Cant shake this damn guilt!!

[Eva]

I know i should be relaxing but i cant seem to shake the guilt of having taken antibiotics while im pregnant - a friend of mine took antibiotics during her pregnancy and her 5 year old daughter now has vision problems in her right eye, which could lead to total vision loss in that eye....i know this may not be related to the antibiotics she took during pregnancy, but no one knows for sure! I just found out another friend's son has lost 40% of his hearing in one of his ears, and im scared to ask if she took antibiotics during pregnany because i think i will totally panic!
Im now doubting whether i really needed to take the antibiotiics anyway, as i did not have a high temperature at all during my cold (although i had quite a persistant cough). I know some wonderful people on this post have given me lovely comforting words, but im still losing sleep!
:(

[Lachlan's Mum]

Hi Eva

I don't want you to take this the wrong way or anything, but there is absolutely nothing you can do about having taken them now!! What I mean is that maybe you won't do it again, but it has happened, and you cant change it.

What you can do though is stress the baby out with all this worrying!!! You are going to drive yourself crazy!!! :(

I can tell you that we all did it when we were pregnant.....finding out something we shouldn't eat - after we've eaten it, finding out we are pregnant - after that hens night where we were really drunk, etc etc the list could go on forever!! :p

The real fact (as harsh as this sounds) is that your bub (or anyones for that matter) could have probs without you doing ANYTHING wrong!! I know someone who smoked and drank and ate heaps of junk food her entire pregnancy - and I dont agree with it or anything - but her baby was born healthy and 10 pounds 3!!

What you need to do is focus more on the majority of people who have no probs and healthy babies, and the people in this forum who have taken antibiotics and have healthy babies, rather than the couple of people who have been unfortunate.

Otherwise, you are going to end up worse off with all the stress!!! :p

[Elfin]

Dear Eva

I know how you feel but I agree with everything that Lachan's Mum has said. Doctors are so careful with what they prescribe for pregnant women these days and antibiotics have been around a long time. As I understand it the main concern with taking some antibiotics is they can cause discolouration to the teeth in the first trimester. But this is only relevant to a small group of antibiotics that aren't given to pregnant women. I had antibiotics for an UTI (Keflex) and my son (now 5) has perfect teeth, 20-20 vision and excellent hearing although he sometimes suffers from selective deafness :rolleyes:

It is probably unlikely your friends' childrens' problems are linked to antibiotics but if this is bothering you, talk to your doctor or midwife. Just don't let your guilt rob you of having a wonderful pregnancy or the joy of having a new baby in your arms.

Take care
Easterlily :)

[rebecca]

Dear Eva,

I know exactly what you are going through...like the majority of mums to be, I suffered from all day sickness up until I was about 16 weeks pregnant..I just could not keep anything down, not even water...my doctor prescribed me maxalon, after trying many natural remedies that just did not seem to work. I tried not to take the prescribed dosage every day so as to limit the amount I was taking, but still I had this worry that what if I have done something to harm our precious little man! I have thought about it and decided that there are women out there who drink,smoke, take drugs(illegal) and eat whatever they want and they have healthy children. I figure now that whatever is meant to be will be and I can not control everything. It was either take the tablets or go to hospital...

So, chin up and please try not to worry yourself too much about it. If u are still concerned maybe u can get some tests/ultrasounds done to ease your worry and ensure that all is ok with the little one....

Bec & Peanut

[Eva]

Thanks once again for the great advice everyone - its helpful to get a realistic perspective especially when you let your mind run wild with guilt and fear!

[Kat]

Eva,

I can totally sympathise with your guilt over taking antibiotics. I remember taking 2 courses of antibiotics to get rid of tonsilitus and then a sinus infection earlier in this pregnancy. I felt especially horrible at the time about doing it, but realised I wasn't going to get better without them & like the other Mums have said - what options did you have? You took the antibiotics because they were going to make you well.

I think you need to accept your decision - from what I've seen as soon as we make that huge decision to become parents and start that journey there are a lot of difficult decisions we have to make about our children and what will be best for them. We can't make the right decision every single time - nobody is that perfect!

For me personally that is how I decided to view my taking of antibiotics while pregnant - that it was my first 'scarey' decision to make that *might* affect the well being of the baby. You might not have HAD a fever, but who's to say you weren't going to develop one without treating your cold? So even if you don't like your decision now, at least you've got that first 'mistake' under your belt and how you deal with this will be a valuable lesson for how to deal with the mistakes of the future - we are all going to make them!

I also agree to some extent that doctors tend not to give you drugs while pregnant that aren't safe - though there are levels of 'safe' - I think if you find yourself in the position again of contemplating antibiotics when pregnant and you still feel the way you do now, to talk it over with your doctor and midwife - what the antibiotics do to your system and what the alternatives are? Sometimes there just aren't any options and antibiotics ARE the best thing.

Good luck with the remainder of your pregnancy. I hope it goes along uneventfully :)

Cheerio

Kat