Herpes Type 2 and Pregnancy

[CatholicMan2009]

My wife and I are happily awaiting the birth of our first child. We have completed our first pregnancy visit and things went well.

Now begins the tough part… yesterday my wife received a call from the nurse practitioner concerning her blood test results. Shockingly, the NP told my wife she tested positive for Herpes 2. The NP was not compassionate nor did she offer any advice or kind words. This is an incredible shock for both of us since neither of us have ever had sexual intercourse with anyone other than each other. We waited till our wedding and have been faithful to one another. However, long in our pasts, both of us have had unholy and impure relationships - but - as stated earlier, they did not include sexual intercourse (sorry for the gory details).

Needless to say, my wife was completely upset when she found out, as was I.

I read that this may cause the woman to have to have a C-section birth. We want to avoid a C-section at all costs and hope to have a natural, drug free birth.

I have made an appointment with our family doctor to get tested for herpes as well as whatever else he recommends I get tested for. Luckily, our doctor is a faithful and holy Catholic man who can hopefully offer medical help while understanding our world view and faith.

Has anyone else had this happen? Is it possible that the test results are incorrect? Have any of you had to deal with this disease and child birth? Please pray for us, esp the health of my wife and our baby.

 

[whatevergirl]

I’m sorry to hear of this. Herpes Type 2, can be transmitted through broken skin, and mucus membranes, not just through sexual transmission, from what I read this morning (since you posted this)…so it might be anyone’s guess as to how your wife contracted it. (if in fact the test was accurate) I’d get tested again elsewhere, to be sure. I don’t have any specific advice other than to get a second opinion, but I will offer you my prayers. Praying for you both.

 

[colbyswife]

My SIL had the same thing happen to her about a year ago. She freaked out when she got the call, because she had only had one partner and so had my brother (according to them). Her doctor had her run a second test because, according to him, these tests seem to have a lot of false positives. The second one came back negative as expected, and she has had no problems since. I would suggest your wife run a second test. I’ll be praying for you.

 

[CatholicMan2009]

I’m sorry to hear of this. Herpes Type 2, can be transmitted through broken skin, and mucus membranes, not just through sexual transmission, from what I read this morning (since you posted this)…so it might be anyone’s guess as to how your wife contracted it. (if in fact the test was accurate) I’d get tested again elsewhere, to be sure. I don’t have any specific advice other than to get a second opinion, but I will offer you my prayers. Praying for you both.

My SIL had the same thing happen to her about a year ago. She freaked out when she got the call, because she had only had one partner and so had my brother (according to them). Her doctor had her run a second test because, according to him, these tests seem to have a lot of false positives. The second one came back negative as expected, and she has had no problems since. I would suggest your wife run a second test. I’ll be praying for you.

Whatevergirl & Colbyswife,

Thank you both for your prayers and kind words. I’ll be visiting our family doctor (a devout and holy Catholic family man) tomorrow to be tested and to get his feedback. We are really lucky we have such a great family doctor. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the same luck with finding a Catholic OB in our area.

 

[whatevergirl]

Whatevergirl & Colbyswife,

Thank you both for your prayers and kind words. I’ll be visiting our family doctor (a devout and holy Catholic family man) tomorrow to be tested and to get his feedback. We are really lucky we have such a great family doctor. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the same luck with finding a Catholic OB in our area.

Those can be hard to come by. I had an OB/GYN, who was a devout Catholic who delivered my kids, when we lived in Florida years ago. Now, we’re back, and I can’t seem to find one, and one that teaches NFP. But, I’m still looking. I’m hopeful things will work out…praying for you both. Keep us posted.

 

[iluvmybabies]

My wife and I are happily awaiting the birth of our first child. We have completed our first pregnancy visit and things went well.

Now begins the tough part… yesterday my wife received a call from the nurse practitioner concerning her blood test results. Shockingly, the NP told my wife she tested positive for Herpes 2. The NP was not compassionate nor did she offer any advice or kind words. This is an incredible shock for both of us since neither of us have ever had sexual intercourse with anyone other than each other. We waited till our wedding and have been faithful to one another. However, long in our pasts, both of us have had unholy and impure relationships - but - as stated earlier, they did not include sexual intercourse (sorry for the gory details).

Needless to say, my wife was completely upset when she found out, as was I.

I read that this may cause the woman to have to have a C-section birth. We want to avoid a C-section at all costs and hope to have a natural, drug free birth.

I have made an appointment with our family doctor to get tested for herpes as well as whatever else he recommends I get tested for. Luckily, our doctor is a faithful and holy Catholic man who can hopefully offer medical help while understanding our world view and faith.

Has anyone else had this happen? Is it possible that the test results are incorrect? Have any of you had to deal with this disease and child birth? Please pray for us, esp the health of my wife and our baby.

Like whatevergirl stated, if it’s passed through mucus membranes then she could have sat in a public restroom and caught it that way?! It’s a possibility…I don’t know anyone dealing with such a disease, but I think one of my aunts had caught it from her husband, he had lovers before her and he never got checked…Neither did she…then she was pregnant with their daugther, and had her regular birth wise, the little girl has been completely bald…After she came out of her mother, she started having some weird reaction and her hair kept falling off…Now as an adult she believes she caught some kind of herpes or other disease that her father must have given her mother and that’s what caused her to lose her hair from whatever infection she got…

It’s best to get a second opinion if you can…And see what your other options maybe for child labor…

You are in my prayers…GOD BLESS!

 

[jwashu]

I have a friend who contracted it from her husband. They had both been married before and his ended due to an affair in which he got the disease. Apparently since he rarely had breakout he never got around to telling her this before they were married. When she had a breakout it was quite a shock and she thought he was fooling around. He was not, although I believe she had (so it’s a good chance her affairs got infected… kind of serves them right for sleeping with married women but that’s another thread…).

Anyway, she had an outbreak just before giving birth to their first child. It’s my understanding from her that if there is no outbreak it might be possible to deliver normally. However if there is one a C-Section is the only choice.

I would go get another test though as previously stated, those can be overly inflated.

While I have heard you can get it other ways, it’s extremely rare to contract the disease though means other than sexual intercourse. Thus my guess, based upon your post, is that it’s probably a false positive.

Joe

 

[dulcissima]

I have heard that it is becoming increasingly common for genital herpes to be spread through oral sex. Perhaps that is the case:

herpes.com/Transmission.shtml

Hoping it is a false positive. It is good for her doctor to know in advance though, so it is a good thing she got tested.

 

[lada]

I don’t know your entire situation, and of course I have no reason to believe that what you’re saying is false, but…HSV-1 can be caused by sharing utensils, etc. HSV-2 on the other hand…99% of the time is caused from sexual contact. That doesn’t necessarily mean intercourse, but some kind of sexual contact. If you truly know each others’ histories and know that there was not only no intercourse, but no contact then I would encourage you to get retested.

Whether or not she could pass it on to the baby depends on many factors. Is this her first ever outbreak? If so, she can pass it on to the unborn baby, and that could have serious side effects. If she’s had an outbreak before, then she could have a vaginal delivery as long as there are no lesions. If there are lesions, no OB anywhere is going to let her deliver vaginally. At least none worth their salt.

 

[kage_ar]

If either of you have ever had a cold sore, that is Herpes. Either type can infect many different parts of the body. It does not mean that anyone has been unfaithful - it could mean that one of you drank after someone with a cold sore.

Get the facts, your doc will help. It is an annoyance but NOT the end of the world.

 

[CatholicMan2009]

I don’t know your entire situation, and of course I have no reason to believe that what you’re saying is false, but…HSV-1 can be caused by sharing utensils, etc. HSV-2 on the other hand…99% of the time is caused from sexual contact. That doesn’t necessarily mean intercourse, but some kind of sexual contact. If you truly know each others’ histories and know that there was not only no intercourse, but no contact then I would encourage you to get retested.

Whether or not she could pass it on to the baby depends on many factors. ** Is this her first ever outbreak?** If so, she can pass it on to the unborn baby, and that could have serious side effects. If she’s had an outbreak before, then she could have a vaginal delivery as long as there are no lesions. If there are lesions, no OB anywhere is going to let her deliver vaginally. At least none worth their salt.

Neither one of us have ever had any type of outbreak, not now or ever. That’s why it is so shocking to us. We are going to see our family doc tomorrow.