Risks of the Flu during pregnancy - Page 2

[myk]

as far as i know, the biggest risk is fever. a high fever can cause problems in the baby - when i had a high fever last week (40celsius, not sure what that is in F) baby's heart rate jumped to 190. normal is 130-160 except when VERY active. i also got dehydrated at the time and nearly went into labour - strong contractions every 5 minutes. if the flu happens to cause high fever and dehydration, you're definitely at risk! we managed it with tylenol for the fever, and IV fluids because it was severe dehydration, but once i was rehydrated i've been drinking tons of water and occasional gatorade for the electrolytes.

[danilouwho]

Sorry if this is stealing the thread, but I'm so curious so...
 

Originally Posted by Lady Lilya 

WhiteHorse, the RDA for vitamin D is ridiculously low. It was determined decades ago, and is just enough to prevent rickets. Since then, they have discovered over 200 other processes that vitamin D is involved in. They are planning to revise the RDA to 1000IUs per 25 lbs of body weight per day. So let's say you weigh 150lbs, you'd need 6000IUs per day. Most vitamin D sups in the stores are only 400IUs! But online I found much larger dosage amounts. I like the brand Pure Encapsulations.

Ok, I've been reading a lot about vit. D lately and am very curious about it. Is this something I should speak to my midwife/doctor about or can I just start supplementing myself? I'm still in the process of switching/deciding on a home birth midwife and so if I could start this on my own, that would be great.
Also - talked to my husband about it last night and he very matter of fact told me "I get tons of sunshine every day......"  and I wasn't sure what to say specifically except, you know, that isn't enough. He wasn't buying it. Which is odd for him because he usually goes for this stuff, but I think I just didn't have the right info for him to understand what I was saying. 

I'm staring down the beginning of a cold right now and if vit. D could help, along with just keeping me/baby healthy in general, that would be awesome.

[Lady Lilya]

Dani, the 25(OH)D test would settle the argument between you and your husband.  It would tell you exactly how much he is getting.

I started taking vitamin D without anyone's permission.  When I started seeing my midwife, she asked for a list of supplements and meds i have taken since conceiving, and didn't have a problem with it.

[tntmom]

I apologize in advance if this is a bit off-topic, but I know there is also some research showing that taking increased amounts of Vit D during pregnancy reduces the risk of preterm labor/birth. If you google Vit D and preterm you will find lots of information. It seems Vit D is super important for bone health and immune function so to me I think it would be very beneficial during pregnancy and I'm personally taking 5000 IU daily....I would be comfortable doubling that if getting sick or during illness.

[the janet]

I'm 35 weeks and my husband has the flu. I've been trying to take care of him since I got home 3 hours ago but have since fled to the bedroom while he lays suffering on the couch.

I am trying to be as comforting as possible, since he seems to really be in a bad way, but I haven't had the flu shot and I don't want to get sick again (I had a mild cold a week ago). I hope it's not too late... 

[JFTB1177]

Originally Posted by WhiteHorse 

So, I am still curious - what are the risks of flu to the baby? Luckily, I still have not gotten the bug my teenager (and now 3 yo) had and are now over with. I don't think it was the FLU (too short and not enough respiratory symptoms, just mainly high fever and all-over aches for 3 days).

None of the literature I saw indicate Vit D as a flu preventative (not arguing just wondering why I didn't see it).

I would like to see the answers to this as well! I am 31 weeks pregnant and my 4-year-old is getting over a cold and cough. Well just today I started feeling hot, and then it would go away. Then it would happen again. Now my throat is starting to feel scratchy and my glands feel swollen (I'm like, uh oh!). I don't have a fever (yet) but I worry I may be getting something. Btw I never get the flu shot either.
 

[gummibears]

Originally Posted by JFTB1177 

Originally Posted by WhiteHorse 

So, I am still curious - what are the risks of flu to the baby? Luckily, I still have not gotten the bug my teenager (and now 3 yo) had and are now over with. I don't think it was the FLU (too short and not enough respiratory symptoms, just mainly high fever and all-over aches for 3 days).

None of the literature I saw indicate Vit D as a flu preventative (not arguing just wondering why I didn't see it).

I would like to see the answers to this as well! I am 31 weeks pregnant and my 4-year-old is getting over a cold and cough. Well just today I started feeling hot, and then it would go away. Then it would happen again. Now my throat is starting to feel scratchy and my glands feel swollen (I'm like, uh oh!). I don't have a fever (yet) but I worry I may be getting something. Btw I never get the flu shot either.
 

The risks are with fever and then other secondary infections like Pneumonia which you can make it out of, but there's no promise the baby will. From what I see one of the biggest complications is that there's very little out there we can take when fallen ill from the flu. They say get tamiflu, but that, like the darn shot is category C and I'd really like to stay away from another category C thing (which I did not know shot was when doctor gave it to me)

Since I'm very high risk for flu, I got the shot. I travel in a few weeks and in 8 years of traveling to this destination all but 2 or 3 years I've gotten the flu. Being pregnant reduces the immune system, so I'm basically promised to get it given the past ratios. I'm praying  it's not bad and I don't spend the holidays in the hospital fighting for our lives instead of with family that I never otherwise get to see all year. :(

As for vitamin D I'm on a calcium supplement with D3 doctor (another before my prenatal apts) said 2x a day on that. That gives me 2,000 IU vitamin D3 a day.
 

[pregnant@40]

 To the OP, there is a lot of info on the net about risks of flu to both mother and fetus, in case you haven't googled it.