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BLAKE EDWARD — USA Lived January 6, 2012 to January 7, 2012 Early-onset Mother's GBS Status: Tested negative Gestational Age: 37 weeks, 4 days Age Harmed: At birth |
I had a miscarriage at 14 weeks in March of 2011. It takes a while for us normally to get pregnant, so when I took a pregnancy test in July of 2011 and it was positive, we were excited. I went to every doctor's appointment and everything was going great. At my 25 week appointment our doctor did an ultrasound and revealed we were having a boy! We have two girls, ages 7 and 3, so knowing this would be our last child we were ecstatic that he was a boy. At my check up at 35 1/2 weeks our doctor said we have to do the test for GBS. I asked him if it had to be done since I was negative for both pregnancies with his sisters. To this he replied, "You will have it done as it comes and goes in a woman's body." Since he was so adamant about it we went along and had it done. He called us the next day to tell us that it in fact came back negative.
I went into labor on January 5th at home and did what everyone else does. I waited until the contractions were 4-5 minutes apart then set out for the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital the nurses asked if I tested positive for GBS and the answer was "no" so we didn't worry. Labor was a little longer with Blake, but that was to be expected since I was induced with his sisters. When I reached 5cm our doctor broke my bag of waters. I had to have them broken artificially before so no thought went into this. After 5 hours after my waters were broken my contractions slowed and we decided that it was time for pitocin to start them stronger again. Again I had this before with his sisters so we thought nothing of it. At 5:20 on January 6th my doctor came in and said it was time to start pushing which I knew it was since I had no medication for pain relief. I was going all natural this time. After 3 pushes and 12 minutes later our precious boy was born. He had a loud lusty cry and was perfect. His apgar scores were perfect. Blake was a great nurser from the beginning. We had grandma and grandpa bring his sisters up to meet him and had a great evening with all three of our children together.
At 11pm I sent him to the nursery so I could get some sleep knowing that we wouldn't get much upon returning home. At 1am the nurse brought him back to me so I could nurse him. He was sleeping and wasn't interested in eating. I called the nurse and asked if they could give him his bath at this point to get him angry so he would eat. I also had his sisters do this so nothing abnormal for my kids. After 30 minutes the doctor who was on call came in to tell me our little boy was sick. I questioned her to make sure it was my baby and sure enough it was. She said he started grunting and couldn't keep his temperature up after his bath. She was doing blood work and x rays to confirm her thoughts of pneumonia. She called in the Life Flight helicopter to transfer him to the NICU an hour away.I was on a pitocin drip to make my uterus firm up like it was supposed to. I could hear doors slamming and monitors going off in the nursery. My husband was already down there, I reached over and unplugged the IV drip from the wall and made sure the back up battery had kicked in. I was then on my way to the nursery. I opened the door to a big surprise. My precious little baby was covered with IVs and tubes.The doctor turned and looked at me and I told her that I wasn't leaving the room, She then replied, " I don't expect you to." While waiting for the helicopter to arrive thru the first snowstorm we have had this year, little Blake couldn't keep up his oxygen levels. The doctor. was on the phone with the NICU and was told to intubate him. While she was doing this he vomited and flatlined. Our doctor was great and had him back within seconds, but it felt like minutes. She then "bagged" him manually so he would get enough oxygen. She also started 2 IV antibiotics because we knew it was an infection, but didn't know which one at this point.
When the Life Flight crew arrived at 5:30 am they told me that I could stay in the room, but had to sit in the corner which we did. They told me everything they were doing and why. This really helped me understand what was going on. After 3 hours of them trying to stabilize him enough to transfer him they informed me they wouldn't take him unless they knew he would survive the flight. They still had hope so did we. Blake then crashed again. They did chest compressions and gave him a bunch of different meds and some blood to flush out the infection. We were given the choice to stop all treatment and hold him until he passed or keep trying even though the outcome would probably be the same. We had them keep trying because what if that next thing worked. At 8:37 our little fighter gave up his fight and went to be an angel with God. The staff was amazing and took all IVs and monitors off of him and let us take our time to hold him one last time. We still did not know what the infection (sepsis) was caused from since I had tested negative for GBS. As the NICU NP was on her way back to the NICU she remembered a case some time ago that was very similar and called the hospital and demanded they check his blood for GBS. The test was positive faster than any of the lab techs had ever seen. I was released from the hospital that day and had to go explain to his big sisters that he wasn't coming to our home, but was now with the angels.
My doctor said that in his 25 years practicing he has never seen this and so did the doctor that worked to save his life. We do live in a small town but was reassured by the NICU doctor that it wouldn't have mattered if he was born in a hospital with the NICU right there. When he started to show the signs of being sick he went fast. I hope to help other families understand that GBS is not something to mess with. Our clinic and hospital has changed their protocol on how GBS is handled. Mothers will be tested from their urine every trimester and then if they test negative at the 35-37 week swab it will be redone to ensure a negative result. My doctor says IF we try again that I will be tested thru urine every visit and given antibiotics if it appears and will have IV antibiotics during delivery no matter how I test before delivery. The baby will get them after delivery and we will be kept for 48-72 hours for observation. I never had a clue that I had this. My temperatures were normal during labor and delivery, Blake was considered full term, He wasn't small. My water was not broken for more than 12 hours and I wasn't checked more than 3 times thru labor. It is sad that this still happens in today's age of medical advancement. Families need to be aware of the possibilities of it happening to them.
Blake will always be our precious little fighter and we are very blessed to have had him the short 15 hours that we did. We love and miss you little Buddy!!
— RaeAnne Lattimore, MN, USA
RaeAnne talks to all pregnant women and hands out brochures to all medical facilities and WIC offices.
I went into labor on January 5th at home and did what everyone else does. I waited until the contractions were 4-5 minutes apart then set out for the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital the nurses asked if I tested positive for GBS and the answer was "no" so we didn't worry. Labor was a little longer with Blake, but that was to be expected since I was induced with his sisters. When I reached 5cm our doctor broke my bag of waters. I had to have them broken artificially before so no thought went into this. After 5 hours after my waters were broken my contractions slowed and we decided that it was time for pitocin to start them stronger again. Again I had this before with his sisters so we thought nothing of it. At 5:20 on January 6th my doctor came in and said it was time to start pushing which I knew it was since I had no medication for pain relief. I was going all natural this time. After 3 pushes and 12 minutes later our precious boy was born. He had a loud lusty cry and was perfect. His apgar scores were perfect. Blake was a great nurser from the beginning. We had grandma and grandpa bring his sisters up to meet him and had a great evening with all three of our children together.
At 11pm I sent him to the nursery so I could get some sleep knowing that we wouldn't get much upon returning home. At 1am the nurse brought him back to me so I could nurse him. He was sleeping and wasn't interested in eating. I called the nurse and asked if they could give him his bath at this point to get him angry so he would eat. I also had his sisters do this so nothing abnormal for my kids. After 30 minutes the doctor who was on call came in to tell me our little boy was sick. I questioned her to make sure it was my baby and sure enough it was. She said he started grunting and couldn't keep his temperature up after his bath. She was doing blood work and x rays to confirm her thoughts of pneumonia. She called in the Life Flight helicopter to transfer him to the NICU an hour away.I was on a pitocin drip to make my uterus firm up like it was supposed to. I could hear doors slamming and monitors going off in the nursery. My husband was already down there, I reached over and unplugged the IV drip from the wall and made sure the back up battery had kicked in. I was then on my way to the nursery. I opened the door to a big surprise. My precious little baby was covered with IVs and tubes.The doctor turned and looked at me and I told her that I wasn't leaving the room, She then replied, " I don't expect you to." While waiting for the helicopter to arrive thru the first snowstorm we have had this year, little Blake couldn't keep up his oxygen levels. The doctor. was on the phone with the NICU and was told to intubate him. While she was doing this he vomited and flatlined. Our doctor was great and had him back within seconds, but it felt like minutes. She then "bagged" him manually so he would get enough oxygen. She also started 2 IV antibiotics because we knew it was an infection, but didn't know which one at this point.
When the Life Flight crew arrived at 5:30 am they told me that I could stay in the room, but had to sit in the corner which we did. They told me everything they were doing and why. This really helped me understand what was going on. After 3 hours of them trying to stabilize him enough to transfer him they informed me they wouldn't take him unless they knew he would survive the flight. They still had hope so did we. Blake then crashed again. They did chest compressions and gave him a bunch of different meds and some blood to flush out the infection. We were given the choice to stop all treatment and hold him until he passed or keep trying even though the outcome would probably be the same. We had them keep trying because what if that next thing worked. At 8:37 our little fighter gave up his fight and went to be an angel with God. The staff was amazing and took all IVs and monitors off of him and let us take our time to hold him one last time. We still did not know what the infection (sepsis) was caused from since I had tested negative for GBS. As the NICU NP was on her way back to the NICU she remembered a case some time ago that was very similar and called the hospital and demanded they check his blood for GBS. The test was positive faster than any of the lab techs had ever seen. I was released from the hospital that day and had to go explain to his big sisters that he wasn't coming to our home, but was now with the angels.
My doctor said that in his 25 years practicing he has never seen this and so did the doctor that worked to save his life. We do live in a small town but was reassured by the NICU doctor that it wouldn't have mattered if he was born in a hospital with the NICU right there. When he started to show the signs of being sick he went fast. I hope to help other families understand that GBS is not something to mess with. Our clinic and hospital has changed their protocol on how GBS is handled. Mothers will be tested from their urine every trimester and then if they test negative at the 35-37 week swab it will be redone to ensure a negative result. My doctor says IF we try again that I will be tested thru urine every visit and given antibiotics if it appears and will have IV antibiotics during delivery no matter how I test before delivery. The baby will get them after delivery and we will be kept for 48-72 hours for observation. I never had a clue that I had this. My temperatures were normal during labor and delivery, Blake was considered full term, He wasn't small. My water was not broken for more than 12 hours and I wasn't checked more than 3 times thru labor. It is sad that this still happens in today's age of medical advancement. Families need to be aware of the possibilities of it happening to them.
Blake will always be our precious little fighter and we are very blessed to have had him the short 15 hours that we did. We love and miss you little Buddy!!
— RaeAnne Lattimore, MN, USA
RaeAnne talks to all pregnant women and hands out brochures to all medical facilities and WIC offices.
To learn more about Perinatal & GBS Misconceptions, click HERE.
To learn more about the Signs & Symptoms of Preterm Labor, click HERE.
To learn more about the Signs & Symptoms of GBS Infection, click HERE.
To learn more about Why Membranes Should NOT Be Stripped, click HERE.
To learn more about How to Help Protect Your Baby from Group B Strep (GBS), click HERE.
To learn more about the Signs & Symptoms of Preterm Labor, click HERE.
To learn more about the Signs & Symptoms of GBS Infection, click HERE.
To learn more about Why Membranes Should NOT Be Stripped, click HERE.
To learn more about How to Help Protect Your Baby from Group B Strep (GBS), click HERE.