39 Weeks

I will be 39 weeks pregnant this coming Sunday!! I weigh 144.5 pounds and my waist measures 40 inches around. How encouraging to think I started at 110 pounds with a 26 inch waist. The glories of pregnancy!!

I went for a follow up appointment this past Wednesday to get the results of the lab work they did at my last appointment. I have tested positive for Beta Strep, also known as Group B Strep (GBS). The doctor at my birthing center gave me some of the statistics regarding this bacteria, which made it seem to me that it really wasn't a huge deal. However, I have spent some time this morning looking up some information about the bacteria, and I have to admit that I am frightened by the things I have found. The doctor just kind of breezed over the consequences of a baby getting this bacteria; all she said was pretty much, "Well, the baby could get sick and may need hospitalization." That's it! She also said there is no threat to me as a carrier.

On the websites I have read Group B Strep can cause serious infection in those who carry the bacteria, who are also said to be "colonized", although this happens rarely. If a baby gets Group B Strep disease, it can cause meningitis, sepsis, and pneumonia, and, if the baby survives, he may have permanent mental and/or physical damage caused by the just listed problems. Slightly scary!!! Although the chances of Emmaline getting a GBS infection during delivery are small, the consequences can be HUGE! The CDC recommends but then doesn't recommend using antibiotics during labor. The thing is that so many bacteria are becoming antibiotic-resistant, and introducing antibiotics to a baby so early can create problems down the road. However, giving a laboring woman antibiotics can prevent most infections of babies, but not all. Also, the chances of the baby dying from an infection are not lessened by having been given antibiotics.

My midwife has me working on something right now that will hopefully eradicate the bacteria. I have managed to find online some suggestions for herbal remgimines that can be followed up until labor, and they supposedly also help get rid of the bacteria. The good thing about the herbal regimines, though, is that they prevent the bacteria from coming back until after the baby is born since you stay on them all the way up to going into labor. I plan on asking my midwife about those. The tricky thing about GBS is that it comes and goes. Some women can test positive for it and a day later, without having done anything to get rid of it, have a negative test result. That's why some women test negative for GBS. They still have it, they just don't know it.

David and I will be praying, and we ask anybody reading this to say a prayer for our little Emmaline; that God would protect her from this infection.