Illness while Pregnant

Now some people plan their pregnancies so that they don't have to be uncomfortable during the hot summer months. For me I would gladly trade a second or third trimester in the hottest July ever (even without air conditioning) in exchange for not getting a cold in the winter months while being pregnant.

The husband has been sick for the last 2 weeks and I have been very very diligent about not sharing hand towels, lots of hand washing and purell usage, and absolutely no hand to face contact, as well as no kisses of course. I am convinced that the husband has had two colds back to back or at least one very nasty cold virus. He has the whole nine yards, congestion, sneezing, coughing, sinus headaches, sore throat, etc.

One week into the husband's illness I had been pretty proud of myself for being so careful and not getting sick . . . until I accidentally took a sip of a drink from which he had drunk last Friday. Normally this wouldn't be such a huge issue - not like he has koodies or anything but now that I am pregnant and a lot of cold remedies are a no no, you can imagine how upset I was.

The virus took about 6 days to rear its ugly head. So now not only is the husband still sick (start of week 3 for him) but I am too. We are quite a sorry sight. The house is a complete wreck and neither of us feel up to doing a single thing about it.

I have been doing quite a lot of research on cold medicines during pregnancy. There is such confusing info out there that it is frustrating. Because it's not ethical, there are no studies for most meds on pregnant women. However there are several medicines that are considered "safe" to take especially in the second trimester.

So I finally broke down and sent the sick husband out last night to the drug store to talk to the pharmacist and get some plain old Sudafed (pseudoephedrine) which is considered "safe" during pregnancy. Funny thing is that since some people use it (in very large quantities) to make Meth amphetamines you now need to show your ID and ask for it from the pharmacist. It's so silly that a medication that is considered "safe for pregnancy" is under lock and key.

I really hope that this virus doesn't last too long. The only comfort that I have right now is knowing that the baby isn't sick with me. At least one of us is still comfortable!

Oh and just to add insult to injury - the arthritic gout in my ankle is also flaring up again. Nothing like bring kicked while you are already down!

Read more at Baby Center.com on Cold Medicines