also don't really like the fact that I never know who I'm going to see until I get into the office for each appointment (the practice has 4 OB's and 1 RN... so it's not you get to see the same doc every time since you won't necessarily have your own doc at delivery).  

Anyway... 1 cm and 50% effaced doesn't sound too shabby.  The one thing I've heard repeated (here online and elsewhere) is that you can shoot from 1 cm to full blown labor in an instant... and the fact that you're 50% effaced is good b/c that means everything is certainly on it's way.  I had my appointment today and I'm still around 2 cm and I'm 70% effaced... the doctor said she's still in the -2 station (I had to look it up to remind myself exactly where that was) so her head is not actually "engaged" yet, but he did tell me that he would be very surprised if I made it to my next appointmet (which is next Friday the 29th).  So we'll see... I hope he's right.  I'm right there with you... I'm ready to meet my baby girl!  

[justice6920]

yes mam! The iv during labor is enough.... and you and baby should be just fine....

[krissyy]

thanks!!!!  next baby i am going to search long and hard for a good office.  i've had so many problems with this office.  they are very unorganized and i definitely don't feel warm and fuzzy and comfortable asking them questions.  i didn't from the start and now wish i would have stuck with my gut and found someplace else!

everything else is fine...i'm progressing slowly.  i'm 1cm dialated and 50% effaced.  the girl is nice and low and in position.  but, she seems content and i don't think she plans to come out anytime soon!!  how about your girl??

[Wendy80]

Don't you just love unempathetic doctors and nurses?  In a perfect world, all the doctors and nurses would have to go through some sort of "simulated pregnancy" so that they actually have the common sense and appropriate emotions in the art of dealing with a worried pregnant woman.  That being said, I do agree with justice6920 in that the worst case scenerio would be you going into labor before you get tested, getting antibiotics during delivery, and if it happens to be negative, then no harm done.  But, man... if I were in your shoes, I would be rather annoyed with the way the office handled it (I'm betting they could have squeezed in a quick swab/test ... it's not like a nurse couldn't handle it).  Everything is going well other than that... with you and your wee one?

[krissyy]

thank you so much for your reassurance.  so if i were positive, i wouldn't need to start taking something now?  ...by iv during labor would be enough?  that is all that i needed to know...and the validation for my frustration was quite helpful also :-)  

thanks again!!

[justice6920]

I did have strep B with my first daughter and it was found out pretty late.... the only thing they can do is provide antibiotics during labor via IV so the infection is not passed to the baby.... so worse comes to worse if they dont test you in time, you would just be getting an IV of antibiotics and not need them if the strep B was actually negative........ Im sorry, That would really make me angry too.... they should not push you off and make time for you to retest if you are worried about it..... but its pretty common and if you have an IV of meds during labor, you and baby will be just fine! Good Luck