Sad that I rehomed my gerbils due to allergies

[Summer2025]

My DH brought my nearly 3 year old gerbils to the rescue today. I rescued them in 2022 after my beloved hamster died and they lived in a very large 1.5 tank cage. We own a small 2 bed flat but I wasn't conceiving despite years of unprotected sex and didn't have a fixed timeline when I would get pregnant/figured it would take a while. Indeed I had fertility issues so I only fell pregnant end 2024 when gerbils were more than 2 years old.

I thought baby would be in our room for a year plus the 10 months of pregnancy so the gerbils could stay in the second bedroom for the rest of their natural lifespam though I did downsize their cage to a 1m cage to make more room. However I am 21 weeks and I literally can't be around them without wheezing and coughing and even vomited after cleaning out their cage. It's worse than morning sickness. I read that pregnancy can cause new allergies as I have kept rodents since 2020 and this has never happened

I feel terrible about giving them up. Never thought I would be the kind of person to give up pets. Would I ever be able to get pet hamsters again or would I always be allergic
.

Tbh it's unlikely you're allergic to the gerbils/hamsters now after having them for that time.. That's weird.
I'd see about rehoming them. Be honest, it doesn't work with other commitments.

I became horribly allergic to cats whilst I was pregnant, despite having had them all my life. 19 years on, and I still can’t be around them, or near anyone who has one, without dosing up on antihistamines, so it definitely does happen! Also allergic to rabbits and Guinea pigs, which was never a problem prior to pregnancy.

'It is possible for a woman to develop allergies during pregnancy. It is more common for women to already have allergies before conception.
Do allergies get worse during pregnancy?
It depends on the woman and the severity of allergies during pregnancy. About one-third of moms-to-be find their allergy symptoms tend to worsen during pregnancy. Another one-third find their allergy symptoms stay the same. And another one-third find their allergy symptoms actually improve during pregnancy.'

I always did have asthma but pets never triggered me..now they do.