Colds in Pregnancy

Knowing where to begin this one is tricky because it’s just going to be the (slightly) incoherent ramblings of a pregnant lady who is stuck on the sofa at home because of a cold.

Yes, you read that right. A cold. Of all the things, a cold has struck me down!

I’ve been a good girl – went and got my flu jab as soon as my maternity exemption card came through, but unfortunately no such miracle exists for the common cold.

I swore to myself when this blog became a pregnancy one rather than just about IVF, I wouldn’t do one of those “What they don’t tell you about pregnancy” posts. I’ve researched pregnancy pretty thoroughly and because of this, so far I’ve not had any surprising symptoms; I haven’t had one of those, “I wish someone had told me that this would happen!” moments.

What has struck me is how different it is having a cold while pregnant.

Usually, when you catch a cold (as is common at this time of year, especially for people who work in germ factories – sorry, schools – such as myself, my husband, my mother in law…) you can dose up on lemsip drinks, cold and flu tablets and nasal sprays. While they don’t cure the cold, they do make it much more bearable and allow you to carry on with your life pretty much as normal.

In pregnancy, you aren’t allowed any of those things. Aaaaah!

The advice is that I can take paracetamol (‘sparingly’) and should try steaming to help with nasal congestion. Vicks is safe, but Olbas Oil comes with a warning for pregnant ladies, and that is my nugget of knowledge from the pharmacist – some menthol is safe but others aren’t, so check, check, check!

 A lack of remedies that are safe during pregnancy, combined with the less effective immune system that comes with the pregnancy territory, all means that a simple cold can be a lot harder to shift!

I started this cold about 2 weeks ago, and thought it was going away but over the weekend, it’s come back with a vengeance so I’m currently sat on the sofa, with Christmas films and a hot chocolate.