At the beginning of my journey in trying to conceive, I confronted a nasty little bug called bacterial vaginosis (BV). The little guys had taken up residence in my cooter and were breeding much faster that I was. It was pretty easy to fix though. A good dose of antibiotics and the bad guys had been flushed from their home.
Last week, I got a cryptic message on voicemail from my OB saying that he needed to talk to me about my test results. The week before that, my OB had happily left a message on my voicemail telling me that my progesterone was at the right level and don't worry. This time, though, there was no voicemail of happiness and no "all is well" messages. So, of course, I assumed the worst. Within about 2 hours of hearing the cryptic message, I had successfully diagnosed myself with HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and almost-dead-baby sydrome (you know, just for good measure). More amazingly, I had driven my husband into the same sort of frenzy.
Within those two short hours, I had left 3 messages with my OB's office staff. I am pretty sure there is a note in my file now saying something like, "JUST CRAZY" in 24 point bold red font. Nevertheless, the doctor did finally call me back and said that I have BV again. Nice. He will treat me with antibiotics once I am "safely" at the 12 week mark. In the meantime, Husband did some research regarding BV. While the damn BV is labelled as an STD, they don't actually know how women contract it. In fact, there was some suggestion that women don't get it from sexual contact with men, but instead catch it from sexual contact with other women.
That gave us both something to think about.
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After over five years of being heavily medicated for my bipolar illness, I am just crazy enough to go off the meds and try to conceive. With a whole team of professionals monitoring my progress and an amazingly compassionate husband to catch me when I fall, I am ready to start trying to get pregnant. This is my journey through the insane process...
Pepper in the pond.
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- Nicole
- Crazyville, New York State, United States
- 30-something, over-educated, and bipolar crazy woman with a bicornuate uterus and a baby...Who'd a thunk it?
16 comments:
Oh, ugh. I had a time of recurring BV infections a long time ago. It was kind of funny because I wasn't sexually active at the time. It kept coming back, though, regardless of antibiotic treatment until one day a doctor suggested using a vinegar douche instead. NOT the thing to do during pregnancy though, obviously. But it did the trick for me after one application. Haven't had a recurrence in 12 years. I'd definitely suggest it if you get it again after the baby is born, since douching isn't safe at all during pregnancy.
I've had that a few times, although never during early pregnancy and only once during pregnancy, ever (my vee-jay just likes to keep me on my toes I guess). I THOUGHT I had it once while just barely pregnant, but during my in-office freakout while they looked at the slides they assured me it is harmless in the first trimester other than, you know, being gross. In the third trimester, after the mucus plug comes out, it can enter the uterus and wreak havoc, but at your stage of the game that sucker is plugged up tight because nature isn't stupid. I researched it rather exhaustively; according to my OBGYN it can come from oral sex with EITHER gender (ahem), swimming in lakes or ponds, and even from sitting down in the wrong place in a wet bathing suit at the pool. Interestingly, I found a study SOMEwhere (this was years ago so no clue now where it was) where they used data from convent GYNs who checked nuns out once a year vs. GYNs to the regular populace, and found that people who have never had sexual contact of ANY type NEVER get the BV. So uh, the wages of sin? The only reason they make you wait is that Flagyl is dangerous in the first trimester but not after that, and there is also a gel called Metrogel that you use with an applicator like OTC yeast-infection stuff, that also kills it (I know this because I have a lot of antibiotic allergies and avoid system antibiotics whenever possible, or any systemic drugs during pregnancy unless they are absolutely necessary). I think they tend not to use that during the first trimester either, but I used it once during the second trimester with no ill effects and that kid came out with no extra heads or anything. Since you seem to be prone to it, you might have Husband go and give saliva and, uh, male-area (don't tell him they use a Q-tip thing in the end of his you-know-what, though, let that be a surprise) samples for testing, because likely he is a carrier who is re-infecting you, and it CAN cause preterm labor from about the mid-second trimester onward. So if I were you I'd make sure and get that sorted out ASAP. Good luck with the, uh, aromatic drawbacks...as you know, sex without a barrier method increases that, so if it triggers your nausea you might want to cut Husband off for a bit, LOL!
Oh and btw the current school of thought among OBGYNS (at least where I live) is NEVER douche, EVER, dunno why though. But vinegar (unless it's reeeeally strong) will only increase the acidity, which BV loves. I tried it once when I was about eighteen b/c I was embarrassed to fess up to being sexually active, and after a week it had only worsened so I did have to go in :(
Hee.
I always thought it kind of just happened. Like yeast infections. A general biological unhappiness leads to itching.
oh.no.
blech. poor you. hope it goes away ASAP.
Umm, not be a contrarian, although I always am anyway, but Flagyl, or metronizadole is completely and totally safe throughout pregnancy.
You can take it orally or use Metrogel. I'm using it orally right now, and may use it vaginally later on, depending on the state of possible infection going on.
Your Doctor can call Motherisk for free, or check the website.
Here's two studies that he could read.
http://www.motherisk.org/prof/updatesDetail.jsp?content_id=328
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7856680&dopt=AbstractPlus
I know these links will get cut off in the comments, but you'll get them in your email, and they should be fine.
Take care, hon. And stop picking up those lesbians in bars and doing them in the backseat of the car. Show some restraint! You are an old married woman!
while it sucks its better than the alternatives you came up with and hey you are still going strong. Grumpy has his appt next week to make sure its not him and then we're of to start the clomid
Do me a favor, please, and have your doctor keep checking you throughout the pregnancy. Some infections can enter the sack in some people even when membranes are intact (even though it shouldn't be possible, there are dead babies that say it is). And if you keep track of it, you can take some antibiotics every time it shows, just in case.
Loved your punchline.
I will not presume to give medical advice (nor am I qualified to do so), much less to a pregnant woman, but I think I had that once and that I was advised to douche with a baking soda (i.e. basic, not acidic) solution, and that that cleared the problem up pretty quickly. However, I have no idea what is recommended during pregnancy, and simply hope you can get some safe relief. Because if you have what I had -- itchy!!!
Also, any doctor's office that would call a pregnant woman about "test results," should expect panicked calls until a human is reached. Not calling frantically would be a sign of craziness (or stupidity).
Being infertile by nature, you don't get to have any smooth sailing. That is the rule of this this crazy messed up universe.
I hope it goes away without incident.
Everything always has a way of working itself out. And as you said, you are at the 12-week mark - so baby is safe :)
And don't forget that babies are the safest in the mother's womb.
Enjoy this time...because before you know it that baby of yours will be keeping you up all night long :) :) :)
I hope that it goes away very soon... I am so excited that you are almost 12 weeks , YAY!!!!!!!!!!
I'm pretty sure my file says "JUST CRAZY" on it too.
I hope it clears up soon.
why can't things ever just be easy?? sorry, hope it turns out to be easy to deal with.
Just coming by to see how you are. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the BV goes away quick because it is very hard to type with my fingers crossed!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Love ya
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