Question:
Wow...this board really picked up since i used to lurk!

since there are so many new posters recently...are there any moms who has had a baby contract neonatal herpes?

Answer:
i have a question did u catch genital herpes when u were pregnant or did u have it before and they still caught it

Answer:
My baby was born with herpes but he never had any lesions or anything and then at 3 weeks he began having seizures. Then we found out it was herpes encephalitis. He was in the hospital for 2 and 1/2 months and they said he'd wouldn't make it out of the hospital, but he surprised everyone and is home now. He'll be 4 months on Thursday.

Answer:
Karebear...I am SO sorry about your little baby, but SO happy he is home now!!! How is he doing?!?!?

Answer:
He still has seizures, but they last less than a minute. He had surgery when he was in the hospital b/c he forgot how to suck and swallow so he had to have a tube implanted in him so I feed him through his mickey button. But he's learned to roll onto his side from his back and we won't really know how bad it is until he starts growing and developing more. The MRI in the hospital showed his brain was 70% liquid, but you just never know with babies. But he's already my little miracle baby!

Answer:
Bless his sweet little heart, I will say a prayer for him (as well as all the babies on here) and you are right...one never knows...miracles can and do happen!!! All the time. He sounds like a little fighter! Keep yourself strong, your chin up and I know I can vouch for myself and many others on here....we are rooting and praying for you!!!

Answer:
I also wondered.....why don't they test you for the antibodies when you're pregnant if this can happen? They tested me and I tested negative for herpes . Now, after giving it to my son, I find out that you can test negative if there is not active outbreak. I just don't understand.

Answer:
what doctors/hospitals NEED to start doing , like, NOW, is doing a herpes bloodtest on each pregnant woman. Perhaps once in the beginning of the pregnancy, and then again towards the end. Why they do NOT do this, I don't know. I am sure there is some sort of slick answer. But I think this can help out tremendously. Even if it prevents just ONE BABY from contracting herpes via an unaware parent, then I say it is worth it.

I would suggest to all soon to be mothers to INSIST that you have a herpes select bloodtest done. Lie if you have to, say you think you may have been exposed and then INSIST on the lab work being done (especially if your insurance will cover it, and most of them do) . I tell people this all the time, and I shall say it again: WE pay the doctors, THEY work for US. Not the other way around. They might have their god complexes and think they are always right, but they are NOT. And THEY do not know our bodies as well as WE do....SO....with that being said, make these people WORK FOR YOU. Lord knows we pay their asses enough money be it to them directly or through our overpriced health insurance.

Answer:
I know that errors in blood testing sometimes occur. I also know that sometimes people have mysterious results but. . . I thought that if you have had herpes long enough to have built up antibodies that you can get a reliable test even without having an outbreak.

I am wondering if maybe when you had your blood test that you had recently been exposed and this is why you had a negative result.

As I understand this most people's bodies develop antibodies to the virus within about 4 months of exposure. This would be a scary timeline if someone is pregnant because the clock is ticking.

Is it possible that you contracted this during your pregnancy?