honest mistake iss ruining my life

[need to know]

I was unaware of the drug testing for babies because i had no reason to know. However; I fell and hurt the knee i had surgery on and got some painkillers from my sister so i could work my last week of work. Then i told my obgyn about what happened and he said he would be testing the babies stool from my research i'm guessing the meconium, and if its in there i might not have a baby. I'm 36 weeks pregnant there time is running out! What should/can i do. Honest mistake is ruining my life. Need advice

[need to know]

help

[yarngoddess]

I'm confused here. You had knee surgery, took another person's pain meds, and because of this your doc is looking to test you baby's meconium for what? What do you mean if it's there you might not have the baby? I'm lost...sorry. Can you try to ealborate a bit?

[A_Random_Phrase]

If you have your baby at 40 weeks, I would hope the drug would be out of your system by then. People who are already born would certainly have it out of their poop after four weeks. I don't know about meconium, but it seems logical that a drug in your system now would be out by 40 weeks.

Anyone know about this? I'll see if I can find any information.

[A_Random_Phrase]

Okay, first - why would they take your baby if you took a drug for a hurt knee? Why is this doctor not "user friendly"?

Second - Is there a limit to how little of the drug is considered okay?

Now, for the not so good news if your doctor is not willing to be understanding.

http://www.arupconsult.com/Topics/MeconiumDrugTesting.html
Meconium (the dark, tarry material passed from the neonate’s rectum in the first days after birth until milk or formula-based stool appears) is the specimen of choice for assessing in utero exposure of the neonate to maternal drug abuse
    * Meconium begins to form between the 12th–16th week of gestation
    * Meconium documents drug use over an extended period of time, covering the last 4–5 months of pregnancy
    * Meconium is preferred over urine for testing
          o Urine testing can only indicate drug use over the last 1–10 days, depending on the drug
    * Meconium is easier to obtain than urine (combining all meconium voids can be helpful if sample size is small)

This may or may not help you:
http://www.clinchem.org/cgi/content/abstract/41/11/1614
False-positive and false-negative rates in meconium drug testing
C Moore, D Lewis and J Leikin
US Drug Testing Laboratories, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.

To determine the number of false-negative results produced by inefficient extraction of drugs from meconium, three published procedures were compared by using previously confirmed positive and negative meconium specimens. The methods were not equivalent in their ability to extract drugs from the matrix. To determine the number of false positives reported by the use of screen-only (unconfirmed) results, 535 screen-positive meconium specimens were subjects to confirmation by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Fifty-seven percent of the samples were confirmed positive for one or more of the drugs under investigation, showing that a false-positive rate as high as 43% may exist when unconfirmed screening results are used.

[A_Random_Phrase]

I would also recommend that you take your question to one of the forums; one that seems appropriate for your question. People who may be able to help you might not look at the "Pleased to Meet You" forum.

[A_Random_Phrase]

Sometimes women's babies come pretty fast. What if your doctor doesn't get there in time? Or if you don't make it to the hospital in time? I wonder what kind of testing he'd do? I'm not saying to go off and have your baby alone. The women in the UC forum do a lot of research before they have an unassisted birth. They follow their instincts, as well.

I really don't have words of comfort for you. Did you ask the doctor what would happen if this painkiller showed up in the test? They may not take your baby away.

[need to know]

Sorry i confused you. Had surgery a long time ago. Slipped and twisted that same knee, tylonal was not sufficiant. I only have pregnancy medicaid so i can not afford to go to the doctor for my knee at this time. My sister is prescribed, well all kinds of stuff but i have vicoden from her to make it through my last week of work. I'm a waitress. But because i told my obgyn he is now obligated i guess to test me, which i'm not worried about, and the baby. If either of us turn up positive the baby will be taken away.

[need to know]

Yea that is when i learned about the drug testing laws. Every state is different but for the most part if either if you show up positive the baby can get taken away. I was thinking exactly what you said. Its my first child and i just don't something bad to happen. but thanks for recommending the UC forum didn't know it exsisted!

[need to know]

Thank you for taking the time to share that with me. Not sure how i feel but thanks for taking the time to to try and help. this is my first and i'm scared to death but i will have to figure something out.

[tink79]

I have known several people who have been prescribed vicodin by their OBGYN or dentist DURING pregnancy.  It's not ideal in the least but I really don't think they can take your baby for taking vicodin during pregnancy, especially not if you have an issue that causes you severe pain.  Did she just have a problem with it because she didn't prescribe it?

[Llyra]

Honestly, if a doctor threatened me like that, I would not see that doctor again.

[A_Random_Phrase]

Being on medicaid, she may not be able to switch doctors.

Is there a way to find out what drugs are not acceptable? I'm not familiar with the drug you mentioned.

I am very glad I had my babies before this nonsense. This is the first I've heard of drug-testing your baby and taking your baby away. I'm sure there's a way around it. I wonder . . . do you have any friends who know the law? They might be able to help you. If you are in a clinic, is there a more sympathetic doctor to talk to? You need to be armed with information. Ignorance is a very bad thing when something like this threatens you. Do you have any friends in a medical field? In a social work field, who would be safe to talk to? You need to know your rights. You need to know the reality of what you're dealing with.

[WindyCityMom]

Could you go to a different hospital when you go into labor, and just go in last minute to the emergency room?  Even if it means laboring in your car or a nearby motel for awhile.

[Annie Mac]

I suspect the doctor is concerned that this is an ongoing abuse problem, and that you told him/her either in a peak of guilt or as a plausible reason for the baby to have drugs in his/her system. Vicodin is pretty addictive, no? Since you have really just taken it the one time, it probably will have cleared the baby's system (I guess, I don't know how long it takes) in 4 or so weeks.  I really can't see the doctor actually *wanting* to take the baby from you for just a one time use of painkillers. Just don't take it anymore, or only take what the doctor prescribed for you (did he/she prescribe you anything else for your pain?)

[2happymamas]

I work in child welfare and drug testing is common (around here) of infants born in the hospital. Not every baby is tested, but it is often at the discretion of the hospital, doctor, nurses, etc. Who gets tested is often dependent upon stereotypes, education, how a person presents, and appearances. Not saying it's right, but that's how it is here. And if the baby tests positive, child protective services will very likely be contacted.

If I was the OP and took someone else's medication (as stated and not in a substance abuse type situation), I would pay out of pocket to get to a doctor, say my knee hurt, and hope like hell I could get a prescription for the same medication. CYA.

[Lisa1970]

Is he threatening to have your baby taken from you? If I were you, I would leave this doctor before the birth. Even if you have to make excuse and "move in with your parents" or "husband is transferred" or whatever else it takes. I would try to cancel the next appointment in the quietest manner possible and hope he does not notice. If he does and he calls, claim you have moved and do not give a forwarding address. That doctor is being an ...@##$$$# to make such a threat. And he is not the one to decide if a baby is taken away, the state will be. I had a doctor make a threat like that to me once. He was the oncall doctor and found out I had sued another doctor and he made remarks about it and said my baby would be taken away. He tried. He called CPS on me twice within a day! But, all CPS did was tell me I should press charges against him for the false report. Also, it is illegal for him to run a drug test, or any other test, on a baby without your permission.

[mamadebug]

I would contact the doctor who performed your knee surgery, explain what happened and ask them to intervene with your OBGYN - they could certainly write a letter and fax it to your OBGYN.  People have surgery during pregnancy sometimes, and when you have surgery, pain medicine usually goes with that.  Maybe the OBGYN is concerned it is more of an ongoing thing, though - but if they are really going to give you a hard time about it, I would also consider switching doctors.  Sorry you are going through this and have this stress.  

[LionessMom]

so you had surgery awhile before you got pregnant. you do not have a current prescription for this medication. did you do any research to see if it was ok while pregnant? no. did you go to your ob/gyn to ask if you could take something for the pain? no. did you ask your ob/gyn about your knee? no. so your ob/gyn is now under the impression that you are a druggie who is trying to cover it up. why? bc most people would go to the doctor to ask if something was ok to take before they took it, esp it being a very likely to be abused prescription medication that was not prescribed to you. which in all honesty, is illegal to take. i dont know how much you took or how long you took it, but it would relate to whether or not it shows up in the baby.

i had pregnant medicaid. in my state it pays out for everything. does you knee still hurt? if so i would go back to the doc and tell them it still hurts and you wanna know what to do about it. i doubt a new doctor would take you so close to your EDD. if you only took a pill a day for a week, then baby tests would reflect that. if the test is positive, for that med only, CPS might let you keep the baby while they monitor you for drugs. which would mean giving them urine samples once a week or so. i think the best thing to do is talk to the doctor about your concerns. you just cant go around taking other people's medications. that is a big red flag for doctors and that doctor is now concerned you have been taking those pills your whole pregnancy.

[elus0814]