Scared about some weird symptoms

[Granola Momma]

First let me say I know every woman's body is different and pregnancy symptoms manifest in countless different ways for every momma.

But yesterday I had a few weird, scary symptoms that I want to ask about.

A few details: I'm 5 1/2 weeks pregnant with my second child and I'm still breastfeeding my 2-year-old son. Also, I've had a minor cold for the past week...lots of coughing and congestion.

1. When I woke up yesterday morning, I felt achy all over...like I had the flu. I pushed through though and felt ok enough to work in the garage for a bit even though it was very hot.

2. By mid-late afternoon, I was feeling nauseas and the achy-ness was getting worse.

3. By evening, I was barely able to stand, very weak, very fatigued, cramping in front and back, and running a low-grade fever of 99.6 at the highest.

Because the back cramping was so bad, I was sure I was miscarrying, since I've read that that is one of the first signs of miscarrying. However, I have not had any spotting or bleeding whatsoever.

Today I have felt better - no aching, only mild cramping in front, and I have had a return of some nausea and other little signs of pregnancy (like painful nipples while nursing, slight constipation, etc.). That is encouraging, but I'm still concerned about what happened yesterday with the aching, back cramping and fever.

A couple questions:

1. Does this sound like symptoms that are in the realm of "normal" for pregnancy?

2. When you miscarry, is it so obvious that there's no question about it?

3. Could I have just been dehydrated from working in the heat, being pregnant and nursing my 2-year-old? Could that have caused the cramping and fever?

I keep feeling this doubt and this concern that maybe something's wrong with the baby, but I haven't spotted and I've felt "more pregnant" today. And of course, I don't have a midwife appointment for a few more weeks, so I just have to sit around and wonder if everything's okay until then.

Any insight or encouraging stories are welcome.

Thank you, mommas. Your stories and words are so inspiring to me.

[Triniity]

Obviously it is not possible to say anything for sure with only the internet, but to me it sounds like a flu-like infection or something. I´d see a doctor or your midwife if possible at all. 

Hope everything will be fine! 

Hugs, 

Trin

[AbbieB]

Dehydration could cause those symptoms too.

I struggled with dehydration at times with my last pregnancy and I always had cramping that went away with rest and liquids. You can also run a fever with heat exhaustion.

You might have also had a bit of a nasty trifecta of heat/dehydration, a virus, and being pregnant just hit you hard.

I hope you are able to rest and take it easy today.

I would seek medical advise if it happens again though.

[Toposlonoshlep]

This is very rare, but mild flu-like symptoms could be a sign of listeria infection. Have you eaten any suspect foods? Maybe smoked fish, deli products, cold cuts, leftovers, anything that rings a bell? If so, I would go get a blood test at your doc's just to rule it out. If you do have an infection, it can be treated with antibiotics and would likely not cross the placenta. If you wait and it spreads (AGAIN- SUPER RARE!!!), it could harm the baby. Mind you, I break all the cold foods rules of pregnancy. I love lox and smoked fish, caviar and roe, and I don't heat up seafood salad from my fridge, because that would be gross. 

I'm glad you feel better mama. Try to take a deep breath, heal up, and everything will probably be ok!

[Granola Momma]

Thank you all for you insight and support. I saw my family doctor today and had a couple blood tests and urine tests that turned up normal and showed "strong positive" on my pregnancy test. Then I had an ultrasound and ruled out tubal pregnancy and miscarriage.

It's still to early to see our little peanut, but we saw the "sac within the sac" (aka, the yoke sac within the uterus). That's as good of news as we can get at this point. And I have another appointment with my family doctor to take another urine test exactly 48 hours from my urine test today to make sure the hcg has doubled.

I feel very positive about everything that the tests showed today.

As for the listeria thing, I haven't had any suspicious foods. I don't like seafood and during pregnancy I heat EVERYTHING up. I'm a little anal about it, to be honest! So I don't think that's the issue with the fever stuff.

Thank you again so much for all your encouragement and insights, mommas.

Peace...

[Triniity]