Worried about car exhaust in car while pregnant...Help me feel better?

[Toposlonoshlep]

Hi wise mamas,

My car has been running pretty loud the last couple of months. I don't know much about cars, and I am a newly single mother and mother-to-be, so there were no manly men around to raise any flags. So I thought my muffler was bad. I did get whiffs of gas when I first started my car if the air was on, but I thought that must be normal because the car was standing still. I would just turn the air off, roll the window down and then keep driving. I never really smelled gas while driving, even with the windows up.  I took my car to a mechanic for another problem today and he found that the pipe closest to the engine was the culprit and had deteriorated. He said it was lucky we didn't get CO poisoning driving around like that. He said fumes could have entered the car and that's what I was smelling.

I am so upset.... I am grateful that myself and my two year-old are fine, but I am so worried I did harm to my unborn baby...

Aren't there other horrible things in car exhaust? Benzene? PAHs? I have only been driving around like that for a couple months and only had the windows up and heat on for a month+ once it got cold, I never experienced any CO poisoning symptoms. I had a check up today and the baby's heart beat is nice and strong. 

Am I just a really bad mother for not knowing how an exhaust system works?

[wanderinblues]

well, I dont really know how bad for you It Is, but my last two cars both sucked exhaust and one had a gas leak that took me a whIle to fInd. I never experIenced any bad symptoms and Im sure my exposure was much worse than yours If you werent smellIng anythIng. obvIosly car exhaust Is bad for you but we all breathe It and cIty dwellers get a pretty hIgh concentratIon daIly. Im sure you and baby are as fIne as can be. 

[Toposlonoshlep]

Thank you! I think sharing stories with others really helps me more than anything. Sometimes I feel like the only one in the world with these "doh!" moments...I see all these moms driving Lexus SUVs, all shiny and new, and can't help but feel like I'm the only pregnant lady in an older Hyundai Accent. 

I will try not to worry myself and just trust that I am NOT the only one with this story. 

Originally Posted by wanderinblues 

well, I dont really know how bad for you It Is, but my last two cars both sucked exhaust and one had a gas leak that took me a whIle to fInd. I never experIenced any bad symptoms and Im sure my exposure was much worse than yours If you werent smellIng anythIng. obvIosly car exhaust Is bad for you but we all breathe It and cIty dwellers get a pretty hIgh concentratIon daIly. Im sure you and baby are as fIne as can be. 

[wanderinblues]

maybe I can make you feel even better :)

my last few cars have been fallIng apart wrecks that I paId a couple hundred bucks for. I have some mechanIcal skIlls so can usually keep them on the road cheaply but man are they ghetto!

we dont have a car right now due to lack of funds.

somehow though, I dont feel any worse off than those lexus drIvers. they arent happIer than me.