Chicken pox

[Noneedtocry]

I'm 18 weeks pregnant with number 2. DS is 2.5 and has just comedown with chicken pox. Neither my mum or I can remember clearly whether I had it as a child. I'm seeing my midwife for a regular appointment on Saturday anyway, can I just ask her about it, or is there anything that could be done in the next 2 days that would actually make a difference (considering I don't actually have any symptoms myself)?

Really the only thing you could do is avoid contact with your ds, but chicken pox is most infectious early on (usually even before spots appear), so you've likely already been exposed. It would be really unlikely that you haven't had it before, so most likely you're fine, but other than packing your bags and going away until all the spots crust over, there isn't really much else other than making sure to wash your hands constantly and avoid as much close contact with his as possible (which is probably pretty tricky!).

@Noneedtocry you need to phone your GP surgery and explain the situation.

My husband had it when I was pregnant and my mum said I'd never had it. The doctor didn't quite believe it and said that you could have the infection without getting spots. Nonetheless he asked me to come in straight away for a blood test to check. The results were fast tracked and back the next day (just in case) and it turned out I'd never had it. So I then had to have an injection which basically included a strain of it which made me immune to it for the duration of my pregnancy and protected the baby. All of this happened within 24 hours. The doctor said it can be incredibly serious if you don't have the injection and you've never had chicken pox.

I really don't want to alarm you and I'm sure everything will be fine but do give them a call. Think it still says on the NHS website to phone your GP if pregnant and you're in contact with someone with the chicken pox.

Thanks ladies. I am doing pretty constant hand washing etc but feel like it might be too late - before the spots he had a runny nose and unsettled night and we shared a bed... eek.

Maverick - your experience was just the info I needed... i.e. time does matter. I called the MW and they are going to run tests on my booking blood tests and call me tomorrow to confirm if I have the immunity or not. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I must have had it at some point. I have 4 siblings and was in childcare from 3 months!!

I'm so glad you phoned. Fingers crossed that you have the immunity. You may well have had it without the spots. I was so worried when my husband got them and I was pregnant but the medical professionals dealt with it so quickly and it was so reassuring. I hope you have the same experience. Don't hesitate to chase up your MW if it takes a while to hear back.