Exposure to chickenpox at 20+5

[snowcake]

My husband wants to throw a party, inviting all our friends. I am pregnant 20+5 and have had chickenpox previously, not mild but not severe either.

One of my friend's kids has the chickenpox at the moment. It's doing the rounds in school locally. There are a few others I know whose kids have it, too.

I have a 2.5 yr old dd and a 6 months old baby. I'd like to cancel the party because I don't want to be exposed to the virus (my kids are currently with grandparents abroad this week). I will see them again on Friday.

Can I catch the CP from exposure to the parents of those kids? Am I 100% protected from catching that virus? My husband and I are really at odds over this. Please help!

Hi snowcake I have no advice but am very much interested in the responses you get.

I have just found out that my nephew (who lives with us) is likely to have CP, after he went to a party with other children that had it !!!!!!!! Now he's got spots!!!

I'm 25+3 and have to say more than slightly concerned about this. His mum doesn't seem to think it should be a problem because I've already had CP. The thing is I've had it twice so I'm thinking that when they say you only get it once...its a myth. Am I right?

Sorry for gatecrashing your post like this snowcake I hope you don't mind.

XX

Not at all stormbird, how annoying for you. Personally I do think my H is v v unreasonable. It's a party, it can be postponed by 3 weeks. I am carrying a life, does that mean nothing just because it's our third girl???

I am v unhappy and really hope someone can shed some light.

Urgh! snowcake how infuriating, I get exactly where you are coming from. The worst thing for me is that my DP's sister took him to the party on purpose, so he'd catch it. I think its totally unreasonable. It doesn't matter how far gone you are, if you've had it before, WHATEVER, in my eyes there are still risks.

I hope someone can put our minds at rest.

NHS advice here

Thanks SoH, I know the nhs website. I am unsure how high the risk is of catching it from a parent of an infected child. I don't know their immunity status, sadly.

Why do you want to cancel for three weeks?

If you've had CP before then you are very unlikely to get it again. If you do you are far more likely to have caught from your own children who are at exactly the age when they are likely to catch it. You could catch it for the second time from an infectious parent but it is unlikely as most adults have had it and catching it again is rare.
In any case Spring is a peak time for CP so you aren't ever going to be 100% protected unless you isolate yourself.

I think if you insist on cancelling you will embarass you husband and your friends will think you very odd for the reasons outlined above.

What's that 'third girl' thing all about? Has your husband said anything that leads you to think he doesn't value the child? Because if so that's what you should be worrying about and if not then you owe him an apology.

Chickenpox was going round at my son's nursery a few weeks ago, and basically, the advice my midwife gave me was this:
If you have had chickenpox, you should be immune, and can't pass it on to your baby.
If you are worried, ask your GP for a bloodtest to check for varicella antibodies.

Chickenpox is contagious for about a week before the spots come out, i think, and until the spots have all scabbed over.

oh, and DS only caught a mild dose of it (glad we've got that out of the way) and it didn't affect me at all.
I had chickenpox when I was about 8.

Hi NL, thank you for your sound advice. That's what I was hoping for as the kids are not invited and I have had CP as a child.

Well, he's made it pretty obvious that he wanted a boy, let's just leave it at that. Though he has repeatedly said a healthy child is all he wants but it sounds pretty standard to me.

Thanks Ivy re the duration of infectiousness.

For your peace of mind why don't you just get a blood test to check for antibodies that way you can be sure whether you're immune or not?

I did preconception bloods last year and turned out that I was not immune to it so decided to have the vaccine as we knew we would start trying for a baby at some point and I work in a nursery so there is a high chance of being exposed to it.

Last week I found out that one of the adults I work with has shingles - and while the risk is still quite low (I am 11 weeks) the GP said to get my blood retested to make sure the vaccine has "worked" before I go back to work and he advised me to stay at home until I know the results.

The stats are on the NHS website or the links at the bottom. The risks are very, very low and if you've had it before you're likely to be immune. Up to 90% of people are. But your midwife/GP will be able to check for you if you're worried.

And I agree with NorthernLurker, the 3rd girl comment is extremely upsetting and cruel and if it isn't something that came from your dh verbatim, then you owe him an enormous apology.

I understand your worries. CP is going around dd's preschool atm. Over half of the children are off with it. But the stats are there, your midwife is there and all you can do is try and deal with the facts as they pertain to you. I know you're frightened but I hope you haven't lambasted your dh over this in a very cruel way.