23/03/2021
‘When I was given the positive result, I was basically told that I will receive antibiotics during labour to reduce the risk of passing the infection to my baby – I wish I had received more information about GBS and the risks, I also regret not doing my own research about it’
I never really thought myself to be an overly maternal person. Sure, I had thought about starting a family in the future but I was always more interested in ‘experiencing life’ – travelling, and having the ‘freedom’ to do whatever I wanted, when I wanted.
At 29 years of age, I was at a loss as to where I was headed in life; I wasn’t unhappy – I just felt like I had no purpose. I had no particular aspirations or long term plans for my future and although I wasn’t unhappy in my job, I was growing tired of the repetitiveness of the ‘daily grind’. So I guess when I found out I was pregnant, it wasn’t surprising that I had mixed feelings.
My partner (of 5 years) Sam, and I weren’t ‘trying for a baby’, but we were not taking any precautions to avoid falling pregnant either. We had vaguely had a handful of conversations about the possibility of starting a family in the near future, as we had been in our new house (that we built) for over a year and I was starting to feel the pressure of ‘my biological clock ticking’ – at 29 years old!
To say we were scared of becoming parents is an understatement – we were shitting ourselves! That said – the excitement and growing love for our unborn child grew as our pregnancy progressed. We found out that we were having a boy! Although we both said we didn’t mind what gender the baby was, I remember feeling a little disappointed when we found out we were having a boy – I think because in my head I always imagined having a girl. However, at the end of the day, no matter what gender this baby was going to be – we were bursting at the seams with excitement to meet our very own little creation!
Some people just have that ‘pregnancy glow’ about them – this was certainly not the case for me! I was always tired and in the first trimester I was lucky to have a day when I didn’t feel nauseas. I had an early diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes, which meant that I changed my diet – A LOT! Despite my diet changes, I ended up on insulin and metformin tablets to control my fasting sugar levels. I struggled with the constant finger pricks, injections and the nausea caused by the tablets – not to mention the hypos!
Our 20 week scan rolled around pretty quickly. We were told that our baby boy was looking healthy and was growing well, ten fingers and ten toes, heart and vital organs all looking great – just what we wanted to hear! After our 20 week scan, we had scans every month or so to keep an eye on baby’s size, as GD babies are usually larger in size. I remember at one of our scans, being told that our boys belly was measuring in on the 90th percentile and that his belly was bigger than his head – all I could imagine was a little snowman!
Due to having GD and baby measuring in on the ‘larger’ size, the plan was to induce labour around 38 week’s gestation. I am not going to lie – I was pretty keen to get this tiny (apparently large) human out of me and into the big wide world! Monday, July 27th was our induction date, it felt rather strange having a set date, but I liked the thought of being able to ‘prepare’ for the day. The thought of labour and birthing terrified me; I had so many people telling me their birth stories and experiences, both good and bad (mostly bad!) In my mind I just kept telling myself, just deal with it when the time comes – in true Tara style I had absolutely no plan!
Two days before our induction date, we decided to go on a ‘date day’ to celebrate the pending birth of our son, and to sneak in that last bit of ‘freedom’ before becoming first time parents. We went for a beautiful drive in the hills to Hahndorf, a little German town. It was a beautiful winter’s day, it was brisk but sunny – so we worked up a little sweat walking down the main street. We enjoyed a lovely lunch at the pub, and bought some beautiful handmade candles from one of the little shops on the main street. After lunch we took a short drive to a chocolate factory down the road, and bought ourselves some hospital snacks – chocolate coated coffee beans! It took a lot of self-control (and maybe the fact that I had GD) to walk out of that chocolate shop with just the coffee beans. Mid-afternoon we headed for home and enjoyed a nice scenic drive, listening to music and talking about what a lovely day we had and how much we were looking forward to meeting our little boy!
By the time we got home I was BUSTING to go to the toilet! I sat on the toilet and looked at the small wet patch on my undies and was trying to work out if I had maybe laughed a little too hard and a little bit of wee had come out, or if I had just built up a little bit of a sweat in the sunshine (gross, I know!) It wasn’t until I stood up and the water kept dripping like a leaking tap, leaving a small pool on the bathroom floor - surely not? Surely my waters have not broken! I rang the midwife and told her what had happened – they told me to come in and get checked out straight away, so we grabbed my hospital bag and drove straight to the hospital.
After a quick examination at the hospital, the midwife informed us that my membranes had ruptured. I wondered how long they had been leaking for. I hadn’t noticed anything during the day and it was such a small amount, and to be totally honest I thought when your waters break it’s like in the movies – basically Niagra Falls! There were no free beds in the birthing unit that night, and as I hadn’t actually gone into labour yet, the midwives set me up in the Women’s Health Unit and I was told I would be induced the following day if labour hadn’t started naturally. I was also going to receive an IV antibiotic drip as my waters had been leaking for a while, to reduce the risk of infection. I also needed antibiotics as I had tested positive for GBS (Group B Strep) a couple of weeks earlier in a routine swab. When I was given the positive result, I was basically told that I will receive antibiotics during labour to reduce the risk of passing the infection to my baby – I wish I had received more information about GBS and the risks, I also regret not doing my own research about it.