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ELIJAH — USA
Died in utero June 21, 2016 and was delivered June 22, 2016 Prenatal-onset Mother's GBS Status: Positive in urine culture Gestational Age: 22 weeks Age Harmed: 22 weeks in utero |
On Valentine’s Day 2016 my husband and I were thrilled to find out we were expecting our first child. My first trimester was pretty normal. We heard baby’s strong heartbeat several times. At 14 weeks I had an appointment to get my first prenatal lab work done. A few days later I learned that my urine culture had come back positive for group B strep. My doctor said it was no big deal and that they would just give me IV antibiotics when I went in labor. I had heard of group B strep before but never knew it was a big deal until I started researching it. Around that same time, I began to feel a lot of pressure in my pelvis. I also had a lot of cramping.
A few weeks passed and the cramps turned into very uncomfortable contractions. I couldn’t walk more than half a block, stand longer than five minutes, or ride in a car without making them worse. I tried everything they say to calm the contractions but nothing worked. I had them even when sitting or laying down doing absolutely nothing. I was physically and emotionally miserable. I brought up my concerns multiple times with my doctor and her nurse and was brushed off every time. I was told the contractions were normal, despite everything I was reading from reputable websites saying they weren’t, at least not in the intensity and high number I was experiencing. I asked for a referral to a specialist and my doctor shut me down saying, “a specialist isn’t going to do anything for you.” They refused to even do an ultrasound to check on our baby or to make sure my cervix wasn’t dilating. I was terrified constantly that I was in preterm labor. My doctor’s nurse told me that preterm labor doesn’t happen until the third trimester so I had nothing to worry about. I knew that was not true.
I became so afraid that I went to urgent care during my 17th week, hoping someone there would listen to me. Thankfully they did an ultrasound and our active little boy was doing alright. They also cultured my urine again and ran other tests. Everything was normal/negative except for my urine culture. The group B strep bacterial count in my bladder had increased by 5 times what it had been at 14 weeks. It was now at a level considered to be a low grade infection. I had to argue with the nurses at the clinic to get them to approve a course of antibiotics. They weren’t going to do anything for me, despite my symptoms and culture results. Finally they prescribed one week of Penicillin.
At that point I was having dozens of contractions every single day, sometimes ten or more in an hour, and they had become quite painful. I begged my doctor for help but she continued to dismiss my concerns. She refused to help in any capacity so I made several desperate calls to schedule with a perinatologist. I was too late. Less than two weeks after I finished the antibiotics I suddenly stopped feeling my son move. He was an extremely active baby. I had felt him every day since 17 weeks so I knew something was very wrong when I didn’t feel him for 24 hours.
I called in to the clinic that morning and insisted on being seen. They thought I was overreacting since I was a first time mom. Reluctantly they scheduled me for the afternoon. I agonized about whether I should just bypass the clinic and go straight to the hospital, but I was so discouraged from 8 weeks of being ignored that I questioned whether the hospital would even take me seriously. We arrived at the clinic and after a nurse could not satisfactorily find our son’s heartbeat with the doppler (she kept claiming my heartbeat was the baby’s), we demanded an ultrasound. I’d heard my baby’s heartbeat enough times to recognize it easily and that day it was not there. We were again denied an ultrasound. My doctor said everything was fine and told us to go home. I was becoming hysterical. We left and drove straight to the hospital where they pronounced our son dead after three ultrasounds showing no movement and no heartbeat. The hospital doctors and nurses confirmed that our little boy had passed away many hours earlier. He was not alive when my doctor at the clinic told us to go home.
Nineteen hours of labor later, Elijah David Peterson was born at 22 weeks. He was so beautiful. We held him for hours before we had to say goodbye. His autopsy and chromosome testing showed he was a normal, perfectly formed little boy. Out of all the testing done, the only thing wrong was that my placenta showed chronic and acute signs of infection and inflammation (called chorioamnionitis). It was degenerating. Months later we met with a specialist who informed us that having group B strep in your urine means that you are also heavily colonized with the bacteria in your genital tract. The infection ascended into my placenta and killed our baby boy. Only after we laid him to rest did I learn how serious group B strep really is. It is incomprehensible to me how so many doctors still don’t know or take the risk seriously. Losing Elijah is the most devastating thing we’ve ever experienced and I will spend the rest of my life raising awareness.
~ Amy Peterson
A few weeks passed and the cramps turned into very uncomfortable contractions. I couldn’t walk more than half a block, stand longer than five minutes, or ride in a car without making them worse. I tried everything they say to calm the contractions but nothing worked. I had them even when sitting or laying down doing absolutely nothing. I was physically and emotionally miserable. I brought up my concerns multiple times with my doctor and her nurse and was brushed off every time. I was told the contractions were normal, despite everything I was reading from reputable websites saying they weren’t, at least not in the intensity and high number I was experiencing. I asked for a referral to a specialist and my doctor shut me down saying, “a specialist isn’t going to do anything for you.” They refused to even do an ultrasound to check on our baby or to make sure my cervix wasn’t dilating. I was terrified constantly that I was in preterm labor. My doctor’s nurse told me that preterm labor doesn’t happen until the third trimester so I had nothing to worry about. I knew that was not true.
I became so afraid that I went to urgent care during my 17th week, hoping someone there would listen to me. Thankfully they did an ultrasound and our active little boy was doing alright. They also cultured my urine again and ran other tests. Everything was normal/negative except for my urine culture. The group B strep bacterial count in my bladder had increased by 5 times what it had been at 14 weeks. It was now at a level considered to be a low grade infection. I had to argue with the nurses at the clinic to get them to approve a course of antibiotics. They weren’t going to do anything for me, despite my symptoms and culture results. Finally they prescribed one week of Penicillin.
At that point I was having dozens of contractions every single day, sometimes ten or more in an hour, and they had become quite painful. I begged my doctor for help but she continued to dismiss my concerns. She refused to help in any capacity so I made several desperate calls to schedule with a perinatologist. I was too late. Less than two weeks after I finished the antibiotics I suddenly stopped feeling my son move. He was an extremely active baby. I had felt him every day since 17 weeks so I knew something was very wrong when I didn’t feel him for 24 hours.
I called in to the clinic that morning and insisted on being seen. They thought I was overreacting since I was a first time mom. Reluctantly they scheduled me for the afternoon. I agonized about whether I should just bypass the clinic and go straight to the hospital, but I was so discouraged from 8 weeks of being ignored that I questioned whether the hospital would even take me seriously. We arrived at the clinic and after a nurse could not satisfactorily find our son’s heartbeat with the doppler (she kept claiming my heartbeat was the baby’s), we demanded an ultrasound. I’d heard my baby’s heartbeat enough times to recognize it easily and that day it was not there. We were again denied an ultrasound. My doctor said everything was fine and told us to go home. I was becoming hysterical. We left and drove straight to the hospital where they pronounced our son dead after three ultrasounds showing no movement and no heartbeat. The hospital doctors and nurses confirmed that our little boy had passed away many hours earlier. He was not alive when my doctor at the clinic told us to go home.
Nineteen hours of labor later, Elijah David Peterson was born at 22 weeks. He was so beautiful. We held him for hours before we had to say goodbye. His autopsy and chromosome testing showed he was a normal, perfectly formed little boy. Out of all the testing done, the only thing wrong was that my placenta showed chronic and acute signs of infection and inflammation (called chorioamnionitis). It was degenerating. Months later we met with a specialist who informed us that having group B strep in your urine means that you are also heavily colonized with the bacteria in your genital tract. The infection ascended into my placenta and killed our baby boy. Only after we laid him to rest did I learn how serious group B strep really is. It is incomprehensible to me how so many doctors still don’t know or take the risk seriously. Losing Elijah is the most devastating thing we’ve ever experienced and I will spend the rest of my life raising awareness.
~ Amy Peterson
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.