2am is playtime, right mum?

Lucky she is cute! Pebble decided that this is the first time that she would be up for a play. While trying to get feeding right (LONG story) she has slept, ate, slept, ate and occasionally cried to demand more of the eating part. We had a super cute play for about 15 mins and now she is back to the sleeping. 2am or not, it is these moments that make it all worth it.

I must be a mum

I must be a mum because….
I have spew on one shoulder
I have breast milk on my shirt
I think four hours a row in the night is an awesome sleep
I am in love with a tiny, soft bundle that screeches like a galah whenever you try to change their nappy.
We are still finding our feet over here in new parent land. Here’s a lil Pebble goodness to tide you over.

heading home today!

Introducing ...

our baby Pebble! Everyone is doing very well. More to come later.

Last day of…..?

How strange it is to wake up knowing, without a doubt, that today is the last day I’m going to wake up and not be a mummy. Today is the last chance (for a while anyway) for sleep ins and snuggles and couple time. Too bad I can’t sleep or keep still! I feel kind of like Mr RG and I should spend today doing things together, maybe lunch or a movie. But I really don’t feel like doing those things. I just want to be at home, be near each other, and chill out ready for the big (long, painful, exciting, terrifying, joyful) moment.

So far my plans include some very exciting paper work that is still riding my arse, double checking my hospital bag, reading a book about breastfeeding that my sister loaned me, and generally trying not to shit my pants.

We have tried every trick in the book (that I am prepared to try!) to get this Pebble out before induction day, but it’s just not happening. Sometimes there are reasons that things don’t go the way that they naturally should, and I’m grateful that I have modern medicine to help my body figure out what to do. It’s not my first choice, but it does make me wonder what used to happen hundreds of years ago if women didn’t go into labour when they should. I shudder to think.

Until next time…..

40 Weeks + 5 Days

We’re still hanging in there. It’s been a very social time too! Everyone seems to want to catch up right now, it’s like my belly is a beacon to all immediate family

This morning Pebble’s Grandma, Aunty Julie  and cousin Sophie came to visit for a morning coffee and tasty treats. Tonight Nana Carol, Grandad David, Aunty Skye, Uncle Luke and cousin Amber are coming for dinner. Tomorrow we’re going for a play in the park with Grandad John, Nana Annette, Uncle Ryan, Aunty Carly, and cousins Ethan and Coby, and maybe some more with Aunty Skye and family !

I’m feeling great, and it’s good to keep busy and have my mind occupied. I’m a little sloooooooow when it comes to walking (waddling), but I may as well be up and about, hopefully forcing this little one to think about finding it’s way out soon.

I’ve even managed to prepare a pretty tasty looking meal for tonight. In the fridge ready to cook are some chicken breasts smothered in basil pesto, sprinkled with parmesan and wrapped in prosciutto.

Chilling out is some white chocolate and blueberry mousse. I tried these two super easy recipes from my new Donna Hay book and recent birthday gift ‘The Instant Cook’. They each only had a few ingredients, took about 15 minutes to do, and accommodate a pregnant lady’s requirements (no uncooked egg whites!).

I really wish I was grunting in pain right now, but I guess chocolate mousse will be a good substitute. I hope y’all are having a lovely evening.

Another day…

Even Chumby is impatient with this baby.

Cooking more than a bun in the oven

I’m giving my cervix the silent treatment, as it seems to enjoy playing tricks on me at the moment. I may or may not have had a (seriously don’t click on this link if you don’t want to know) ‘show’ this morning. I think I did, but I can’t be sure. Instead of over-thinking it, I decided to get on with it…..

I went to the library today and borrowed four audio books. They don’t have a huge selection, mostly big name authors. I wanted something to just chill out to. I got Cloud Street by Tim Winton, 48 Shades of Brown and Perfect Skin by Nick Earls, and A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett. I also borrowed a hard copy of How to Have a Beautiful Mind by Edward de Bono, and a DVD copy of An Affair to Remember! I have never seen this flick, and apparently a good tear jerker can be great for moving babies along (not that we’re talking about that).

I also did some menu planning, two recipes to keep stocked in the freezer ready for after… you know what. I tried two new-to-me recipes from Taste.com. First the Chicken, Leek and Mushroom casserole, which looks divine. Chicken, bacon and mushroom – how can you possibly go wrong? I left the cream out, as it may not have reheated very well, and my thighs really don’t need it anyway.

It was quite easy to do but not as easy as the next recipe – Mediterranean Tuna and Rice Pie! Literally a quick chop and a stir, bang it in the oven and you’re done (though don’t forget to take it out again). The hardest part is boiling the rice.

These recipes have gone straight-to-freezer, but tonight we enjoyed a third new release, as requested by Mr RG: a vegetable stir fry! All those tasty take-aways had him craving some good, honest, healthy food. We had it with a side of steamed basmati, as I noticed that I had an abundance of the stuff after the pantry clean out. We will definitely be using this recipe again, it was super easy, hardly any ingredients, and tasted fresh and clean. I added a two egg omelette to the recipe, which I cooked first, then sliced and tossed in again at the end with all the other ingredients. Sorry, I didn’t take my own pic of the stir-fry, it was a three minute cooking job and down the hatch!  Trust me, it looked just like this ….. (ahem)

I’ll keep you posted on how the freezer meals actually taste, but they look pretty darn good. And how organised does my freezer look right now? Honestly, I don’t know myself.

 

More curry. Nothing happening in a hurry.

Last nights curry ended up being a Thai meal (red beef curry) as our local Indian place apparently doesn’t open on Tuesdays. Tonight, after the obs we decided to curry it up again, and went to the Indian place. Yes, it’s very lazy, expensive and unhealthy to be buying these take aways, but we’ve used up all our energy on cleaning, so there’s been no time for shopping and cooking!

Now for the obs news. Hmmmmm. I had an internal and basically I am 0 cm dilated and 0% effaced. Not exactly what I wanted to hear when I am already two days over due.

I have been booked in for induction on Monday. We arrive at hospital at 9.30pm, and I will be given my first lot of gels at 12am. If I need it, I will be given more gels at 4am. If my waters haven’t broken yet, but I am progressing (ie. dilating and ‘ripening’) they will break my waters by 8am. If I need it, they will then give me Syntocinon to help my labour progress further. If I am not progressed enough to break my waters, I will have to have a Ceasarian. If this is all another language to you, and you want to know more, then click through the links. But trust me, you probably don’t want to know!

Meanwhile, we will keep trying as many natural methods to induce labour as we can. I’d really like to avoid medical induction, but if I can’t I won’t worry myself about. The most important thing is that the baby is healthy.

Either way, I’ll definitely be a mummy by this time next week!

Robbie Love

I have a confession. Robbie Williams and I have had a relationship since the mid-1990s. It is a long, sordid, wrong and broken story.

Recently, my love for Robbie was soured. I did not enjoy his single ‘Bodies’. The song was boring. The clip was boring. It was a total yawn fest.

In semi-related news, I have apparently been living under a rock. A rock that tunes into to local AM radio. So I was not aware that Robbie had released a new song. I heard it on one of the said AM radio stations yesterday, and fell in love with it before I even knew it was Him.

Then I saw the clip. LOVE.

Curry and baby in a hurry?

I’m only one day overdue, but I’m keen to get this sucker out before my obstetrician starts talking induction, or other intervention. We have an appointment at 5pm tomorrow, when I expect I will be booked in for inducement sometime late this week or early next week.

So today has been all about bringing on the business. I’ve been sitting on my fit ball, I’m about to have a hot curry followed by liquorice for dessert. And of course we’ve been taking other well known action to get it going. No walks yet, perhaps after dinner we’ll go for a walk. I did climb up and down a (short) ladder and get down on my hands and knees to scrub my kitchen cupboards though.

Yesterday I had a lovely cuddle with a two day old little girl named Miller Jane. She was born to our friends Reece and Jane – congrats to them! Miller’s gender was a surprise, which I just love, it makes it so exciting to find out. And it was a lovely bonus for the family, as they have two boys (not that there’s anything wrong with three boys!).

Thank goodness the hot weather has gone, and we’re enjoying a cool breeze and some rain today.

Books I’d like to read

Here are a few things that have been on my mind to read or give to others to read.

I’m so excited to have my very own little one to do fun activities with, but I must remember that my particular little one will only be very, very little for the time that I’ll be not working, and have more time on my hands. Still, this book caught my eye in a recent Hip Infant blog post. It might also make a lovely gift for friends who have little ones more able to do these fun things.

I love listening to Radio National, and Life Matters in particular. I recently heard about a book called Grandma Magic, a book of stories from real grandmothers about the special job that they have. I thought this would be a lovely gift for the three grandma’s (Nana, Nana and Grandma!) that Pebble will have.

Way back in 2004 I went to a conference where I heard Carol Weisman speak about raising charitable children, and I’ve always had it in mind to read her book. This is something I’d love to embrace with my little family.

 
Since my early childhood studies I have loved the work of Edward de Bono and think that this book would work particularly well for me as an audio book. I just wish audio books were cheaper! I may have to get to my local library to help me out in this area. I wonder if they take requests?

On the topic of audio books – has anyone had any experience with audible? They look good but I wonder how it all works – is the book mind to keep in audio form, or does it come with a limited licence? Are the subscription rates worth it, or is it better to buy one off?

What are you reading?

Thank goodness

I feel like I have the biggest baby bump ever, so it’s nice to see someone else with a lovely large lump. This is Jenna Elfman, most famously from Dharma and Greg. And she still has almost two months to go!

40 Weeks

Well, here we are. It is officially time for Pebble to come out and meet the world. It’s a crazy day to come out though, so I really don’t mind if it stays in just one more! It’s crazy hot again, which is one thing, but we are also facing a Catastrophic fire danger, and local schools have closed their Vacation Care programs in case we need to evacuate!

We live on the edge of the hills, certainly not in as bad a position as people who are right in the thick of the hills, but close enough to any action areas that it’s a bit of a worry.

I will admit that we don’t have an action plan, but I guess it’s a good thing that my bags are packed and ready to roll!

Meanwhile. I’m HUGE! Hope I don’t have to run anywhere in a hurry….

My, how you’ve grown! From my first bump watch pic at 14 weeks, to the 40 week present day….

 

I do wish I’d tried to look a little more glamorous for that first pic. Ha!

Staying cool

Mr RG and I have had our first real down time today. We have spent all day inside, as the second day above 40 degrees set in. I have busied myself by making spreadsheet for our home which includes jobs to do (fix the leaky laundry sink) and a wishlist (new curtains). I also went through both Gmail and my phone and checked all my contacts, then made ‘baby news’ groups ready to send to. All I need now is some news!

I’ve also sorted out our home contents insurance, which needed updating, emailed payroll to double check my leave has all been approved (bit late for that, probably), and checked my mobile phone and internet plans to see if we’re getting all that we can for our money.

Last night I stayed up late playing with the blog layout. I have new wallpaper, wiped out a lot of clutter in the widgets toolbar and categories, and at the moment I have no header. I can’t decide on what kind of header to have, so that will give me something else to do.

I tried for ages to get my blogger template to change to a three column wonder, but failed using three different internet tutorials. If anyone knows how to do this successfully please let me know! I’d like to investigate wordpress, but tried once before and ended up in a world of pain.

How nice it is to have time to even think about all these things!

Ho hum

It’s 40 degrees today. It’s going to be 43 degrees tomorrow. And 43 Degrees on Monday! And right now, I am FREEZING! I just had a nice nana nap on the couch which happens to be directly in line with the air conditioning vent. My left arm is stripey (from the stripey couch texture) and my right arm is almost numb from cold! Hahaha!
Today was very exciting. I cleaned out my fridge and freezer super thoroughly, including re-organising my magnets. I went to the supermarket for an emergency lettuce run, just to get out of the house. I trawled the two junk shops near my house for some cute but functional boxes to store my kitchen gadgets and bathroom supplies. That part was actually fun, but fruitless, and unfortunately didn’t lead me to my ultimate goal – of giving me something else to do when I got home (ie. sort through kitchen gadgets and bathroom supplies).
Mr RG whipper snipped and mowed the lawn (in the 40 degree heat).
Oh yeah, we’re living in a world of excitement over here! I know I shouldn’t complain, what with all the chaos that will soon …………. er reign? Or rain? Does chaos rain or reign? I shall ask Google.
As I thought. It reigns.
Well that filled up another ten seconds of my day.
Ho hum.

Still baking

This bun is still in the oven. I am cracking up a little around the edges. I’m just on edge all the time, waiting for something to happen! I’m trying to keep busy with jobs around the house. The house is kind of freaking me out right now – it is so TIDY. It’s freaky tidy. I find myself pausing as I walk across the kitchen to pick up a crumb from the floor. One crumb.
I’m very happy with the pantry clean out this morning. It was all I could think about doing when I woke up! I finally moved all move cookbooks into an accessible position. They used to be shoved into a recess in the right hand side of the pantry, and were so hard to find and get to. Now they’re all ready to go, just begging to be cooked with.

I love my new calendar on the inside door of the pantry. It has a column for birthdays/special dates, column each for Mr RG, Pebble and I, and a column for other stuff. I always have good new years intentions of being more organised, hopefully this helps!

Ummmm. No.

Well, apparently I was just fidgety. Perhaps it was the three course meal I had to celebrate mum’s birthday. Mmmm tasting platter, fish cakes, baked cheesecake…….
On with cleaning out the pantry then.
I just added cleaning as a blog category. Something is seriously amiss.

*category since deleted!!

antsy

Feeling extra antsy tonight. Got the jimmy legs! Also got the urge to clean out the pantry at 9.30 at night. Wonder if that means anything...

Obstetrician appointment

pregnancy,Well, all is going well according to my obs. She had just returned from an emergency C-section, and it was kind of freaky to see her all scrubbed up (but still looking immaculate). I just got this all too real image of her with a scalpel poised over my belly! Hopefully that will not be the way this bubba comes into the world, but it’s out of my control, so we’ll take it how it comes.
Anyway, the gorgeous midwife, Libby, took my blood pressure and asked me to STEP ON THE SCALES. What???! They have only ever asked me to do this once, on my first appointment. I thought it a bit unfair to unleash the weight thing on me now LOL
However, I got quite the nice surprise. According to their (awesome, amazing, wonderful) scales, I have only gained 14kg. According the the CYH website, women should expect to gain between 11kg an 16kg during pregnancy. So I’m right on target. But. I weighed myself on my home scales all I can say is “tell em they’re dreaming!!!!!”. Enough said.
Other than that, I’m measuring on track for date, no, she can’t tell me when Pebble will arrive or how big it will be (I didn’t even ask, but she obviously gets those questions a lot). I got some of my Group B Strep questions answered:
Q. can I be retested to see if I still have it? Apparently it can be there one week and not the next.
A. There is no point to retesting as once you have been shown to have it, the hospital treats you as always having it.
Q. will the midwives know that I need to have the antibiotics, or do I need to make the staff aware when I arrive at hospital?
A. staff will be made aware by reading my pregnancy book
Q. how will I/you/whoever know if I have a fever during labour?
A. They will know (felt a bit silly asking this one).
Q. am I attached to a drip the whole time during labour (they top up the antibiotics every four hours during labour). Can I still move around?
A. I won’t be attached to a drip, but will have a needle in my arm ready to top up with more antibiotics as needed. So I can still move around.
Q. Do you test the baby after birth for GBS – how is this done and when are results known?
A. Only if I have displayed high risk factors (eg. had a fever during labour), or if the baby is displaying symptoms of GBS.
Then I was told see you next week, if not before!
While at the hospital I also picked up a copy of a DVD from the lactation consultant which shows how to do different holds, and get the latch right. It wasn’t quite as good as the one I saw in the training, but it was helpful to watch, and also good for Mr RG to watch.
I went for another 20min walk this morning, this time venturing around the nearby block as the oval gets pretty boring. It was nice to be out and about again, but those hills are a killer! They’ll get me in shape when I’m ready to go out for some pram walks :)
We are off to dinner tonight with my mum and step-dad to celebrate mum’s birthday tomorrow. I hope the pub has their air con on high – it’s a stinker out there!

Pebble’s room is looking good!

pregnancy,I’m so pleased with how Pebble’s room is looking now, it really looks like it’s a finished room. I still have a few things I want to do, like get a floor rug, and some curtain tie backs, and maybe a bunting. But otherwise it’s looking beautiful. Of course, we also still have plans to paint, but I actually really like the blue. It’s a very calm colour, and makes the room perfect for relaxing and sleeping.
Yesterday Mr RG and I went to the shops and bought these frames for a steal. They were $20, down to $13 each. We bought four for the ‘Guess How Much I Love You’ prints.

 

Then I played supervisor while Mr RG put up the hooks for the pictures and curtain rails. This was quite a big task, and involved buying some masonry drill bits, then figuring out the best way to mark and position things. Then drilling through brick! Some parts were easy, and some parts were really tough! But Mr RG was an awesome handyman, and I think they look great.

We opted for plain cotton curtains – there is a good holland blind behind there that blocks lots of light, but with the blind open and just the curtains closed the room has a nice filtered glow, which might be good for day time sleeps. I’m hoping to get Pebble used to day and night but not making it too crazy dark or quiet during day time sleeps. We shall see!
 
The room looks nice and bright with the curtains open. 
 

You can barely notice the mobile over the change table – I’m pretty proud of that effort!

Now for one of my FAVOURITE parts – the prints on the wall. I LOVE how these have turned out, I think they’re just adorable. I love this story, it gives me goose bumps every time I read it.
   
We are a little bit concerned about the pictures slipping and falling on Pebble. The hooks in the wall are very secure, but the hooks on the back of the frames are not. We’re considering removing the glass from the frames, to reduce the risk of injury to Pebble should anything happen. We’ve also left a small gap behind the cot and change table to allow the frame to fall in if that does happen. I’m sure that we’re probably just being overly cautious.
Meanwhile we have continued on with lots of other little jobs around the house. Mr RG is on a mission! I’ve got the cleaning bug but am finding it hard to do too much – my hip keeps going all numb.
I went for a 20 minute walk this morning around the local oval to help get Pebble’s head down into position and keep things moving in the right direction. It was nice just to be outside in the fresh air.
We are off to the obstetrician for our weekly appointment tonight. I have some questions about Group B Strep, but am feeling a lot more relaxed about that then I was previously. I’ve since found out that a few people I know have had it during pregnancy or labour. It makes me feel better to know that others have been there too and it’s not big deal.
I’m also hoping to pick up a breast feeding video while we’re at the hospital, to refresh myself on how that all works. I tried to practice the other day but couldn’t remember most of what the class had taught me!
Still not movement downstairs. I really don’t feel at all like a baby is going to be born anytime soon. So much for ‘one week to go’ as predicted this time last week!

Updated baby mobile!

A quick zippety zip on my printer and laminator, and I have more developmentally appropriate pics for Pebble’s mobile!

Ah – a job I actually finished!
Now to get on with those frames for the nursery, and a pregnancy photo book…..

Baby Mobile

Inspired by Danimezza and a fluke find at my local chemist, I made this baby mobile using contrast pictures and pics of Daddy :)
My pictures are a little too big, creating more overlap than I’d like, but I will keep trying and the great thing about this mobile is that it’s easy to change as Pebble’s interests change! The pictures are attached with a tab on the back of each photo (I used some leftover tabs from filing bits and pieces) and then clipped to the alligator clips on the mobile. You can get yourself a similar mobile online (I paid $14.99 at a National Pharmacies chemist).
Grandma has promised us a cute baby mobile for over the cot, so this one is over the change table. Hopefully it will create a nice diversion while I’m handling the poop.

Why use a mobile at all?
Babies aged 0-1 month can:

• follow a slowly moving object through a complete 180 degree arc
• follow objects moving vertically if the object is close to their face ie. 25 – 35cm (this mobile is approx 30cm from the change table height),

Babies aged 1 – 4 months can:

• fixate on a moving object at a distance of 30cm
• more smoothly visually track objects across 180 degree pathway vertically and horizontally
• move their eyes from one object to another
• focus on small objects and reach for them.

Giving babies opportunities to track moving objects helps to develop their vision and object perception. And keeps them interested!
(Allen and Marotz 1999)
Why use contrasting pictures?
Because babies are contrast sensitive – they prefer to look at objects with a greater difference in the amount of light between different parts of a pattern. Infants prefer larger contrast, ie. bigger squares on a checker board, or larger circles. If the contrast is minimised, ie. smaller squares on a checkerboard, then the image is blurry to the infants vision.
Why use pictures of faces?
Newborns prefer to look at simple patterns resembling a face, so having refreshed my memory on that little bit of development I’m going to swap out the pictures of Daddy for a simpler face until about 3 months of age. At that age babies can distinguish between the finer features of different faces (they can tell the difference between the faces of two strangers, even if those faces are similar).
(Berk 2002)
Do I have too much time on my hands right now?
Yes.

Getting ready for Pebble, continued….

Mr RG and I have slowly been getting bits and pieces organised to Pebble’s imminent arrival. The doc giving us a ‘week to go’ heads up has put a rocket up Mr RG’s bottom, as well as a fair dose of furrowed brow expressions on his face. I think it’s all getting real now!
Yesterday I put together the rocker that my Aunty Leanne gave to Pebble as a baby shower gift. It’s the Fisher Price Newborn to Toddler rocker – it converts into a chair for a toddler as the baby gets older. It has a vibrate function and plays music (at least, it will when I get a battery for it!). Thanks Aunty Leanne!

I came across this calendar I’d been saving, which is based on one of my favourite children’s books ‘Guess How Much I Love You’.

I’m going to trim the pages from a few of the months and put them into frames for hanging in Pebble’s room. I love the muted tones of both the story and the pictures, and the feeling of love that I get whenever I read this book and look at the pictures.
 
Yesterday we also FINALLY got the car seat installed after I had pulled it to pieces and washed all the bits and bobs. It’s been on the waiting list of  jobs to do, but after watching Being Dad 2 and hearing about how tricky the baby seat can be to install, Mr RG was keen to get a move on.

It was kind of tricky, it took us well over an hour to get it all done and dusted, but it is now very secure and cosy. We also put the sunshades and baby on board sticker up (much to Mr RGs distaste – he doesn’t think they look very cool).
 
Operation Pebble is in full swing!

Could this be the last pregnancy update?

39 weeks today, and feeling pretty good, all things considered! Some things I’m noticing right now are:

• my hair is back to the same awesomeness of early pregnancy – no hair falling out, and hardly needs a wash (once every three days!). My nails are also growing like crazy – but unfortunately so are my eyebrows!
• my fingers are all crampy, especially when I’m trying open jars or bottles. It feels like I can’t get a good grip, and when I do get a good grip it kind of hurts.
• I’m having braxton hicks quite a few times a day, nothing major, just all over tummy tightness.
• Pebble has hiccups at least once a day, sometimes I can feel them very strongly, and Mr RG can feel them too. Other times I feel them really deep inside, but not outside.
• I have a pimple! This is not ordinarily news in my world, I am prone to pimples, but when I saw one on my chest this morning I realised that I haven’t seen one anywhere on my body for MONTHS.
• my sinus-y, teary eye has FINALLY cleared up! It’s been months since it started weeping randomly, and I was constantly dabbing with a tissue. It got infected a couple of months ago, then cleared up with antibiotics but continued to weep without pain. Then last week started hurting again really badly. I put a warm flannel on it for about ten minutes and ever since then it’s all gone!
• I am increasingly uncomfortable, and very wriggly. I also have itchy skin! All over I keep getting little itches. I either have fleas or yet another quirk of pregnancy.
• The lovely reflux continues, especially a couple of hours after being asleep/laying down. I wake up with burny sickness in my throat. A couple of quickeeze and an extra pillow is enough to get my by.
• Pebble is still moving around in there, I think a little less than the last few weeks, but there are still big movements which feel like stretches. They are often felt as a hard pointy thing on my right side. I guess a bottom or an elbow? It’s back is supposed to be on my right side, and feet pushing out to the left, so I don’t think it’s a foot.

It won’t be long now!

Bugs

A new worry – just when I was feeling pretty cool about this whole birth thing.
At my obs appointment last week my obs said that I’d tested positive for Group B strep. She said that some percentage (15 -30% ?) of women have this bacteria naturally occurring in their bodies, it is not something that is a problem for me, but can cause problems for the baby. So they will give me antibiotics from when my water breaks. The doc was very relaxed about all this, it seemed very routine, so I was all “sure, thanks for letting me know”.
I had a quick glance at the ‘What to expect…..’ and ‘Up the duff’ books at home, and they just said “you will be tested and if you’re positive you’ll be given antibiotics during labour”, so again, I went “sure, no worries”.
Last night I took a moment to check it out online *cue spooky music here*. I read the Child and Youth Heath website, and a few other Australian state based resources, as well as official UK and USA health websites. I also read a few forums (always a bad idea). Apparently Group B Strep can result in the baby becoming very ill, and is responsible for some babies contracting meningitis, which can be deadly. It can also cause stillbirth.
Yes, the stats are low. Yes, my higher risk indicators should be low (ie. if I give birth preterm, if my labours break 18 hours prior to the baby being born, if I have a fever during labour, if I have had a previous bub with GBS, then there is more risk of bub contracting GBS and therefore more risk of it being ill). However this is a scare I really didn’t want. It’s more medical intervention, and more worry when I’ve got a newborn. The late onset of GBS infection can occur in babies up to three months after birth, so it’s something that doesn’t go away straight away.
So, I have printed out a bunch of info and written out some questions for the obs. Hopefully I make it to my next appointment, or I’ll be asking these questions during labour!
Some of the things I want to know are:

• can I be retested to see if I still have it? Apparently it can be there one week and not the next.
• will the midwives know that I need to have the antibiotics, or do I need to make the staff aware when I arrive at hospital?
• how will I/you/whoever know if I have a fever during labour?
• what risk is there and why is there a risk of stillbirth?
• am I attached to a drip the whole time during labour (they top up the antibiotics every four hours during labour). Can I still move around?
• Will the antibiotic (penicillin) be transferred to baby during labour? What if baby is allergic?
• Apparently bub will need treatment if the sac is infected before labour – how will I know if it is infected?
• Do you test the baby after birth for GBS – how is this done and when are results known?

Anyway, for now there is no point stressing about it, but it’s in the back of my mind. I’m sure there are hundreds of other things that I don’t know about (and don’t want to know about!) that can cause problems during delivery.