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Noah Anzualda's Birth

My labor was induced at around 38.5 weeks. According to ultrasounds, they thought the due date was a little off, but I still am convinced that he was a little early.

I was never tested for GBS. So I went in for induction on July 20th at 7: 00am. The pitocin was started around 7:15 am. The CNM came in around 8:30am and broke my water. This was my second child so we were expecting him to appear very soon. Unfortunately, I laid there all day long. Other than the time she came to break my water, I did not see the midwife, or the doctors that whole day. The nurses were very attentive.

Finally around 10:00pm I asked for some kind of medication. The pain was beginning to be unbearable. They gave me a shot of demorol and I rested for a little while. Noah was finally born at 2:45 am on Friday July 21st, after spending all day with membranes ruptured.

He was grunting and it took them a minute to get him crying. The rest of the time is a blur to me also. The next time I saw him was about 1 hour later. The nurse brought him in for me to feed, and he refused. He was still grunting and that concerned the nurse. She called the pediatrician, who after examining Noah, and taking blood,and x-rays diagnosed him with GBS. When they came to inform me, they already had him under oxygen, and were discussing moving him to the NICU at a nearby hospital. He was a big baby weighing in at 9lbs, 3 1/2 oz.

He was airlifted at around 3:00 pm.The transport team placed him on a respirator and tried numerous times to start an iv. They ended up placing one in his umbilical cord.The neonatologist called me and told me that he had pneumonia he was on antibiotics and would be for 7-10 days. At that point, everything seemed to be ok.

I was discharged on July 22, and went home to rest. I wanted to go directly to the NICU , but my mom wanted me to rest.

Early on July 23, the icu called and said we needed to get to the hospital ASAP. We arrived to find him hanging on by a thread. They had to paralyze and sedate him, and he also was in septic shock. They had moved him into isolation because any stimulation caused his blood pressure and heart rate to drop. They were very concerned about the oxygen level in his blood. It kept dropping to unacceptable levels. They changed his respirator 3 times before finding one that delivered the oxygen he needed. He had one nurse round the clock. (usually the nicu nurses had two or three babies in their care) and was on so many meds it seemed like they were giving him something every hour. Medicine for his heart, blood pressure, antibiotics, sedatives, and the paralytic drug.

At that point the neonatologist told us his chances were slim. He said it was the worst case of GBS that he had seen in a long time. He said that Noah had been dealing with the infection for several days and that the antibiotics were having to "catch up to it". Out of the 30 babies in NICU that day, he said that Noah was the sickest one. Their main concern was to get him stable, even for just an hour.

They arranged for me to have a room down the hall from the ICU so I would be close in case something happened. I stayed by his bed almost round the clock, even though I couldn't touch him or talk to him.On the 24th, he suffered from a collapsed lung, from the pressure of the respirator. He had to have a chest tube , which was replaced twice the next day.He gained a little over a pound in fluid so they were giving him only a minimal amount through the iv.

On his eighth day he was taken off the sedation and the paralytic and allowed to " wake up". He was 9 days old when I got to hold him for the first time since birth. It was a very emotional moment.

At 15 days he was finally taken off the respirator and under the oxygen tent. Then finally he was breathing room air. I was allowed to finally feed him. I had planned to breast feed, so I pumped 6 times a day to keep my milk up. It was a momentous occasion when I breastfed him for the first time. After that 15th day, he recovered rapidly. He was taken off the antibiotics that same day.

On day 20, he was taken off the iv. The nurses and the doctor were all amazed at how well he did. They really didn't expect him to make it through the night of July 22nd.

On August 15, 26 days after his birth, Noah came home. I also was prepared for alot of developmental problems. They had scheduled follow-up visits every 3 months to make sure any delays were caught early. No delays have been detected. He was released from their care after his first birthday. He walked at 9 months and is into everything now.

I became a bit obsessed with finding out as much about GBS as possible and I tell every pregnant woman I see about it. I am hesitant to have another child for fear of going through this heartache again, but hopefully by that time more can be done to prevent this infection. I am very pleased that the CDC now recommends that all women be tested for Group b strep. Although it may not have changed the outcome in Noah's case, at least I would have been aware of the problems that could occur. Thanks for letting me tell you our story.

Lisa Anzualda
mom to Adam(4/27/89) and Noah(7/21/95) GBS survivor