Cold, sinusitis and coughing so much my tummy hurts. Does it hurt the baby?

[Sandrine1982]

Hi there. I'm 25 weeks pregnant and since last Tuesday I've had a horrible cold, with a bad sinus and chest infection. It started off with a general fatigue, blocked nose and ears, now I've lost my voice and I haven't slept for 3 days because when I lie down, I cough so much my belly hurts. My poor baby's hearing is supposed to be maturing around this time and I'm SO anxious, with all the noise and cough spams I'm sending her during the day and especially at night.

Has anyone had a similar problem? Will this cold ever pass on its own??? I definitely don't want to take antibiotics (even if I could, which I probably can't). I've been to see the doctor but all he advised was plenty of rest and natural remedies. Right, that's what I'm already doing ...

Any advice or just reassurance would be really appreciated.
XXX

Anyone? I'm on the verge of a breakdown. I've had this cold for 9 days now and haven't slept for a solid 5. How long could a cold last??

If you have an actual chest and sinus infection it probably won’t clear until you have antibiotics. So get some !! They won’t hurt the baby, coughing also won’t hurt the baby. See your gp 💐

I really don't think it will do your baby any harm at all - they are very safe and protected in the womb, it's us that suffer on the outside.

Think of all those babies who are born near to building sites, motorways, flight paths, war zones etc. It's a noisy world!

I'm 24 weeks and seem to have developed a very random and unexpected cold and cough. It really sucks not being able to take anything much to try and get rid of it - hope you are feeling better soon!

I've had this exact same thing and I was on antibiotics. You really do need the antibiotics if it's an infection. Theres alot of safe ones so please see your gp.

I'm 39 weeks pregnant and have had a terrible cold, cough and pain in my right side of my face for the last 10days, I went to the doctor on Monday and they said I had a sinus infection and gave me antibiotics - they said it was hard to tell whether it was bacterial or viral but if it was bacterial the anti biotics would help. I've been on them 3 days and today is the first day I've felt better and got a reasonable sleep. The dr will only give you antibiotics that are safe for your baby. They may also give you a steroid nasal spray that was suggested but he was reluctant due to how far along I am

Hope you feel better soon - I know how awful it is to feel like this when pregnant and there's not much you can take for it

I had this in November in early pregnancy. The movement from the coughing etc won't hurt the baby as he is well cushioned.
But if you want to clear it then I would suggest seeing your gp for a light antibiotic dose.

I caught whooping cough at 6 months. Baby was fine. There are certainly some ABs that you can have if necessary. Perhaps check with your GP again?

sandrine1982 I've got similar at the moment and have ended up with bronchitis for the second time this pregnancy. This is my fifth course of antibiotics this pregnancy (32 weeks) but they've reassured me baby will be fine. The gp said it's better to take the antibiotics than end up with pneumonia! (which ironically enough is what happened to my mum when pregnant with my sister)

Thank you all !!! That's very reassuring. The DR did say to come back in 3-4 days if not better.

May I ask which antibiotics did you take?

Amoxicillin and then clarithromycin - but the gp did a phlegm swab (nice) to check which antibiotics would work after the first lot failed. Good luck! Hope you feel better soon!

I'm on Amoxicillin - 5 day course

Thank you! So can I ask the GP to do a swab, how common is for GPs to do this? I'm asking because my symptoms are similar to whooping cough as well, so how would I know? I was vaccinated as a child, so whooping cough would be unlikely, right?

I wasn't allowed the vaccine as a child for medical reasons, but the person I caught it off had been vaccinated, as had their DS who she caught it from, so the vaccine is not 100% effective.

The GP did a nasal swab to confirm DX - he was highly doubtful that it would be whooping cough so was slightly amazed when it came back positive. I was given ABs as apparently that stops it being infectious.