The Joys of Pregnancy...while having a cold

19 Weeks and 4 days Along!!

I wake up on Christmas morning only to discover that my throat has been caught on fire sometime during the night and my nose was stuffy...great. Brad has been battling a cold for the last five days and I thought I was safe with all of the pre-natal vitamins I have been taking...NOT SO! Through out the entire day, I was unable to put out the throat fire and clear my clogged nasal passageways and by nightfall it was almost unbearable! I tried to tuff it out for the next two days and not take any medication and just try to sleep it off. That didn't do too much for the fact it was hard to sleep when you couldn't breathe. My throat got better after a day or so, it was just the throbbing head cold I was dealing with now. After having to sleep on the couch because I felt bad about waking Brad up ever five minutes, I finally broke down and decided to call the nurse advise line at Kaiser too ask what I could take to relieve the sinus pressure and coughing so we all could sleep. Basically, I was told the only medicine I can have is the Sudafed behind the pharmacy counter (you have to show your ID to get it), Robitussin DM for my cough, and Saline Spray for my congested nose. I had to make sure there wasn't Phenylephrine in anything I was taking...I couldn't get an answer as to what exactly that ingredient does but apparently it's not good to take when you’re pregnant. I was also told to take 3 steamy showers a day or sit in a bathroom with the shower going and the door closed. I made sure that the baby would be safe and she assured me that he wouldn't even get sick and this cold is hitting me so hard because everything that would be fighting off my cold is being used to protect the baby. Good to hear! I tried everything the nurse told me to do and I was relieved that I got somewhat of a normal night's sleep. Peanut (aka Andrew) woke me up at around 3am and we "played" for about an hour before I really tried to go back to sleep (he obviously wasn't ready for sleep and continued to kick and roll around). I was wide awake until around 5am when I took some more cough medicine and finally fell back asleep. Oh the joys of being pregnant and being ultra paranoid on what you can take medicine wise :) I suppose I am a normal worrying mommy already!