NEEDLES? NO!

I had an OB checkup today, and got some good news and some bad news.  The good news is that my weight is still holding, and I am *almost* done with my second trimester!  The bad news is that my "no I.V." birth plan is no longer an option.

At my last checkup, my urine sample tested positive for a specific bacteria, so I was treated for a Urinary Tract Infection.  Today my doctor told me that the bacteria in question is 'group B strep' and is dangerous to the baby during birth.  I have no 'symptoms' to speak of, but have apparently been COLONIZED with it.  Yup, that's the actual term!  I don't even know HOW I got it, since it is not sexually transmitted, and lives, well, down there.  So, what, did I ingest this bacteria?  Or swim in it? Yuck.  So, to treat the baby PRIOR to birth, I will be hooked up to intravenous antibiotics.  MANDATORY.  I can still have an unmedicated birth, as far as pain meds go, but will still have to have these antibiotics no matter what.

:(

I'm so sad, and not just because I hate needles!  I do, of course, hate them with a passion, but what's really upsetting me is that as soon as they hook me up to an I.V. it will limit everything else I can do.  It's hard to even go to the bathroom hooked up to one of those!  I guess that's why some places insist on a catheter at that point?!  That's absolutey NOT going to happen with me, I will throw a fit if I must to keep from that particular brand of torture.  I worry that I won't be able to walk around with the IV hooked up, and as soon as I lie in a bed, my labor will slow down, leading to more complications, which will require more intervention, ending in even more complications.....its all a vicious cycle.  One that I had hoped to avoid.

Oh well. As long as the outcome includes a healthy baby, I will do whatever it takes.  Even bite the bullet and offer my veins back up to those vampires that masquerade as L&D nurses.