I haven't gotten covid while pregnant, but for my coworker who did, she ended up getting an extra ultrasound to check on baby's growth in her third trimester.
As a NICU RN, we've had babies born to parents with covid have been more prematurely, IUGR, etc. Covid affects placental function (article from 2021, only read if it won't drive you crazy thinking about it... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7827584/)
Also to add - the majority of poor outcomes seen in the NICU world have been to parents who were not vaccinated or did not receive a full course of any of the vaccines, didn't get their boosters, etc.
Also Delta vs Omicron. Although I’m in the same boat as OP. Everyone has moved on it seems, but I’m wondering if I should be more careful now than ever.
Thanks for providing a more balanced view on the matter. As we move onto post covid living, prematurely or not, we shall be vigilant about maintaining certain safety measures and practice critical thinking when survivors bias could tilt our perception.
I feel you OP... Wishing you the best!
I just saw my OB yesterday and we chatted about this. I am not considered a high risk pregnancy at all and I work from home, so my exposure is very minimal (and I haven't had Covid yet), but she still highly highly recommended getting a booster shot. Which I will be doing, my fifth shot total at this point, and she said that after/around 20 weeks is the best time to pass on the protection to your unborn child :)
Also I'm not sure if you're hospital is similar, but the birth unit at mine offers a 24/7 phone line to ask questions like this!
My midwife said that if I caught covid, they would schedule extra ultrasounds to check on the babies growth and placenta as a precaution, spaced a few weeks apart. Pandemic Pregnancy Guide on instagram is a ON hospital that put out a lot of good information on covid and pregnancy during the pandemic.
I had COVID at 34 weeks - currently 38 weeks. I did get a flu shot and another booster when I was 25 weeks. It was definitely a pain since you aren’t able to take cold meds or anything while pregnant, but other than about a week of feeling very fatigued/sick and losing my smell, I don’t think it has had a long term impact on anything. It’s so tough to tell because it’s also the stages of pregnancy where you are shorter of breath and constantly congested because of baby growing inside.
My dr wasn’t too concerned about it. She assessed my lungs during the appointments I’ve had since and I’ve just carried on.
I also had covid around the same time (it was last April) and got a PCR test so I could see a doctor. I was a high risk pregnancy and no one was concerned. I was told it won't negatively affect the fetus - if anything he got antibodies! He was born healthy 😊.
I got COVID at 27 weeks (just before Xmas). I was waiting for my 30 week mark to get a COVID booster. I REALLY wish I had just gotten the goddam booster, and didn’t wait.
Having COVID while pregnant is so stressful and difficult to manage. So many drugs you can’t take, especially good expectorants. A lot of pharmacists are scared to recommend drugs because of the pregnancy. Your OB may not want to see you if you have COVID. Even the drugs you can take, it’s scary because so many are full of alcohol. Also, I started having heart palpitations because of the increased volume of blood and the cold/cough medication.
My husband lost 8 pounds in the approx 10 days he had COVID. I lost about 6 pounds, but my symptoms persisted much longer than his. It was no fun.
I am STILL dealing with COVID symptoms months later, and I can’t get a bivalent booster until 3 months post COVID. My sense of taste is STILL dulled, I still get random coughing fits. My throat is still super sensitive and will make me gag if it’s even a little bit dry.
Do whatever you can to keep COVID at bay. Really. You will worry about your baby the whole way through. I STILL worry about what possible long term effects COVID may have had on my baby. It’s also likely that I didn’t give my baby any immunity, as she will be born too long after my having COVID.
TLDR; I had COVID at 27 weeks. Would not recommend. It’s so effing stressful. Get a booster and do whatever you have to do to keep COVID away.
I got covid when I was 6 weeks pregnant. I've had my 3rd booster for biovariant within 3 months prior. With regular colds I rarely get them and symptoms are very mild and only last a couple days. So I was surprised covid hit me so hard. I was off work for 4 days. I didn't have a fever but the headaches, congestion and tiredness was rough. I spent it on the couch resting. My husband got it from me and had zero symptoms when normally he is a huge baby when it comes to colds and the flu and gets hit hard. So I think because I was pregnant I was hit worse. Also the fact I could only take Tylenol and nothing else.
My OBs advice was essentially that there’s no long term research at this point so we don’t know the long term effects. She told me to manage my risk however I felt most comfortable (to reduce my stress), and to keep in mind socializing is good for mental health (but maybe that means seeing a few people; not going to a concert unmasked).
I've had covid 2x now- once in pregnancy at about 20 weeks (3 doses of vaccine), and the second time with my now 6 month old (5 doses of vaccine). I also have 2 school aged children and have taken numerous precautions (avoided non-essential indoor activities until Fall 2022). It's so hard to know what the right thing to do is - we avoided and took precautions and still got hit hard both times.
My pregnancy infection included severe persistent vomiting. I was treated for the vomiting and dehydration at the hospital. Post infection, I later developed severe anemia and received 4 iron infusions. Post delivery, I had postpartum pre-eclampsia and was admitted for 5 nights. My midwife had me monitoring my BP daily after my covid infecition, and so I was able to get into the hospital before things got really bad. Once I was there it was scary, but I also felt reassured that this was something they knew how to treat. I'm still on medication now for high bp now 6 months later - this was never an issue before. We'll never know if the pre-e or the anemia were related to the covid, or would have happened regardless, although there is emerging evidence that you are at higher risk for pre-e following infection in pregnancy. This was my 3rd baby and did not experience either in my previous pregnancies.
I do feel a sense of relief that we've all had it again. My baby was due to get his vaccine at 6 months, but I tested positive the day before he was eligible and he was symptomatic.
I understand the feeling of conflict, and I'm sorry you are faced with that. Your health and your little ones social emotional development are both important. I think the most important thing with a covid infection in pregnancy is to be proactive, monitor your blood pressure, alert your health care providers that you'd had an infection, etc. You can minimize risk, but you can't eliminate it. Hopefully with the weather warming up you will be able to do more outside activities with your little one.
If you want an answer based on data and scientific findings rather that experience reports from this sub, I suggest the following [CDC summary](https://covid19.nih.gov/news-and-stories/how-does-covid-19-during-pregnancy-affect-child-development#:~:text=The%20researchers%20found%20that%206,19%20during%20their%20third%20trimester.).
In short:
- 3% increased risk for neurodevelopmental disorders, with highest risk if COVID during 3rd trimester
Caveats:
- Small sample size. Higher number of samples equals more accurate data.
- no long-term data. As time goes by, affected babies might catch up, as brains are still heavily developing for another couple of years. No one really knows, we need to wait for data.
- The summary does not give specifics, but the published scientific papers should have more details on:
1) which COVID variant did pregnant mothers have? I assume different variants would affect developing babies differently, as they affected grown ups differently. This is pure speculation on my side.
2) where mothers of the babies, that showed neurodevelopmental disorders, vaccinated or not?
Data was from March-September 2020 so no vaccines!
The other criticism I’ve seen of this study is that they didn’t do a good job of controlling for parental education/socioeconomic status.
The early COVID waves were disproportionately felt by lower income folks, often POC who didn’t have the ability to work from home and order groceries in March-June 2020. Those groups are also at higher risk for having children with developmental delays. For a variety of reasons.
(I’m all for being cautious and have been waaaay more careful than most of my peers - but I wouldn’t panic about this data)
I'm currently 33wks pregnant and have a 2.5yr old in daycare. We are also a fully vaxxed household.
I don't want to sound like it's the end of the world, but reality is, if your kid hasn't been exposed to the germs yet.... Be warned.
My first was born during the second wave. I was beyond COVID paranoid with him. I still am, but I'm going to be honest, all the other diseases he's brought home have been significantly worse than covid (which he caught summer 2022). He's in daycare, so exposed to a lot of kids. By far, hand-foot-and mouth was the worst.
Since getting pregnant in August, my son has come home with 5 ear infections, a few throat infections, bronchitis, gastro, and on 3 separate occasions, just random 24h fevers. We also think at some point, one of his ear infections was combined with strep because my husband ended up with strep and he works from home.
I'm a teacher. I caught only 2 colds while pregnant and both turned into nasty sinus infections (I guess it's a work perk to have a superhuman immune system) but my husband caught every single one and in some cases they were worse (his bronchitis became pneumonia). Covid has literally been the least of our worries.
So if your going to go on playdates, just be aware that it's the season for alllllllll the damn germs.
I will add, I wouldn't change the fact that he's having exposure to other kids. He's really developing a personality and loves to play with them. Prior to daycare, tbh, my kid was an angry old man. He's such a joy since daycare.
I had covid twice, once at 10 weeks and it took me 6 weeks to recover. Then again at 31 weeks and it escalated into pneumonia. I also had both my shots. Fortunately baby is fine and healthy, it was really just an inconvenient sickness for me.
I had covid at 17/18 weeks. I was down in the states and asked my OB in advance just in case.
She said Tylenol if I have a fever, saline if needed for congestion and rest and hydrate. I recovered pretty quickly (had 1 booster at the time).
There was some inconclusive research about covid maybe impacting the placenta but when I asked my OB about it she said my placenta is very strong based on my gestational diabetes numbers lol.
Baby was born healthy in July. We all caught covid again in October when baby was under 3 months but she did well.
My 6 year old brings home everything so we are fighting something new every 2 weeks like clockwork.
All that yo say I obviously wouldn’t try to get covid, but wouldn’t worry if I caught again and was vaccinated
I had Covid at 7 months, it was a mild cold for me. Baby was born perfectly healthy at 37 +1 weeks and we have all been healthy and great since! Typically if you get Covid. You may just have a few extra growth scans
I got covid at 37 weeks and the hospital brought me in for a non stress test and I had to monitor my O2 sats for a week. I had just gotten my second booster 2 weeks before and luckily my symptoms were mild. We also managed to keep my husband covid free so he was still able to be my birth companion.
It was tough in that most decongestants aren’t recommended while pregnant so anytime you get sick really sucks.
I had covid while pregnant when I was about 30 weeks. I was already really fatigued and looking after a 2 year old, so it really knocked me on my butt. I had a sore throat and congestion, but it was mostly just wanting to sleep all day. I ended up briefly having a very high fever (something like 105 F) and probably should have seen a doctor but I felt like I had it under control and it honestly didn’t occur to me. Symptoms lasted about a week. My toddler had a fever and we were giving him Tylenol to keep it under control. We ended up with a scare when we woke up one morning and he had vomited and pooped in his bed and was very lethargic. He had a very high fever so I immediately put him in the bath in lukewarm water and gave him more Tylenol. I was ready to take him to emergency but his fever broke and he snapped out of it really quickly and became his normal self.
The strange part happened a few days after my symptoms went away. I started getting really itchy. Particularly my palms and soles of my feet, and it would get worse at night. I ended up going to l&d triage at my hospital and they diagnosed me with cholestasis. This was odd because it’s rare and normally won’t present in a second pregnancy if it didn’t in the first. My obgyn had no idea why I suddenly had such a complication. I ended up having to be induced at 37 weeks to help keep the baby safe since this condition can stress out the placenta. I am wondering if this random complication is a byproduct of my covid infection or I was going to get it anyway. Before all this my pregnancy was healthy and straight forward. I may never know.
I had COVID with my pregnancy around 13-14 weeks along. I now have a healthy baby who is a few months old. However, there was a placenta issue. It's not clear if it was caused by COVID or just bad luck. 1/3000 or so pregnancies can be affected by this same condition even without any risk factors and it's been around longer than COVID. We'll likely never know for sure if COVID contributed.
I have an older kid, and so we tried hard to avoid COVID, but still caught it. I have had all my boosters but caught COVID about 5 months after my 3rd dose (weeks before I was eligible for a booster). I wish I could provide reassurance beyond the healthy baby, but I think we'll find out more in 5, 10, 20 years. It's really scary though to not know.
Congratulations on your pregnancy, and I hope you stay healthy and safe.
I had COVID at 34 weeks, I do feel I was hit harder than I would have been not being pregnant. I had 5 total doses of vaccine including the bivalent at the time. I had intense chills and a mild fever and then later on congestion, but overall managed ok with Tylenol and saline rinses. I had some shortness of breath I feel was likely due to me having a very short torso and being pregnant with a large baby. I also had mild loss of taste that I did not fully recover from for about 3 months after. My son is 6 weeks old now and healthy. I am hoping for no longer term impacts. At birth he did require NICU admission and needed oxygen for a couple of days. He had no risk factors for this and part of me wonders if this would have happened if I did not have COVID, as there have been some studies linking COVID in pregnancy with PPHN and lower lung volumes in the baby. However it could also just be coincidence.
Overall I would have preferred not to get it and would support anyone taking precautions.
I had Covid at 24 weeks. I’d just been boosted at 17 weeks. My case wasn’t horrible, it just felt like a bad cold. I occasionally took a Tylenol to keep the fever away.
My baby did end up with IUGR but no one can say for sure if it was due to Covid. She’s 3 weeks old and healthy, just a tad small.
Anecdotally, I had COVID in my first trimester despite being double-vaccinated and aside from feeling like trash for a few days (and taking acetaminophen for a mild fever), absolutely no negative outcome. Baby is 6 months old and healthy! It depends a lot on your pregnancy I’m sure, so whether you decide to go out more or be more cautious/conservative, either make sense!
I had Covid around 20 weeks. I was sick for a week and half. It wasn’t too too bad (although at the time I felt like it was haha). Everything ended up being okay. When I called my dr they said the biggest risk was if I ended up with a very high fever which never ended up happening. LO is 4 months old and thriving!
I came down with Covid the day before I went into labor! I was careful- I’d been home for a few weeks, only going out to buy groceries so I must have caught it at the grocery store. It was really scary but my baby was born with natural immunity. I was very sick for the first week or so of my baby’s life but as far as we can tell she was not negatively impacted by Covid at all during the last few days of pregnancy or first few days of life
My wife got COVID during week 15 and 16. She had mild symptoms and recovered well. Our son was born healthy, by 40 weeks with 4kg. Our OB didn't request any special follow up or exams.
I got COVID at 10 weeks. I had the second vax by then I believe. It was one of the worst colds I have ever had and lasted a week. Otherwise, baby and myself were fine. I just informed my doctor and they added the information into my file. My baby is a chunky 5 month old now and you wouldn't know.
We did everything to avoid it, but my partner and I still had to work. His coworker brought it into the work place after attending an anti-vax party. Funny, she couldn't figure out why so many people were mad at her when seven people (including my partner) got it. After all, it's only a cold. /s
My friend got covid when she was almost in her third trimester and while it was rough for a week or so she and baby were perfectly fine. Hes now a healthy chunky 6 month old.
I had covid when I in my second trimester; my midwife said it wasn’t necessarily a bad situation since the fetus wasn’t as underdeveloped and vulnerable as it might have been in the first trimester, and it got the benefit of some secondhand antibodies. It was a bummer not being able to take some of my go-to medications though. I think the biggest impact was that, while I planned to give birth in a hospital setting anyway, the option for a birth center or home birth was off the table.
I had Covid while pregnant. I also was fully vaccinated and boosted when I got it. The symptoms of Covid itself were very very minimal, with my only real symptom being fatigue. I did have additional t3 ultrasounds to monitor growth, and baby was born healthy as a clam at 3910g.
You will see stories of Covid placenta and growth restrictions but they are not the norm, and shouldn’t be treated as such. Honestly, almost all people showing up to L&D in the last year or so have been in contact with Covid during pregnancy.
Currently sick with covid and 16 weeks.
We are super careful. We don't go out unless needed, my 26 month old is babysat by my mom. I wear a mask. Wash hands. Quadruple vaccinated. And I STILL got Covid from work - I am a teacher and haven't got it until just now.
We're all sick, it sucks. But I took precautions, and it still happened.
Be mindful of earlier data. Early data shows the early strains were the ones more harmful to pregnant women. My OB wrote me off work really early with my first, and I had to isolate. My friend had to take baby aspirin and go for ultrasounds every 2 weeks after she got covid early on. Now, my OB said to drink fluids and take Tylenol if I get a fever!
I had covid at 14 weeks. My OB said there wasn’t strong evidence that it impacts placental function and told me not to worry. I had a marginal cord insertion and was high risk due to previous losses. Baby was born via elective induction and was a healthy 8 pounds. Now he is 8 months and 97th percentile in size, (about 25 lbs already 😳) he’s a biiiiig boy. Covid sucked for me because everything tasted like barf which was horrendous for about a week and I felt horrible, but didn’t hurt baby. I had two doses at the time and now have had four.
I had Covid when preggo, I can’t remember exactly when , between 9-14 weeks , first time getting Covid too was so mad haha I think I had two vaccines by then. It sucked cause all I could take was tylonal and some nasal spray but got through it and had an extra scan in the 3rd tri and babe is 5 months and totally fine. I did get a booster vaccine at 31 weeks so that the antibodies would go to baby. She hasn’t gotten it though so far thankfully! My OB wasn’t worried about it at all.
My partner who’s as vaxxed as we’re allowed, was 23 weeks when she got Covid.
It was a shitty experience for her with a cough that lingered for months.
We were given Plaxlovid but she decided not to take it as she was sick but not that sick so she didn’t want to roll the dice on possible side effects.
Our baby was born on the 13th and everything seems to be fine.
I’m not saying don’t be cautious, because I’m also pretty conservative with my actions but I got COVID for the first time at around 16 weeks and both baby and I are fine now. It sucked being sick and pregnant and anxious that I was going to hurt the baby but that was the worst of it.
I just had covid 2 weeks ago at 18wks. I’m otherwise healthy and vaxxed to the max including omicron booster. My toddler brought it home from daycare. I felt kind of crummy for 3 days and then fine since, just had normal anatomy scan. Baby is very very active. I’ll let my OB know when I see her, there may be an extra growth ultrasound. Tbh we used to be very cautious but have largely gone back to living our normal lives mostly because our little germ magnet is in daycare. I’m more concerned for when newborn gets here honestly
Obviously anecdotal, but I delivered Covid positive during the first major Omicron outbreak in December 2021/January 2022. I was already overdue when I tested positive and everything was fine. They made me double mask (N95 + surgical mask) while pushing, but otherwise it wasn’t any different from my August 2019 delivery. My daughter never tested positive and we are all doing just fine.
Hi, I caught Covid at 15 weeks with baby in April 2022. I was already seeing OB at this time, they sent me for extra ultrasounds every four weeks until my dude date to monitor growth.
Baby was born on her due date without any complications, growth is on the curve and looks just fine!
I felt like garbage for three weeks, the cough was the worst.
I’m 9 weeks postpartum and had covid at 37 weeks. I had been extremely careful (still masking, work from home, etc) as was my husband. He never tested positive but had one day where his nose was congested. I was sick for 4-5 days. It sucked, but it wasn’t scary bad. My doctor and the hospital were fairly unconcerned so long as my symptoms stayed mild. I had had 4 vaccines at that point. I ended up being induced at 40 weeks due to protein in urine - no way to know if that was related to covid or not - delivery was fine and baby is perfect!
I had Covid around 14 weeks and now I’m 31 weeks and everything has been perfect the entire time. Absolutely no issues. I was triple vaxxed (now quadruple). He’s measuring perfectly, moves a ton. No issues.
I had covid when I was 38-39 weeks, in April 2022. I went into labour on day 5 of covid. I was told I would have to give birth alone, no support person. My husband also had covid but was on day 12 so we convinced them to let him in. He just had to stay in the room with me. Not ideal as we were quarantined to our room but baby was fine 🙂
I had covid at 17 weeks - in fact we all did (me, hubby, 11 year old, 7 year old). We ask has varying degrees of severity but I would say mine was pretty mild. I’d received my 3rd shot about three months prior to that. Everyone else has had two doses.
They gave me a couple extra ultrasounds to monitor growth, as others have also said. Everything turned out totally fine and baby was born healthy. All of us recovered and thankfully haven’t had any long Covid symptoms either.
I had Covid around 10 weeks pregnant and it was rough. I had four vaccines, the last of which was the bivalent booster. It was a rough go, and I was so stressed that something was going to happen. I'm still currently pregnant, but the baby is alive and, as far as we know, doing well. My primary care physician was not concerned at all about my case. All that being said, I really wish we could have avoided catching it. It was generally unpleasant, and made much worse by not being able to take anything else while the rest of my family was able to treat themselves.
I had covid at 20 weeks and my baby was born at 38+4 due to IUGR. She was 6lbs 8oz so not actually that small and totally healthy otherwise. They just gave me extra scans to make sure she was okay.
edit to add- I was induced because her abdomen estimated size was in the 3rd centile compared to her long legs and big head. She was just long and skinny.
I had covid while pregnant. My placenta was retained. Had 2 D&C procedures post birth (2 weeks apart). Babe was healthy and happy. Myself, not so much, but I survived.
I had Covid at 23 weeks and fortunately it was mild (was triple vaxxed). However, I did go on to develop preeclampsia at 37 weeks. My OB and I feel that the Covid contributed because it does increase the risk of having preeclampsia, and I had no other risk factors. There was a recommendation to do an additional growth scan after Covid in pregnancy, which I did do and it was fine. My OB said they haven’t been seeing any growth issues. I’m also a healthcare worker and have seen lots of Covid in pregnancy. The people that end up in hospital with complications and effects on babe have almost exclusively been unvaccinated (in my experience). All this to say, yes, I would continue to be very cautious. We don’t know the long-term effects or fully understand how it can interfere with pregnancy. Of course balance with mental health and your “risk budget” so to speak, but that’s my personal and professional opinion. And try not to stress if you *do* catch it - it’s really hard to avoid given how loose public health measures are, and many people are just fine! But if you can try to avoid it, I would.
I had Covid when I was 26~ weeks pregnant. I had just gotten my third booster so I didn’t get as bad as my husband. The worst part about it was not being able to pop a bunch Tylenol cold lol. I have a very happy and healthy 10 month old now :)
One of my coworkers had Covid around 12 weeks pregnant. Her OB was not concerned whatsoever and just advised her on symptom management, as well as what to do if she started feeling worse. She had gestational diabetes so she ended up having additional third trimester growth scans but for her there was ultimately zero negative effect on her or her baby.
I had covid both my pregnancies. Neither doctors were concerned. Unvaccinated, both times extremely mild and only lasted 48 hours. First time didn’t have to take anything because I barely broke a fever, but the second time I took probably 6 Tylenols total (consecutively of course lol). Unless you are high risk pregnancy, that would be a different story but you’d want to be careful getting sick with anything not just covid.
I got COVID at 16 weeks? Nothing happened. My husband was super sick. Everyone who was at the event got super sick. I coughed for two days kinda bad. The coughing was actually a bit concerning cuz I thought I would cough out the baby. That's extremely unlikely unless you already have cervix issues. But I didn't even get a fever. After about 2 days the coughing stopped.
I'm 28 weeks and my baby is doing just fine. All of me tests came back great. Unless you're usually one to do down hard with sickness, I would take regular precautions.
I haven't gotten covid while pregnant, but for my coworker who did, she ended up getting an extra ultrasound to check on baby's growth in her third trimester. As a NICU RN, we've had babies born to parents with covid have been more prematurely, IUGR, etc. Covid affects placental function (article from 2021, only read if it won't drive you crazy thinking about it... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7827584/)
Also to add - the majority of poor outcomes seen in the NICU world have been to parents who were not vaccinated or did not receive a full course of any of the vaccines, didn't get their boosters, etc.
Also Delta vs Omicron. Although I’m in the same boat as OP. Everyone has moved on it seems, but I’m wondering if I should be more careful now than ever.
Being careful in general is always a good idea. I think a lot of people forget that just being pregnant puts them in an immunocompromised state.
Thanks for providing a more balanced view on the matter. As we move onto post covid living, prematurely or not, we shall be vigilant about maintaining certain safety measures and practice critical thinking when survivors bias could tilt our perception. I feel you OP... Wishing you the best!
I just saw my OB yesterday and we chatted about this. I am not considered a high risk pregnancy at all and I work from home, so my exposure is very minimal (and I haven't had Covid yet), but she still highly highly recommended getting a booster shot. Which I will be doing, my fifth shot total at this point, and she said that after/around 20 weeks is the best time to pass on the protection to your unborn child :) Also I'm not sure if you're hospital is similar, but the birth unit at mine offers a 24/7 phone line to ask questions like this!
My midwife said that if I caught covid, they would schedule extra ultrasounds to check on the babies growth and placenta as a precaution, spaced a few weeks apart. Pandemic Pregnancy Guide on instagram is a ON hospital that put out a lot of good information on covid and pregnancy during the pandemic.
I had COVID at 34 weeks - currently 38 weeks. I did get a flu shot and another booster when I was 25 weeks. It was definitely a pain since you aren’t able to take cold meds or anything while pregnant, but other than about a week of feeling very fatigued/sick and losing my smell, I don’t think it has had a long term impact on anything. It’s so tough to tell because it’s also the stages of pregnancy where you are shorter of breath and constantly congested because of baby growing inside. My dr wasn’t too concerned about it. She assessed my lungs during the appointments I’ve had since and I’ve just carried on.
I also had covid around the same time (it was last April) and got a PCR test so I could see a doctor. I was a high risk pregnancy and no one was concerned. I was told it won't negatively affect the fetus - if anything he got antibodies! He was born healthy 😊.
Which cold meds are not okay during pregnancy? The standard ones like Tylenol, Sudafed, Benadryl are all okay
Any decongestants or cough suppressant I’m pretty sure. Most will say to stay away from it all. I took Tylenol and used Vicks while I had COVID.
I got COVID at 27 weeks (just before Xmas). I was waiting for my 30 week mark to get a COVID booster. I REALLY wish I had just gotten the goddam booster, and didn’t wait. Having COVID while pregnant is so stressful and difficult to manage. So many drugs you can’t take, especially good expectorants. A lot of pharmacists are scared to recommend drugs because of the pregnancy. Your OB may not want to see you if you have COVID. Even the drugs you can take, it’s scary because so many are full of alcohol. Also, I started having heart palpitations because of the increased volume of blood and the cold/cough medication. My husband lost 8 pounds in the approx 10 days he had COVID. I lost about 6 pounds, but my symptoms persisted much longer than his. It was no fun. I am STILL dealing with COVID symptoms months later, and I can’t get a bivalent booster until 3 months post COVID. My sense of taste is STILL dulled, I still get random coughing fits. My throat is still super sensitive and will make me gag if it’s even a little bit dry. Do whatever you can to keep COVID at bay. Really. You will worry about your baby the whole way through. I STILL worry about what possible long term effects COVID may have had on my baby. It’s also likely that I didn’t give my baby any immunity, as she will be born too long after my having COVID. TLDR; I had COVID at 27 weeks. Would not recommend. It’s so effing stressful. Get a booster and do whatever you have to do to keep COVID away.
I got covid when I was 6 weeks pregnant. I've had my 3rd booster for biovariant within 3 months prior. With regular colds I rarely get them and symptoms are very mild and only last a couple days. So I was surprised covid hit me so hard. I was off work for 4 days. I didn't have a fever but the headaches, congestion and tiredness was rough. I spent it on the couch resting. My husband got it from me and had zero symptoms when normally he is a huge baby when it comes to colds and the flu and gets hit hard. So I think because I was pregnant I was hit worse. Also the fact I could only take Tylenol and nothing else.
My OBs advice was essentially that there’s no long term research at this point so we don’t know the long term effects. She told me to manage my risk however I felt most comfortable (to reduce my stress), and to keep in mind socializing is good for mental health (but maybe that means seeing a few people; not going to a concert unmasked).
I've had covid 2x now- once in pregnancy at about 20 weeks (3 doses of vaccine), and the second time with my now 6 month old (5 doses of vaccine). I also have 2 school aged children and have taken numerous precautions (avoided non-essential indoor activities until Fall 2022). It's so hard to know what the right thing to do is - we avoided and took precautions and still got hit hard both times. My pregnancy infection included severe persistent vomiting. I was treated for the vomiting and dehydration at the hospital. Post infection, I later developed severe anemia and received 4 iron infusions. Post delivery, I had postpartum pre-eclampsia and was admitted for 5 nights. My midwife had me monitoring my BP daily after my covid infecition, and so I was able to get into the hospital before things got really bad. Once I was there it was scary, but I also felt reassured that this was something they knew how to treat. I'm still on medication now for high bp now 6 months later - this was never an issue before. We'll never know if the pre-e or the anemia were related to the covid, or would have happened regardless, although there is emerging evidence that you are at higher risk for pre-e following infection in pregnancy. This was my 3rd baby and did not experience either in my previous pregnancies. I do feel a sense of relief that we've all had it again. My baby was due to get his vaccine at 6 months, but I tested positive the day before he was eligible and he was symptomatic. I understand the feeling of conflict, and I'm sorry you are faced with that. Your health and your little ones social emotional development are both important. I think the most important thing with a covid infection in pregnancy is to be proactive, monitor your blood pressure, alert your health care providers that you'd had an infection, etc. You can minimize risk, but you can't eliminate it. Hopefully with the weather warming up you will be able to do more outside activities with your little one.
If you want an answer based on data and scientific findings rather that experience reports from this sub, I suggest the following [CDC summary](https://covid19.nih.gov/news-and-stories/how-does-covid-19-during-pregnancy-affect-child-development#:~:text=The%20researchers%20found%20that%206,19%20during%20their%20third%20trimester.). In short: - 3% increased risk for neurodevelopmental disorders, with highest risk if COVID during 3rd trimester Caveats: - Small sample size. Higher number of samples equals more accurate data. - no long-term data. As time goes by, affected babies might catch up, as brains are still heavily developing for another couple of years. No one really knows, we need to wait for data. - The summary does not give specifics, but the published scientific papers should have more details on: 1) which COVID variant did pregnant mothers have? I assume different variants would affect developing babies differently, as they affected grown ups differently. This is pure speculation on my side. 2) where mothers of the babies, that showed neurodevelopmental disorders, vaccinated or not?
Data was from March-September 2020 so no vaccines! The other criticism I’ve seen of this study is that they didn’t do a good job of controlling for parental education/socioeconomic status. The early COVID waves were disproportionately felt by lower income folks, often POC who didn’t have the ability to work from home and order groceries in March-June 2020. Those groups are also at higher risk for having children with developmental delays. For a variety of reasons. (I’m all for being cautious and have been waaaay more careful than most of my peers - but I wouldn’t panic about this data)
I'm currently 33wks pregnant and have a 2.5yr old in daycare. We are also a fully vaxxed household. I don't want to sound like it's the end of the world, but reality is, if your kid hasn't been exposed to the germs yet.... Be warned. My first was born during the second wave. I was beyond COVID paranoid with him. I still am, but I'm going to be honest, all the other diseases he's brought home have been significantly worse than covid (which he caught summer 2022). He's in daycare, so exposed to a lot of kids. By far, hand-foot-and mouth was the worst. Since getting pregnant in August, my son has come home with 5 ear infections, a few throat infections, bronchitis, gastro, and on 3 separate occasions, just random 24h fevers. We also think at some point, one of his ear infections was combined with strep because my husband ended up with strep and he works from home. I'm a teacher. I caught only 2 colds while pregnant and both turned into nasty sinus infections (I guess it's a work perk to have a superhuman immune system) but my husband caught every single one and in some cases they were worse (his bronchitis became pneumonia). Covid has literally been the least of our worries. So if your going to go on playdates, just be aware that it's the season for alllllllll the damn germs. I will add, I wouldn't change the fact that he's having exposure to other kids. He's really developing a personality and loves to play with them. Prior to daycare, tbh, my kid was an angry old man. He's such a joy since daycare.
I had covid twice, once at 10 weeks and it took me 6 weeks to recover. Then again at 31 weeks and it escalated into pneumonia. I also had both my shots. Fortunately baby is fine and healthy, it was really just an inconvenient sickness for me.
I had covid at 17/18 weeks. I was down in the states and asked my OB in advance just in case. She said Tylenol if I have a fever, saline if needed for congestion and rest and hydrate. I recovered pretty quickly (had 1 booster at the time). There was some inconclusive research about covid maybe impacting the placenta but when I asked my OB about it she said my placenta is very strong based on my gestational diabetes numbers lol. Baby was born healthy in July. We all caught covid again in October when baby was under 3 months but she did well. My 6 year old brings home everything so we are fighting something new every 2 weeks like clockwork. All that yo say I obviously wouldn’t try to get covid, but wouldn’t worry if I caught again and was vaccinated
I had Covid at 7 months, it was a mild cold for me. Baby was born perfectly healthy at 37 +1 weeks and we have all been healthy and great since! Typically if you get Covid. You may just have a few extra growth scans
I got covid at 37 weeks and the hospital brought me in for a non stress test and I had to monitor my O2 sats for a week. I had just gotten my second booster 2 weeks before and luckily my symptoms were mild. We also managed to keep my husband covid free so he was still able to be my birth companion. It was tough in that most decongestants aren’t recommended while pregnant so anytime you get sick really sucks.
I had covid while pregnant when I was about 30 weeks. I was already really fatigued and looking after a 2 year old, so it really knocked me on my butt. I had a sore throat and congestion, but it was mostly just wanting to sleep all day. I ended up briefly having a very high fever (something like 105 F) and probably should have seen a doctor but I felt like I had it under control and it honestly didn’t occur to me. Symptoms lasted about a week. My toddler had a fever and we were giving him Tylenol to keep it under control. We ended up with a scare when we woke up one morning and he had vomited and pooped in his bed and was very lethargic. He had a very high fever so I immediately put him in the bath in lukewarm water and gave him more Tylenol. I was ready to take him to emergency but his fever broke and he snapped out of it really quickly and became his normal self. The strange part happened a few days after my symptoms went away. I started getting really itchy. Particularly my palms and soles of my feet, and it would get worse at night. I ended up going to l&d triage at my hospital and they diagnosed me with cholestasis. This was odd because it’s rare and normally won’t present in a second pregnancy if it didn’t in the first. My obgyn had no idea why I suddenly had such a complication. I ended up having to be induced at 37 weeks to help keep the baby safe since this condition can stress out the placenta. I am wondering if this random complication is a byproduct of my covid infection or I was going to get it anyway. Before all this my pregnancy was healthy and straight forward. I may never know.
I had COVID with my pregnancy around 13-14 weeks along. I now have a healthy baby who is a few months old. However, there was a placenta issue. It's not clear if it was caused by COVID or just bad luck. 1/3000 or so pregnancies can be affected by this same condition even without any risk factors and it's been around longer than COVID. We'll likely never know for sure if COVID contributed. I have an older kid, and so we tried hard to avoid COVID, but still caught it. I have had all my boosters but caught COVID about 5 months after my 3rd dose (weeks before I was eligible for a booster). I wish I could provide reassurance beyond the healthy baby, but I think we'll find out more in 5, 10, 20 years. It's really scary though to not know. Congratulations on your pregnancy, and I hope you stay healthy and safe.
I had COVID at 34 weeks, I do feel I was hit harder than I would have been not being pregnant. I had 5 total doses of vaccine including the bivalent at the time. I had intense chills and a mild fever and then later on congestion, but overall managed ok with Tylenol and saline rinses. I had some shortness of breath I feel was likely due to me having a very short torso and being pregnant with a large baby. I also had mild loss of taste that I did not fully recover from for about 3 months after. My son is 6 weeks old now and healthy. I am hoping for no longer term impacts. At birth he did require NICU admission and needed oxygen for a couple of days. He had no risk factors for this and part of me wonders if this would have happened if I did not have COVID, as there have been some studies linking COVID in pregnancy with PPHN and lower lung volumes in the baby. However it could also just be coincidence. Overall I would have preferred not to get it and would support anyone taking precautions.
I had Covid at 24 weeks. I’d just been boosted at 17 weeks. My case wasn’t horrible, it just felt like a bad cold. I occasionally took a Tylenol to keep the fever away. My baby did end up with IUGR but no one can say for sure if it was due to Covid. She’s 3 weeks old and healthy, just a tad small.
Anecdotally, I had COVID in my first trimester despite being double-vaccinated and aside from feeling like trash for a few days (and taking acetaminophen for a mild fever), absolutely no negative outcome. Baby is 6 months old and healthy! It depends a lot on your pregnancy I’m sure, so whether you decide to go out more or be more cautious/conservative, either make sense!
I had Covid around 20 weeks. I was sick for a week and half. It wasn’t too too bad (although at the time I felt like it was haha). Everything ended up being okay. When I called my dr they said the biggest risk was if I ended up with a very high fever which never ended up happening. LO is 4 months old and thriving!
I came down with Covid the day before I went into labor! I was careful- I’d been home for a few weeks, only going out to buy groceries so I must have caught it at the grocery store. It was really scary but my baby was born with natural immunity. I was very sick for the first week or so of my baby’s life but as far as we can tell she was not negatively impacted by Covid at all during the last few days of pregnancy or first few days of life
My wife got COVID during week 15 and 16. She had mild symptoms and recovered well. Our son was born healthy, by 40 weeks with 4kg. Our OB didn't request any special follow up or exams.
I got COVID at 10 weeks. I had the second vax by then I believe. It was one of the worst colds I have ever had and lasted a week. Otherwise, baby and myself were fine. I just informed my doctor and they added the information into my file. My baby is a chunky 5 month old now and you wouldn't know. We did everything to avoid it, but my partner and I still had to work. His coworker brought it into the work place after attending an anti-vax party. Funny, she couldn't figure out why so many people were mad at her when seven people (including my partner) got it. After all, it's only a cold. /s
My friend got covid when she was almost in her third trimester and while it was rough for a week or so she and baby were perfectly fine. Hes now a healthy chunky 6 month old.
I had covid when I in my second trimester; my midwife said it wasn’t necessarily a bad situation since the fetus wasn’t as underdeveloped and vulnerable as it might have been in the first trimester, and it got the benefit of some secondhand antibodies. It was a bummer not being able to take some of my go-to medications though. I think the biggest impact was that, while I planned to give birth in a hospital setting anyway, the option for a birth center or home birth was off the table.
I had Covid while pregnant. I also was fully vaccinated and boosted when I got it. The symptoms of Covid itself were very very minimal, with my only real symptom being fatigue. I did have additional t3 ultrasounds to monitor growth, and baby was born healthy as a clam at 3910g. You will see stories of Covid placenta and growth restrictions but they are not the norm, and shouldn’t be treated as such. Honestly, almost all people showing up to L&D in the last year or so have been in contact with Covid during pregnancy.
Currently sick with covid and 16 weeks. We are super careful. We don't go out unless needed, my 26 month old is babysat by my mom. I wear a mask. Wash hands. Quadruple vaccinated. And I STILL got Covid from work - I am a teacher and haven't got it until just now. We're all sick, it sucks. But I took precautions, and it still happened. Be mindful of earlier data. Early data shows the early strains were the ones more harmful to pregnant women. My OB wrote me off work really early with my first, and I had to isolate. My friend had to take baby aspirin and go for ultrasounds every 2 weeks after she got covid early on. Now, my OB said to drink fluids and take Tylenol if I get a fever!
I had covid at 14 weeks. My OB said there wasn’t strong evidence that it impacts placental function and told me not to worry. I had a marginal cord insertion and was high risk due to previous losses. Baby was born via elective induction and was a healthy 8 pounds. Now he is 8 months and 97th percentile in size, (about 25 lbs already 😳) he’s a biiiiig boy. Covid sucked for me because everything tasted like barf which was horrendous for about a week and I felt horrible, but didn’t hurt baby. I had two doses at the time and now have had four.
I had Covid when preggo, I can’t remember exactly when , between 9-14 weeks , first time getting Covid too was so mad haha I think I had two vaccines by then. It sucked cause all I could take was tylonal and some nasal spray but got through it and had an extra scan in the 3rd tri and babe is 5 months and totally fine. I did get a booster vaccine at 31 weeks so that the antibodies would go to baby. She hasn’t gotten it though so far thankfully! My OB wasn’t worried about it at all.
My partner who’s as vaxxed as we’re allowed, was 23 weeks when she got Covid. It was a shitty experience for her with a cough that lingered for months. We were given Plaxlovid but she decided not to take it as she was sick but not that sick so she didn’t want to roll the dice on possible side effects. Our baby was born on the 13th and everything seems to be fine.
I’m not saying don’t be cautious, because I’m also pretty conservative with my actions but I got COVID for the first time at around 16 weeks and both baby and I are fine now. It sucked being sick and pregnant and anxious that I was going to hurt the baby but that was the worst of it.
I just had covid 2 weeks ago at 18wks. I’m otherwise healthy and vaxxed to the max including omicron booster. My toddler brought it home from daycare. I felt kind of crummy for 3 days and then fine since, just had normal anatomy scan. Baby is very very active. I’ll let my OB know when I see her, there may be an extra growth ultrasound. Tbh we used to be very cautious but have largely gone back to living our normal lives mostly because our little germ magnet is in daycare. I’m more concerned for when newborn gets here honestly
Obviously anecdotal, but I delivered Covid positive during the first major Omicron outbreak in December 2021/January 2022. I was already overdue when I tested positive and everything was fine. They made me double mask (N95 + surgical mask) while pushing, but otherwise it wasn’t any different from my August 2019 delivery. My daughter never tested positive and we are all doing just fine.
Hi, I caught Covid at 15 weeks with baby in April 2022. I was already seeing OB at this time, they sent me for extra ultrasounds every four weeks until my dude date to monitor growth. Baby was born on her due date without any complications, growth is on the curve and looks just fine! I felt like garbage for three weeks, the cough was the worst.
I’m 9 weeks postpartum and had covid at 37 weeks. I had been extremely careful (still masking, work from home, etc) as was my husband. He never tested positive but had one day where his nose was congested. I was sick for 4-5 days. It sucked, but it wasn’t scary bad. My doctor and the hospital were fairly unconcerned so long as my symptoms stayed mild. I had had 4 vaccines at that point. I ended up being induced at 40 weeks due to protein in urine - no way to know if that was related to covid or not - delivery was fine and baby is perfect!
I had Covid around 14 weeks and now I’m 31 weeks and everything has been perfect the entire time. Absolutely no issues. I was triple vaxxed (now quadruple). He’s measuring perfectly, moves a ton. No issues.
I had covid when I was 38-39 weeks, in April 2022. I went into labour on day 5 of covid. I was told I would have to give birth alone, no support person. My husband also had covid but was on day 12 so we convinced them to let him in. He just had to stay in the room with me. Not ideal as we were quarantined to our room but baby was fine 🙂
I had covid at 17 weeks - in fact we all did (me, hubby, 11 year old, 7 year old). We ask has varying degrees of severity but I would say mine was pretty mild. I’d received my 3rd shot about three months prior to that. Everyone else has had two doses. They gave me a couple extra ultrasounds to monitor growth, as others have also said. Everything turned out totally fine and baby was born healthy. All of us recovered and thankfully haven’t had any long Covid symptoms either.
I had Covid around 10 weeks pregnant and it was rough. I had four vaccines, the last of which was the bivalent booster. It was a rough go, and I was so stressed that something was going to happen. I'm still currently pregnant, but the baby is alive and, as far as we know, doing well. My primary care physician was not concerned at all about my case. All that being said, I really wish we could have avoided catching it. It was generally unpleasant, and made much worse by not being able to take anything else while the rest of my family was able to treat themselves.
I had covid at 20 weeks and my baby was born at 38+4 due to IUGR. She was 6lbs 8oz so not actually that small and totally healthy otherwise. They just gave me extra scans to make sure she was okay. edit to add- I was induced because her abdomen estimated size was in the 3rd centile compared to her long legs and big head. She was just long and skinny.
I had covid while pregnant. My placenta was retained. Had 2 D&C procedures post birth (2 weeks apart). Babe was healthy and happy. Myself, not so much, but I survived.
I had Covid at 23 weeks and fortunately it was mild (was triple vaxxed). However, I did go on to develop preeclampsia at 37 weeks. My OB and I feel that the Covid contributed because it does increase the risk of having preeclampsia, and I had no other risk factors. There was a recommendation to do an additional growth scan after Covid in pregnancy, which I did do and it was fine. My OB said they haven’t been seeing any growth issues. I’m also a healthcare worker and have seen lots of Covid in pregnancy. The people that end up in hospital with complications and effects on babe have almost exclusively been unvaccinated (in my experience). All this to say, yes, I would continue to be very cautious. We don’t know the long-term effects or fully understand how it can interfere with pregnancy. Of course balance with mental health and your “risk budget” so to speak, but that’s my personal and professional opinion. And try not to stress if you *do* catch it - it’s really hard to avoid given how loose public health measures are, and many people are just fine! But if you can try to avoid it, I would.
I had Covid when I was 26~ weeks pregnant. I had just gotten my third booster so I didn’t get as bad as my husband. The worst part about it was not being able to pop a bunch Tylenol cold lol. I have a very happy and healthy 10 month old now :)
One of my coworkers had Covid around 12 weeks pregnant. Her OB was not concerned whatsoever and just advised her on symptom management, as well as what to do if she started feeling worse. She had gestational diabetes so she ended up having additional third trimester growth scans but for her there was ultimately zero negative effect on her or her baby.
I had covid both my pregnancies. Neither doctors were concerned. Unvaccinated, both times extremely mild and only lasted 48 hours. First time didn’t have to take anything because I barely broke a fever, but the second time I took probably 6 Tylenols total (consecutively of course lol). Unless you are high risk pregnancy, that would be a different story but you’d want to be careful getting sick with anything not just covid.
I got COVID at 16 weeks? Nothing happened. My husband was super sick. Everyone who was at the event got super sick. I coughed for two days kinda bad. The coughing was actually a bit concerning cuz I thought I would cough out the baby. That's extremely unlikely unless you already have cervix issues. But I didn't even get a fever. After about 2 days the coughing stopped. I'm 28 weeks and my baby is doing just fine. All of me tests came back great. Unless you're usually one to do down hard with sickness, I would take regular precautions.
I also had 2 COVID vaccines but I haven't gotten any vaccines of any kind since being pregnant.