The Pregnant Womans Moan Thread.

Sligo1

Don't want to alarm or scare you but Vicks shouldn't be used during pregnancy. I'm sure ye are fine I just wouldn't keep using it.

Roesy

I was told the same with Vicks too. Same pharmacist told me to try steaming with a towel over my head and a couple of drops of eucalyptus oil in the water.

Merkin

Sligo1 wrote: »

Don't want to alarm or scare you but Vicks shouldn't be used during pregnancy. I'm sure ye are fine I just wouldn't keep using it.

I also wouldn't "oven" yourself under the duvet as raising your body temperature (it's why they say keep away from hot baths, hot tubs and saunas) is not advised during pregnancy either.

MissFire

No Vick's then, that's good to know.. I'm going to try the apple cider vinegar , keep drinking lots of water and get some exercise and then rest for day tomorrow.. I'll sit in smelly work today and cough and splutter which probably won't even be noticed since my male colleagues who don't seem to have a problem doing it.. since I'm sick, knackered and a 'hormonal pregnant woman ' I might finally pluck up the courage to tell one of them that his sucking back his snot constantly disgusts the whole office.. Oh gosh it's so bad.. I mean how hard is it to blow your nose into a tissue?!

I'm a right moaning Margaret today lol

January

Don't suffer though, please go to the doctor if you feel you need it. There are lots of antibiotics that are safe during pregnancy.

Sligo1

Yep of it's bacterial or a chest infection you will def be able to take an antibiotic. Hope you're feeling better soon.

MissFire

Thanks ladies.. I'll see how I get on over weekend.. If it gets much worse I'll be off to care doc.. I'm one of those 'hippies' that DOS talked about, I really don't like taking medication of any sort, but if it gets to stage where I'm not getting enough sleep or weak or anything that might affect baba I'll take something ..

ShaShaBear

Jeepers, sounds like I need to have a word with my GP and pharmacist. And when I said oven myself under the duvet I meant taking a sniff of the Vicks

My doc said it was fine to put on my feet and it certainly made sleeping easier for me! As for the Lucozade, that was simply for the energy that I would normally get from taking caffeine tablets. He said I could take paracetamol tablets obviously, but that Calpol seems to work a charm on the fever even though there is less in every dosage.

Merkin

ShaShaBear wrote: »

Jeepers, sounds like I need to have a word with my GP and pharmacist. And when I said oven myself under the duvet I meant taking a sniff of the Vicks

Lol, I thought you meant that you were making things as hot as possible for yourself in order to sweat things out :eek:

I know, it's so hard with such conflicting advice on what to take but best to err on the side of caution I guess.

ShaShaBear

Merkin wrote: »

Lol, I thought you meant that you were making things as hot as possible for yourself in order to sweat things out :eek:

I know, it's so hard with such conflicting advice on what to take but best to err on the side of caution I guess.

Oooooooh no, I won't even risk a hot shower I mean't like Dutch Oven for Vicks

I had looked up Vicks website and it just said ask your doctor for advice but nothing whatsoever directly about it being harmful. My doctor said that the discomfort I was experiencing during breathing and the stress on my lungs was worse for the baby than breathing a bit of menthol 5 feet away from my head, but then in fairness to his diagnosis I normally have to make daily trips to use the nebuliser when I get even a cold (due to almost fatal pneumonia when I was 8) so it's quite possible he meant there was more stress on my lungs to breath than there would be normally in a cold/flu situation.

Sligo1

ShaShaBear wrote: »

Oooooooh no, I won't even risk a hot shower I mean't like Dutch Oven for Vicks

I had looked up Vicks website and it just said ask your doctor for advice but nothing whatsoever directly about it being harmful. My doctor said that the discomfort I was experiencing during breathing and the stress on my lungs was worse for the baby than breathing a bit of menthol 5 feet away from my head, but then in fairness to his diagnosis I normally have to make daily trips to use the nebuliser when I get even a cold (due to almost fatal pneumonia when I was 8) so it's quite possible he meant there was more stress on my lungs to breath than there would be normally in a cold/flu situation.

Perhaps ask your doc Shasha. If the benefits outweight the risks sometimes you will be advised to use certain meds.

ShaShaBear

Sligo1 wrote: »

Perhaps ask your doc Shasha. If the benefits outweight the risks sometimes you will be advised to use certain meds.

Oh I did, that's what I was saying, he said there was no issue using Vicks, just not willy-nilly every time you get the sniffles. Which is contrary to what a lot of other people were told, so I haven't a clue! :P

morebabies

MissFire, lots of sympathy going your way from me, I have a chest infection and bronchitis at the moment, hell on earth yes, but I had to take antibiotics that I've taken in previous pregnancies for kidney infections and chest infections - otherwise doc said I will land myself in hospital with pneumonia and end up on IV antibiotics and a much stronger dose. Best to get yourself seen, your immune system is suppressed i'm sure you know, as your baby takes up your body's energy and your lungs are more constricted than usual as baby makes a nice roomy pad for themselves.

Even though you might want to fight it off naturally just get yourself checked anyway, and follow your doctor's advice. I'm wheezing for a month now and bringing up phlegm, some days are horrible, but i know without the antibiotics I'd be laid up in hospital, these virus things and infections progress much faster when you're pregnant.

Take care of yourself and baby. Best wishes.

FurBabyMomma

Asked the hubby what the pharmacist said about Vicks and he can't remember. But I do remember he came home with a bottle of eucalyptus and I was adding a few drops to the bowl when.steaming. It's a month later for me and my cough is long gone but still a bit phlegmy.

Oh and while we're on the subject I read in the newspaper in Malaysia last week that a new UK report says paracetamol shouldn't be taken during pregnancy! Honestly as much as I'm.trying to stay away from medication I'm starting to think the next advice for pregnant women will be to stay in bed for 40 weeks!!!

So my moan is you seem to be able to do/eat NOTHING during pregnancy. And um a vegetarian so the cheese thing is hitting me bad...

ShaShaBear

FurBabyMomma wrote: »

Asked the hubby what the pharmacist said about Vicks and he can't remember. But I do remember he came home with a bottle of eucalyptus and I was adding a few drops to the bowl when.steaming. It's a month later for me and my cough is long gone but still a bit phlegmy.

Oh and while we're on the subject I read in the newspaper in Malaysia last week that a new UK report says paracetamol shouldn't be taken during pregnancy! Honestly as much as I'm.trying to stay away from medication I'm starting to think the next advice for pregnant women will be to stay in bed for 40 weeks!!!

So my moan is you seem to be able to do/eat NOTHING during pregnancy. And um a vegetarian so the cheese thing is hitting me bad...

Lol, no Paracetamol. I may get the tubes tied after this one so! :P

Jerrica

FurBabyMomma wrote: »

Oh and while we're on the subject I read in the newspaper in Malaysia last week that a new UK report says paracetamol shouldn't be taken during pregnancy! Honestly as much as I'm.trying to stay away from medication I'm starting to think the next advice for pregnant women will be to stay in bed for 40 weeks!!!

I saw that too, panicked, read the study and then vowed not to open another newspaper during my pregnancy

The risks of behavioural abnormalities in children born to mothers taking paracetamol is completely unproven as yet, and the study published only makes tenuous links between long-term or repeated paracetamol use and possible effects. There's a lovely non-scare-mongering interpretation of the results here (if it's the same article we're referring too!).

Sure like you say, every week we're told that something else we're doing is wrong...

Penny Dreadful

ShaShaBear wrote: »

Oh I did, that's what I was saying, he said there was no issue using Vicks, just not willy-nilly every time you get the sniffles. Which is contrary to what a lot of other people were told, so I haven't a clue! :P

As they say Doctors differ ..........

I had a chest infection / some virus thingy in February and my own GP was away at the time so I saw someone different. This woman wouldn't give me anything at all - she recommended barley sugar sweets:rolleyes:
Anyhow things carried on and I was close to coughing up a lung and getting no sleep whatsoever. My coughing was waking me up several times a night and that coupled with first trimester exhaustion I was dead on my feet. Went back to the clinic, saw a different doctor who said I could, for one or two nights only, take Codinex and I'd at least be guaranteed some sleep.
They were still reluctant to give me anything else but I felt if I just got some sleep my body would start to get on the mend. So I took the Codinex for two nights, slept brilliantly and my cough started to get better.
I don't think two nights of taking 15mls of Codinex is going to have a detrimental effect on my baby. There are so many people who smoke and drink and eat very badly during their pregnancies and their little babies make it through ok, I am very healthy and conscious about what I eat and drink the rest of the time. Feeling guilty about something thats done and can't be undone now is pointless. I sincerely hope I don't have to do it again or be in a position where I have to consider it.

Merkin

I think oftentimes it's entirely out of our hands.

During my 21 weeks of pregnancy so far I haven't taken any paracetamol or any other drugs at all, have taken Omega 3 and folic acid with Vit D, haven't drank a drop or smoked, exercised well, eaten wonderfully, have put on 5lbs in total and have been a model expectant Mum and poor little bubba will have a little birth defect. This isn't a woe-is-me rant by the way, it merely demonstrates that you can do absolutely everything by the book and there can still be a problem and then you have women who have no regard whatsoever for the little life inside them and the baby is perfect.

So for anyone who has had to take medicine to help them feel more human, I really wouldn't go beating yourself up about it, please don't. If you otherwise look after yourself, a little bit of treatment is not going to harm. Happy Mummy means Happy Baby after all and if it's a toss up between lying awake coughing for nights on end or actually getting a restful sleep and letting baby do it's thing then there is no contest, as long as the treatment isn't abused or for prolonged periods of time!

Chattastrophe!

Penny Dreadful wrote: »

There are so many people who smoke and drink and eat very badly during their pregnancies and their little babies make it through ok, I am very healthy and conscious about what I eat and drink the rest of the time. Feeling guilty about something thats done and can't be undone now is pointless. I sincerely hope I don't have to do it again or be in a position where I have to consider it.

That's it exactly.

When I was about six months pregnant, I ended up having to get Xrays and a PET scan (I think that's what it's called, where they inject some radioactive stuff into you), because I was coughing up blood and they thought I had a blood clot on my lung. Both of which are very much not advised in pregnancy, and I had to sign all kinds of disclaimer forms when getting them done in St James'. I was so worried about it at the time, but when I said it to my consultant in Holles St a couple of weeks later, he basically just dismissed it and wasn't at all concerned, he pointed out that if my baby were to be born that very day, he'd be up in the intensive care unit having Xrays, scans, and every kind of medication pumped into him several times a day every day for weeks, but he'd still be absolutely fine!

It made me feel better somehow at the time anyways, and I did end up having a perfectly healthy little baby, so no damage done!

ncmc

Merkin wrote: »

I think oftentimes it's entirely out of our hands.

During my 21 weeks of pregnancy so far I haven't taken any paracetamol or any other drugs at all, have taken Omega 3 and folic acid with Vit D, haven't drank a drop or smoked, exercised well, eaten wonderfully, have put on 5lbs in total and have been a model expectant Mum and poor little bubba will have a little birth defect. This isn't a woe-is-me rant by the way, it merely demonstrates that you can do absolutely everything by the book and there can still be a problem and then you have women who have no regard whatsoever for the little life inside them and the baby is perfect.

So for anyone who has had to take medicine to help them feel more human, I really wouldn't go beating yourself up about it, please don't. If you otherwise look after yourself, a little bit of treatment is not going to harm. Happy Mummy means Happy Baby after all and if it's a toss up between lying awake coughing for nights on end or actually getting a restful sleep and letting baby do it's thing then there is no contest, as long as the treatment isn't abused or for prolonged periods of time!

Very well said Merkin.

I am an 'everything in moderation' sort of person. I have had the very odd glass of wine or glass of Guinness, I have had brie and smoked salmon on occassion, I haven't managed to kick the coffee habit, I have taken Paracetemol a couple of times when I couldn't shake a headache. Half of these recommendations are nothing but scare mongering. My sister had her babies 18/19 years ago and she had never heard of the no caffiene thing. During her pregnancies she was recommended by her obstetrician to have the odd glass of Guinness for iron!

lilmissprincess

I wasn't happy about using some of the drugs recommended by my doctor (never mind Paracetamol, she was telling me Solpadeine and Lidocaine were on the cards). She then pointed out that I'd been hit head on by a car and baby was fine, and in order for baby to stay fine, mammy had to stay fine and the dosages I was on would be perfectly okay and monitored.

Theres far too much "evidence" out there to freak us out.

ShaShaBear

ncmc wrote: »

Very well said Merkin.

I am an 'everything in moderation' sort of person. I have had the very odd glass of wine or glass of Guinness, I have had brie and smoked salmon on occassion, I haven't managed to kick the coffee habit, I have taken Paracetemol a couple of times when I couldn't shake a headache. Half of these recommendations are nothing but scare mongering. My sister had her babies 18/19 years ago and she had never heard of the no caffiene thing. During her pregnancies she was recommended by her obstetrician to have the odd glass of Guinness for iron!

Haven't been drinking (although wasn't a fan before either) but haven't kicked my caffeine habit and still take paracetamol for headaches. My diet wouldn't be exemplary by any stretch of the imagination, but if I cut tea out I would get more headaches, no paracetamol would mean more aura vomiting from the migraines and then I would end up dehydrated and malnourished. That can't be good for the baby either!

January

Ugh, even the smell of food cooking gives me heartburn

FurBabyMomma

I agree with all if the above. There is obviously a lot of health advice that makes sense, but also a lot of 'better safe than sorry' advice that leads to unnecessary worrying. You should see my poor hubby checking every food label and asking the waiters every question under the sun before I can eat something lol.

MissFire

Spoke to a midwife earlier and she said it was OK to take exputex.. Same reason as you guys said, if it makes me feel better it'll be less hardship on baba.. Of course me being me went and googled it and lots of sites said no to exputex..and of course lots said it fine.. I think google should be just fecked out the window.. There is way too much scare mongering online and probably most of it is written by people who aren't professionals and yet we believe them.. So am going to invest in small bottle of it in morning..

Oh... Midwife also told me to not be looking at One born every minute.... She said it in a slightly harsher way though :P

January

I love OBEM, I've been pregnant watching all of the series except one!

Chattastrophe!

I loved it even before I was pregnant! I can't see the harm in watching it, sure isn't it best to be prepared for every scenario!

SmokeyEyes

I actually find watching OBEM a huge help, it makes you realise each delivery is different, that complications and different methods and approaches are all normal and that the moment these women get handed their babies all the pain and stress disappears and they're blissfully happy!

I think being aware of how different labours can go can make you feel better prepared for your own, I'd hate to go into labour and them talking about all different options or emergency c-sections and the like and for me to be completely freaked out not knowing if this was a normal occurrence or not. The best thing I've done is keep up to date on pregnancy threads and shows like that so you can see how brilliant the midwives and docs are at addressing any issues that can come up!

FurBabyMomma

MissFire wrote: »

Spoke to a midwife earlier and she said it was OK to take exputex.. Same reason as you guys said, if it makes me feel better it'll be less hardship on baba.. Of course me being me went and googled it and lots of sites said no to exputex..and of course lots said it fine.. I think google should be just fecked out the window.. There is way too much scare mongering online and probably most of it is written by people who aren't professionals and yet we believe them.. So am going to invest in small bottle of it in morning..

Oh... Midwife also told me to not be looking at One born every minute.... She said it in a slightly harsher way though :P

Argh Exputex is my go-to when I have a bout of bronchitis and that's exactly what the pharmacist wouldn't sell me! Had I known that I would have bought it anyway. Can't win.

Also really dislike OBEM, I'm so freaked out at being pregnant that the less I know the better...

madeinamerica

Yeah it is so frustrating, there is so much conflicting advice out there. I hate the internet at times too, so much $hit. First time pregnant and I know nada! I'm totally going for err on the side of caution, but its hard. There are only a couple of sites I'd trust, like the nhs ones or webmd or mayo clinic, at least they have medical people writing them so I console myself that the info has some basis in reality. I don't really listen to my mid wives' advice for what medicines are ok or not, they know a lot from experience but they aren't massively trained in drugs (my family had bad advice on drugs from well-meaning nurses before) So I just go with whatever a pharmacist recommends, as I see it that is a pharmacist's entire job, they should know the implications. I'm sure these things are on a scale, like most babies will be fine but a small minority may be affected in some way. I just think, knowing my luck I've got a super sensitive mite that will be affected by every damn thing! Oh the guilt!