7 Weeks Pregnant with a Cold

Congrats! Don't forget fluids and rest! The old-fashioned remedy of chicken soup works wonder too!

I.,

When I was pregnant with my 19 month old, I had a terrible cough the entire pregnancy. It was so bad, I would wet myself at times. I was told by my OB that I could only take Tylenol products, Tylenol cough and cold to be exact. That did absolutely nothing for me. They prescribed me an inhaler, as I have mild asthma, that did nothing. Then they tried Cough medicine with codeine. That did nothing except to make me sleep. Which was nice to finally sleep, but, you know....it did nothing to calm the cough. I worked in a school as a sign language interpreter, so, when they did state testing and it needed to be quiet, I had to find somewhere else to go why they tested.

Best of luck! Congrats!

My sympathies on your cold. While I was pregnant with my son I had five colds, the flu twice, had a horrendous hacking cough for five months and threw up the entire nine months (including during labor, 52 hours and delivery, a C-section). I occasionally took some cold medicine and a few times took some very strong prescription cough med just to sleep a little. And no, I didn't check with the doctor. To ease your mind about it, my son is now 12 years old, almost 6 feet tall, wears a size 13 men's shoe and is perfectly healthy as well as teenage obnoxious. lol If you really need something, take it just to get some rest. All doctors and meds err on the side of caution in prescribing for pregnant women. Good luck.

I second the response about do not take Tylenol unless you are taking supplements to boost your immune system. Tylenol does tell the immune system to go take a break - it's got it handled (remember this when and if you do vaccines with your baby - use something else like Motrin then).

Try some of the holistic methods. One that I know so many people swear by is the Netti Pot. You put salt water in it and flush out your sinuses. A dream. Easy. Non harming. Olive Leaf Extract. Juice Plus. The most important thing for your body is sunshine /Vitamin D (make sure it has D3 in it). These are tips from other mom on another list.

Your cold will get better. I got severely sick with sinus problems at the beginning and at 5 months and wish I had known the above information. Hang in there and congratulations.

Please, also do your own research while you are pregnant on vaccinations. You do not have to go on only what your Pediatrician says as they are going on information when there were only 10 shots on the schedule instead of 36 shots. Here are some places to start:

The Vaccine Book, Dr. Robert Sears
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Childrens Vaccinations, Dr. Stephanie Cave
Evidence of Harm, David Kirby (investigative reporter)

www.909shot.org
www.tacanow.org go to Vaccines listed on the right
www.generationrescue.com

Congrats on your pregnancy. Now for the bad news ... not uncommon for you to get a cold and just plain be conjested throughout your pregnancy. Can't think of it now, but there is a name for the congestion we get while pregnant - related to hormones. No harm in being sick, just be sure to take your vitamins and eat healthy and drink a lot of fluid. I am at 23+ weeks now and I have had a cold (lasted 3 weeks), the stomach flu, and that recurring sore throat. But, I find when I keep liquid in my hand, I generally feel better. Peppermint tea is one of my favorites - it is caffine free (figure I should drink caffine free tea since I do still have my morning latte.
I hope you get feeling better soon.

Call your OBGYN or a pharmacy. I had them both on speed dial! Once your baby is born and you are prescribed medicine double check with the pediatrition if you are breastfeeding (I hope you do). Take care!

Congratulations on your pregnancy. I had a bad cold / fever when I was about 8 weeks pregnant. At my doctor's advice I did not take anything until I had a fever of 102, at which time he advised I take plain tylenol (not cold/flu). I would call your Doctor's office and ask to be safe. I don't think the sneezing/coughing can do harm. Hope you're feeling better soon.

I.,

Congrats!

But, here's the thing if you keep your doctor in the loop you'll be fine and maintain a healhty environment for you and your new baby.

I was very sick at about 6 weeks preggers with my son. I went to the doctor after it didn't go away for three days, and she gave me some recommendations for a tea I could use for my throat that was safe, and also reminded me of all the things I could do like cool mist humidifier, vapo rub...things that I do with my son now when he's sick that are totally safe.

If you have a terrilbe cough my Great Aunt made me some Radish Tea that acts like a cough syrup and is totally natural. I can find the recipe and give e-mail it to you if you want.

When you go to the doctor, she'll give you a list of what's 'okay' to take but, my OBGYN highly encouraged me to not take anything.

Your symptoms may be distracting your from your 'symptoms' of pregnancy, but it doesn't hurt to go to the doctor and get advice on how to best maintain your sanity during a cold.

Best wishes!

D..

Hi I. - Although, I don't think a little tylenol will do much harm, it's not something you want to regularly ingest for both yours and your baby's sake. Of course this was extreme, but a close friend of mine had liver failure from ingesting too much tylenol. Stick with the holistic remedies to soothe your aches and pains while you recover. To strengthen your immune system to better fight off colds, I suggest you add Juice Plus fruit and vegetable capsules to your diet. It will also ensure your baby gets great whole food nutrition even before birth that will increase the odds of a healthy baby. It's the nutrients of 17 of the most nutritionally rich fruits, vegetables and whole grains in capsule form. See below the results of a study where participants took Juice Plus in addition to a prenatal and who had drastically reduced pregnancy complications. You can listen to a 15 minute recording by Doctor Odom at University of Mississippi who conducted the study for more details by calling 800-942-1260 (press 2 and 2), or see more research results and doctor recommendations at my website at http://www.wethriveonjuiceplus.com. Feel free to call me if you have any questions or would like to order ###-###-#### or email ____@____.com. Juice Plus has green leafy vegetables to provide you the folic acid you need along with a wide variety of other naturally occuring nutrition to prepare you and help sustain your next pregnancy. Everyone's different, so it's not a guarantee that there won't be any problems, but the evidence shows by ensuring nutrients from a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains every day will certainly lower your risk of just about all health problems. Juice Plus contains thousands more nutrients in their natural combination from whole food, not isolated vitamins. I wish you a healthy pregnancy and a wonderful new year for your family! Hope you feel better soon!

PRENATALS --- Prenatals + Juice Plus+
Preterm (< or = 32 wks.) 35 (20%) --- NONE

Preeclampsia 38 (21%) --- NONE

Spontaneous Labor 16 (9%) --- NONE

PROM 6 (3%) --- NONE
NICU Admission 17 (10%) --- NONE

Respiratory Distress 13 (8%) --- NONE

Ave. Birth Weight 3280 grams --- 3507 grams (+227)

Gestational age 38.2 weeks --- 39.3 (+1.1 week)

Hi there, I. M.

I had colds that lasted a month each when I was pregnant. It was awful coughing like that - I kept feeling like I was squashing my poor little baby. In actual fact, I had nothing to worry about. Your baby is well-protected.

The discomfort will be on your part since you really should not take anything - over the counter medication is not recommended by doctors and pharmacists as they may harm your baby. You just let the cold take its course.

I found that warm showers helped with the congestion. Also, I sometimes boiled a small amount of fresh ginger and added honey to the water and drank that slowly when it cooled down a little - that helps with sore throats. To help with congestion while sleeping, try the Vicks Vaporizer - it acts like a humidifier/steamer. Depending on the area in which you live, you may have to add a tiny amount of salt to the water to help it reach the boiling point. My son and I still use it today, and I find that tree tea oil in the little spot where the Kaz Inhalant is supposed to go helps us breathe even better.

Hope this helps.

N. M.

Hi I.-

I'm 8 weeks pregnant and just getting over a cold. My doctor advised me to avoid all meds for the first 12 weeks. I can only use saline nose spray to help with the congestion. Hope this helps...

Congratulations to you and your family!!!

The only thing is that you should avoid many of the drugs that reduce the cold symptoms. Otherwise the baby should be fine.
Congratulations and I hope your cold goes away quickly.
H.

Hi I.,

Congrats on the new prenancy!

You can take Tylenol Cold & Flu for your cold. I'm sure there are others that other moms will recommend but this one I know for sure is safe.

I hope you feel better soon!

-Char

After having 5 kids, when I was sick during my pregnancies the doctor recommended sudafed, and cough medicine with no alcohol. What doctors give now I don't know but whatever you do don't take tylenol because they have said that can cause a miscarriage.

I.,

You are fine, sweetie. Pregnancy can withstand SO much more tougher than people let on...though you should be caucious and aware, as long as you are relatively well-behaved and normal in health, your baby will be fine.
A cold is a virus that the baby will get through. The baby has strength from antibodies from you, just as YOU use them.
A good, low mg vitamin C daily is the best remedy. Thousand mg suppliments are the best but I would go 500's or 100's. You cant O.D. on vitamin C. What you dont use at the time you will pee out! Of course, dont go taking thousands of mg's at a time, duh.
My dad's a doctor.

Wendy
My dad's a doctor.

There is no need that I know of to worry about sneezing or coughing. There are rare cases that involved having a tempeture that did damage to developing fetus. Call your doctor and rest. The stress from worry is likely to be more harmful, so relax.

Dear I.,

You can take astragalus while pregnant. It is a great immune system builder and will also help your fetus' immune system development. Keep taking it even after the cold is over, and you will be less likely to catch another for the duration of your pregnancy.

Blessings,
S. I., L.Ac.

Hi I., When I got prego with all three of my kids I ended up with very severe "colds". With my first I got Strep throat, the second I got the flu and the third I got walking pnumonia. Just ask your doctor. Let him/her know what your symptoms are, they may have you come in to be checked out or have you take an over the counter medication (that probably wont help you at all)but just to be sure. And coughing and sneezing wont hurt the baby. Congratulations and Happy New Year.
M. A.

Sneezing and coughing shouldn't do any harm....I've been coughing since I had bronchitis and a sinus infection in October...and I'm pg with twins. A friend ran up a list of OTC meds that can be safely taken during pregnancy, and one thing I used was Mucinex...it saved me. (I did end up at urgent care and had to also get antibiotics and an inhaler.)

At 6 weeks with my daughter, I had severe food poisoning and thought for sure it was over with all the vomiting and bathroom trips, but she's now 4 and is watching "Peep" in the other room.

I also got really sick in the beginning of my pregnancy with a cold. I was told I could only take sudafed. It seemed like the pregnancy made my cold symptoms worse. There's no harm in coughing or sneezing! I had a terrible cough for over a month that they actually had me take some cough syrup with codene. My daughter is 19 months and perfect!! I hope you feel better soon:-)

Congratulations on being pregnant. YOu're on a wonderful journey and a steep learning curve! I never had bad nausea with my six kids, but I have read that staying well- hydrated is very helpful, as well as eating small meals throughout the day. Stay away from high-fat, fried foods, too. Vernors ginger ale (found in most grocery stores) can be helpful because it contains real ginger. Also, sucking on peppermint candies can be soothing to your stomach as well. God bless you!

The baby will be just fine, but make sure to keep an eye on your tempurature. If it goes above 102 it could potentially be harmfull to the baby (that's why you're not supposed to take super hot showers/baths when prego) The only medicines my Dr said were safe to take during pregnancy was Robitussin or plain Tylenol. But as every pregnancy is different you should really double check with your Dr before taking any kind of meds. I was always told to never take any sort of medicine at all during the first trimester as that's when the baby is most vunerable to being permenatly affected by them. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon :)

Take only Tylenol products.....

Hello there, I came down with a very bad cold when I was 8 weeks along with my second son and my OBGYN told me that I could take anything form tylenol cold/flu, sninse, ect... he said that aslong as it said Tylenol I was fine. and also some simple saylin stuff for a runny nose he said was fine too. When I had my first Ob appt, then gave me a list of meds that I can take that would not harm the baby. So you might what to contact your dr and ask them for a list of stuff that you can take.
Hope this helped
A.

You should be fine, your cold symptoms shouldn't hurt the baby at all. And like you said, your probably busy with your cold and tired so you aren't really paying attention to the pregnancy symptoms as much. If your really worried though, you should tell your doctor and they can reassure you, as well as tell you what you can and cannot take medication wise. Hope this helps! :)
And get better soon!

Coming down with the common cold is not harmful to your baby. Being congested and tired could be related to your pregnancy, both symptoms are very common during pregnancy. With a normal (not high risk) pregnancy coughing and sneezing will do no harm. You can take tylenol products while you are pregnant but its probably better not to take anything in your 1st trimester other than your prenatal vitamins. Lots of fluids (water & juice) is always good when you have a cold. Oh and get lots of rest! Good luck with your pregnancy, and hope you feel better soon!