August 18, 2012

A Little Too Much Help

So I got a phone call from the doctor's office on Thursday, telling me that they wanted me to start on antibiotics because of the results of my urinalysis (I had an appointment on Monday and had to pee in a cup for them while I was there). I assumed I had a UTI, so I called them back on Friday to find out more about it. Turns out that it's not a UTI. I tested positive for Group B Strep, so they wanted me to start on antibiotics to treat that. So I asked them why they were going to treat that now, when I'm only ten and a half weeks pregnant ("Isn't that something that you usually give abx during labor for?"). They said they wanted to treat it now, and then, of course, they would have me on abx during labor if my 36-week swab came back positive also.

So, first of all, I'm not going to be getting that 36-week swab because I stop seeing the doctor around 24 weeks, after I have the "big" ultrasound. And, if for some horrible reason, I did have to go have my baby at the hospital, I would not consent to abx during labor for gbs. The chances of my baby getting sick from it are small, and there is conflicting evidence as to whether abx actually help the baby, and, in the event that the baby does get sick, receiving abx during labor can make the gbs resistant to abx, thus increasing the risk that the baby will die. So there's that.

Also, gbs tends to colonize transiently. As in, I may test positive today, and negative tomorrow. So why would I subject myself and my nursing toddler to unnecessary antibiotics in my 11th week of pregnancy, with no apparent benefit?

When I thought it was a UTI, I asked the nurse which antibiotic they had prescribed. My husband is allergic to amoxicillin, and on the off chance that the baby has inherited his allergy, I don't feel comfortable taking that antibiotic while nursing. So then, I get a call back from them a little while later, and they told me that they decided to wait until next month (my next visit with the doctor), to treat the gbs. So it's obviously not all-fire important to treat it now, so why were they rushing me to the pharmacy to treat this right now!! if it's not that big of a deal?

Then, while I was on the phone with the nurse, she also pointed out that I'd had glucose in my urine, and asked if I'd been watching my blood sugars, and she said it in a very implicating way. And you know what is annoying about this? It's that when I really needed their help, they were all like, "Screw you, lady!" and now that I just want to go about my pregnancy, they're determined to get all up in my business. Well, I'm telling you now: butt out.


2 comments:

  1. kari, have you ever heard of using yogurt or garlic as a suppository to help with gbs?

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  2. (Hey, MB!) I've not heard of yogurt (I mean, as a suppository), but I have heard of garlic cloves wrapped in gauze as suppositories. I've also heard probiotics can help. Closer to the end, I'll probably start a garlic-insertion-routine for justincase (I mean, I'm shoving all kinds of other stuff up there, at that point, right?), and I will probably get started on probiotics, here, pretty soon (because they have lots of good benefits besides possibly helping with gbs), but I've just decided that at eleven weeks, I'm really not going to worry about my gbs status right now. I wasn't even tested with the last two (I've never heard of them even testing this early in pregnancy--I mean, what's the point?), and I just kept an eye on the babies for several days after birth, and everything was fine. It's just something we'll deal with if we have to, and not obsess about if we don't have to.

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