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Strep B Test  

post #1 of 17
7/7/04 at 10:10am
Thread Starter 
This Thursday I am seeing my midwife, and I believe I should be getting a Strep B Test.

Has anybody else had thiers? What was it like and what did it involve? Just wondering....
post #2 of 17
7/7/04 at 12:02pm
It should be just a swipe with a cotton swab, if I recall correctly. They will probably swipe both your vaginal area and your rectum. Then they culture it and tell you if you are currently active with GBS or not. This is one of those gray areas where it's not certain that it's really necessary. Really depends on your feelings about antibiotics. If you test positive, they will want you in the hospital (or if you're homebirthing, they'll want to be at your home) as soon as possible. They'll want to give you antibiotics by IV at least two times, four hours apart. So, if you want to wait til the last minute to arrive at the hospital, you're kind of SOL. Less of a problem if you're homebirthing. I've known women who were GBS positive who homebirthed just fine and had the appropriate antibiotics. If you don't manage to get both doses before you deliver, which happens frequently, then your pediatrician may want to keep the baby at the hospital for 48 hours for observation or give the baby a dose of antibiotics directly. Both choices have their perils.

Good luck! Hope they don't find it. But, it's not a huge deal if they do.
post #3 of 17
7/8/04 at 1:26am
I was kind of wondering the same thing. This isn't something that they did when dd was born, but I my dr said that they wanted to do one next week at my appt.
post #4 of 17
7/8/04 at 5:10pm
Just had mine on Tuesday. It was a simple swab I did myself in the bathroom. Crossing my fingers it comes back negative.

~Daednu
post #5 of 17
7/8/04 at 6:27pm
Ok here's a dumb question: if they swab your butt, isn't it going to come back positive no matter what? doesn't everyone have cooties in their arse? :
post #6 of 17
7/8/04 at 6:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by girlfactory
Ok here's a dumb question: if they swab your butt, isn't it going to come back positive no matter what? doesn't everyone have cooties in their arse? :
Yeah, everybody has "cooties" but only 20-40% have group B strep 'cooties'.
post #7 of 17
7/8/04 at 11:24pm
Just had mine this week. Yeah, just a swab of the outside of the vagina area (I guess to be technical it was a swab of the labia). I was neg with #1 and am hoping I'm neg this time, too.
post #8 of 17
7/9/04 at 3:59pm
Ok, that helps
post #9 of 17
7/9/04 at 4:34pm
And sometimes Terri, the baby actually comes out your butt, not your vagina, did you know that?

:

I'm GBS+ Well, I was with my daughter so I assume I still am, and frankly, with the gutting it won't matter.

Kimberly
post #10 of 17
7/10/04 at 8:55am
Just because you were one time doesn't mean you always will be. It changes every pregnancy.
post #11 of 17
7/10/04 at 3:56pm
I won't be having one done. I had one with baby #2 and that was it. It came back positive so we just "assume" i have it. My midwife will watch the baby in the first couple hours after birth and watch for signs of the infection, at which time we would have to go to the hospital, but with L&D as fast mine are, baby isn't in the canal for long and my last 2 weren't exposed at all.
post #12 of 17
7/14/04 at 11:50am
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa mine came back negative again!

~Daednu
post #13 of 17
7/14/04 at 4:48pm
Yeah Mama Daednu!! Goody for you

Kimberly, I know the baby doesn't technically come out my ass, but there's that one fleeting moment right before the very last push, where it feels all holes have become ONE!~ : It's not a feeling I wish up on anyone LOL.
post #14 of 17
7/15/04 at 1:56am
OH yes, I remember that feeling. Actually, what I remember most was asking the midwife to make sure my clitoris wasn't tearing. That's where I felt the most burning/stretching/whatever.

~Daednu
post #15 of 17
7/15/04 at 10:11am
Thread Starter 

Sex and Strep B

I still haven't had mine... they postponed it to next week.

However, I was told that having sex the night before the test usuallly leads to positive results.....

MY husband and I both thought that was silly, but, hey, it's a lot more fun than crazy grandma remedies for everything, like drinking castor oil.
post #16 of 17
7/15/04 at 1:04pm
I never thought I had it done, but think I might have with my 3rd. It was neg I assume since nothing was ever done in labor about it. I have fast labors so it isn't like anything can be done either.

What I do wonder is, when I give my pee sample I use those wipes to 'clean everything up' just incase I have an exam. I would think I would always test neg shortly after that? heh.
post #17 of 17
7/15/04 at 2:21pm
Yuck, mine came back positive. I was negative with DS, but at least we know.
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