Sick/Flu During Pregnancy

ChristinaV2015

Hi all,
 I'm 12 w/5 days with one nugget!

So I know that I've read that several of us have been sick with a cold or flu during the pregnancy.  I started feeling sick on Monday (post nasal drip, sore throat, no voice) Tuesday went to Urgent care where the rude doc didn't even seem to care I was pregnant or that I felt sick and said it's a virus.  Now 2 day later I'm feeling worse and we've added throwing up and loose stools (sorry for the TMI).  My whole body hurts and I'm exhausted.  Needless to say I'm so worried about baby and the fact that I'm having a hard time eating or drinking enough.   My DH wants me to go to the ER bc he's nervous it's the flu and that I'm dehydrated. 

So after this very long story  (sorry!) Any opinions on what I should do?  I don't mind going to the ER and when I called the nurse line at my OB they said if I wasn't feeling better to go to an Urgent Care or ER.  Ugh!

So super emotional about this!!

BornReady

Sorry you aren't feeling well! I actually just went through this, this past weekend. I either had a 24 hour bug or food poisoning. Friday night I went to dinner and then started vomiting/diarrhea (no TMI here, right?!?) around midnight. At 3AM I woke my husband to take me to the ER. I normally have a very high tolerance for discomfort, but knew something was way off. I ended up spending 14 hours in the ER and was admitted for another night because they couldn't get it under control. The ER doctors and nurses said that I absolutely made the right decision as severe dehydration could have triggered pre-term labor. I went through many, many IV fluid bags and they attempted to help me with IV anti-nausea drugs. It turned out from all of the loss of fluid my potassium levels were almost completely depleted which could have resulted in a heart issue on my end. 

Anyways, I'm a little further along than you at 26 weeks, but dehydration is a big risk to you and baby in a variety of ways and at least in my situation I never would have been able to re-hydrate on my own without an IV. I know being at the hospital I at least had the peace of mind that I was being re-hydrated  as best as possible and baby was being monitored with a doppler every few hours to make sure she wasn't in distress. 

I would say it's ultimately your choice, but if there is any concern that you can't rehydrate on your own I wouldn't hesitate to head on in to the ER or urgent care. Good luck and hope you feel better!

tvh1982

I would go, as written above you don't want to get dehydrated. 
I never got sick of the flu, but I did had trouble keeping anything down and IV helped tons.
If you feel there is no need, than stay home and take good care of yourself and your LO. But if you feel a slight feeling that you need the extra care, go! They are there to help you, if it's not medically it is to calm your nerves! Both win win

omarismyhomeboy

I'm sorry to hear! I got pretty sick a few weeks ago when I was very early on and was pretty worried about fever and fluish symptoms. I was told to go to urgent care and they actually did give me a flu test (this really awkward thing where they stick really long q-tips all the way up your nasal cavity- it was gross). It was negative and I did start to feel better, but your DH is right that you should get tested for the flu and try to get re-hydrated soon. My RE wanted to make sure I got answers and hydration into my body and to get some sort of medication if they could find any possible infection. 

kdanjou

We just had a round of stomach bug go through our house, so I can sympathize.  I vomited and had loose stools as well.  For the first day I just tried to take sips of water every few minutes, or ginger ale.  Try to stay hydrated!  As long as you are still peeing and it's not dark colored urine you should be ok, but definitely go to urgent care for hydration if you feel like you need it.  The worst danger is dehydration, they don't worry too much about food until you feel good enough to eat it.  I only ate a few crackers towards the end of the day and the next day only ate what I felt like I could.  Your baby will be ok!  Some women vomit for months on end with morning sickness and still have healthy babies.

ChristinaV2015

Hi all,

Thank you for your feedback and stories.  I ended up going to the ER and I'm glad I did bc I was dehydrated.  They gave me 2 bags of IV fluids and ran some test to be sure it was just viral and nothing more.  And thankfully it is.  Baby is fine and seems unphased with how sick mommy is.  Still feeling crummy today but just trying to let it run its course!