32 weeks & scared please help me!!

[scaredmom2be]

Hello all, I hope im doing this right .(posting a question) ....

well heres my problem . Im 32 weeks pregnant for the past month ive felt like i had a UTI. I was checked and it came back neg. The drs. put me on a antiobotic anyways. I was taking it for a week & still didnt feel any better so they switched it to a stronger one. After taking that antiobotic for a week i started noticing that i wasnt getting any better. I thought i had a yeast infection from the medications i was on because i have all the signs of having one. I also started breaking out with small red bumps & when i go to use the bathroom to urinate it burns. I thought it was because from me being pregnant and my baby kicking my bladder i sometimes wet my pants . So i was thinking the bumps were from the moisture from urine.

I went to the dr.s today and he said he was going to send me to the labs to have blood drawn to check for the hsv 1 and hsv 2 virus. Well now im terrified, depressed, & confused about what to do.....Ive been married for 5 years now. My husband has no signs of herpes. Ive never had any signs before of having it.

After reading other post about this im really scared now because it seems that since i just found out in my 3rd trimester that i may have it that it can really cause alot of harm to my unborn baby....

I would like to know does the harm to the unborn baby only happen if you have it vaginally? If i do have this virus and decide to have a c-section will that mean my baby will be ok?

I dont understand how in the world that ive never had any signs of having hsv until now....Ive waited a long time to conceive. If anything happens to my baby i have no clue what ill do. This situation is very embarrsing to me. I have no one to talk to about it. This is the longest wait of my life waiting on my test results to come back...

Ive also read about false negitive results being late in pregancy. If mine do come back negitive what should i do? Should i still consider having a c-section just to be on the safe side for my baby?

Im so confused , please help me!!

[Christie]

Okay first, just calm down. Don't worry yourself sick about something you aren't sure of yet. It's good that your doctor took some blood to test for herpes. Just wait to get the results back.

Lots of people out there have HSV and they don't even know they've contracted it because the NEVER have any symptoms. If in fact this is what you have, than it's very possible you or your husband were totally oblivious to having the virus. The good thing is herpes is very treatable.

Concerning your baby, the information I have read says that if a woman is having an active outbreak when she delivers can risk passing the infection on to her baby. That doesn't happen in ALL cases, but it is possible. I'm not a doctor, but hopefully yours will give you some alternatives for delivery (like a c-section) so that the HSV won't affect the baby.

But don't jump to conclusions just yet, you might not even have herpes so you wouln't have to worry about it. Take a deep breath and wait for the test results to come in first!

[nylesbianswithherpes]

I have had two children vaginally. My first is four and my second is three months old. I have had herpes for 15 years.

Let's go for the scariest part first, even if you contracted herpes in your last trimester as long as you have a C-section then nothing will happen to your child. People have C-secs all the time. So there really is nothing to freak out about.

I had not had an outbreak for about 5 years before I had my first daughter then I was getting them throughout my pregnancy. It's stress. In the end I had her vaginally.

You may have had herpes all along or your tests may show you don't have it. Either way you can relax.

Try to enjoy the next few weeks.

Peace

[hsvmom]

I was hoping to hear how your test results came back, but haven't heard back from you since our last conversation. Let me know, if you'd like

[scaredmom2be]

I got the dreaded phone call on Thursday. I do have hsv 2. Ive been so upset for the past few days but im over it now. Im still in shock but the main thing now is making sure my baby is going to be alright. I can deal with this virus but not if i harm my baby.My husband has been very suportive . He's even said that it could have been him that gave it to me. We've both decided not to point fingers at each other , our main concern is the baby. I have enough to worry about right now besides trying to figure out where i got it from & who i got it from. If i did find out what could i do...."nothing"!!! The damage is already done. I don't blame anyone but myself for this i should have made sure i was having safe sex as a teenager. All i can do now is educate others and hope they learn from my mistakes....

I go back to the dr. tomorrow morning. My husband is going to go with me so we can both learn as much about this as possible. Im hoping he gives me something to take now so i can get rid of the burning feeling im having when i urinate.

I will keep you informed on what he tells me & how my baby is doing.

Thanks for all you advise , support , & for caring what happens....

[hsvmom]

How did your appointment go? I hope your doctor discussed suppressive therapy options with you, to minimize the likelihood of shedding at delivery and thus the risk of transmission. please remember that neonatal herpes is very uncommon and only affects about 2000 babies in the US each year.

[scaredmom2be]

My appointment went pretty good. My dr. is going to put me on valtrex at 36 weeks . I asked about having a c-section just to be on the safe side and his response was no....He said the only way he would give me a c-section was if i had an active ob....or for other reasons not pertaining to hsv...He then went into explaining the risk to me of having a c-section verses a vaginal delivery.. so i guess ill just trust my dr as to what he feels is best . I was told that i could demand one and he would have to give me one but im not so sure thats true.....

One thing that i dont understand is this.......i asked him if he could tell by my blood work how long i have had the virus. He said it wasnt a primary ob that i have had it for awhile but he couldnt say how long ,,,just that i didnt get it while being pregnant.....so i asked him about my ob that i had he said from my blood work that i wasnt showing that i was having an active ob at the time i came into the office to have the blood work done...so i told him that dr...j saw the bumps ...( where i go we have 8 different drs so i have to see all of them) he asked if dr. j did a swab test and i told him no all he did was schedule me for labs. He said well your blood work isnt showing that you had any type of ob that day.....so now im confused as to what that was on my privates!!! they were small red bumps and my husband plus dr . j saw them ....my husband seems to think it may have been a rash from me leaking urine from my baby having so much pressure on my bladder right now. I stay wet down there most of the time from wearing pads . My baby is already turned & dropped some so its adding alot of pressure......

well i guess what ever the reason for the bumps it was for a good cause at least i found out that i do have hsv and have done my research about the virus to protect my baby ....

one thing that my dr did tell me is that i needed to watch family members ..friends...ect....to make sure they have no type of fever blisters on their mouths ,,if they do he said not to let them kiss on my baby because thats one way this virus is spread to babies...he said that 80 % of population has hsv 1....he said that 40 % of population has hsv 2 and out of the 40 % that do have it ..that 90 % of them don't even know they have it......geez...thats alot ....

I go back to the dr. in 2 weeks so i guess he will right my prescription out then for the valtrex......

thanks for your advise , support, & caring....

[ouch]

Hey There! I just wanted to tell you that I too had a baby 10 months ago and he is fine. BUT, I DID have a csection and my doctor was way cool about it. I was very very adament about having a csection so....stick to your guns, if YOU feel that a csection is right for you and it gives YOU piece of mind...then do it. Shit, these doctors are so quick to give a "thumbs up" to abortion, saying that it is our right to CHOOSE, well, it is our right to choose to protect our babies and have a csection. Don't let these fucking doctors bully you. Stick to your guns mama!

Sure, many children are born to mothers who have genital HSV2 and they are fine. But to me, I didn't want to take that risk. (I also had complications from an earlier pregnancy, non hsv related, and that was a final determiniing factor in my csection. My doctor here too was pretty hep and didn't argue with me about NOT having a csection.)

If you don't feel comfortable with a vaginal birth and the doctors are not compliant to YOUR wishes, then lie. Tell them you are having the beginning symptoms of an outbreak and you are afraid you might be shedding and pass the virus onto the baby. Again, do NOT let them bully you. Tell them you know your own body better than they do. (and trust me, you DO!)

I know you will be fine and the baby will be fine. It is scary but I guess all I can say is stay on top of things and you will be ok. Once baby is here, absolutely do not allow others to kiss him/her especially if the have any cold sores on them. Many people are under the delusion that cold sores and herpes are not related! Can you imagine?!?!? hahaha!

Make sure you and your family wash your hands and when you do have an OB just be a bit more strict about handwashing and whatnot.

Good luck to you and please keep us posted how you are doing! I wish you an easy delivery, not matter what method you choose!!!

[Palomita]

Hi

I don't know about the bloodwork question. I didn't even know they could tell an active ob from blood levels, I just thought they could say that you either do or do not carry antibodies for hsv. But I did want to say I feel for what you are going through (or have gone through as the case may be - I suppose you could have delivered by now!) I don't know if you read my post but I had an ob near the end of my ob-free pregnancy and I was in total despair about it. I can only imagine the stress, worry and shock you were in when you had to also deal with finding out you have it during the last trimester! My heart goes out to you. But after all that worry I had a perfectly healthy beautiful baby girl and I hope to be reading your happy birth post here soon. The physical stress of the later stages of pregnancy seems to be fertile territory for hsv so as I'm sure you know it's very important to take excellent care of yourself right now. I think the Valtrex is great, as is avoiding chocolate and peanuts, drinking lots and lots of water, and engaging in some sort of skilled relaxation at least once a day. You and baby will be fine, but this waiting part at the end is so hard, I know! Hang in there! - Jamie