Horrible cold/flu at 8 weeks

[ai38]

I am 8+3 and I have come down with nasty cold/flu since two nights ago. On the fist morning when I had low grade fever ( around 37.4) I talked to my GP who only told me to take paracetamol, drink and rest. I thought I can manage without paracetamol but that night may temperature rose to above 38 and I have been taking two 500 mg paracetamol since then every 6 or 7 hours. That has helped keeping the temperature lower but I have horrible cough, clogged nose, occasional chills, pain all over my body and overall I feel very poorly. I haven't been able to sleep properly at nights because of coughing. I can't remember feeling this bad before even when I had covid. I have done two lateral flow test for covid and they were both negative.

Worst part is that I am worried that all this might affect the baby, especially the raised temperature. We had a private scan the day before all this began and the baby was fine with a strong heartbeat and measurement were in line with my LMP.

I guess I am writing to see if there is anything else I should/can do now? Are there any symptoms I should look out for? Should I inform the midwives now? I have my my first appointment with them on the 19th.

Any positive stories from mums in a similar situation who turn out to have healthy babies will help a lot :)

I don’t have any advice but just to say I had this cold/flu last week and it wiped me out too! 1day back at work today and I’m exhausted! Hope you feel better soon and get plenty of rest! Xx

It'll be fine. Take the paracetamol to combat the fever. Baby is nicely cocooned away from all the lurgs. I had 2 ear infections when pregnant with second - painkillers and antibiotics absolutely necessary. Dd was totally unaffected.

Are you up to date with your covid vaccines? Hope you are feeling better after some rest soon

I had a horrific cold last week (I’ve completely lost my hearing in one ear after it burst my eardrum!) it’s utterly miserable. However don’t worry about baby. I’ve had 4, all perfectly fine, and between those pregnancies I’ve had covid/stomach bugs/allergic reactions/lost my dad - all sorts of things and they are all as right as rain so I don’t think you need to worry. Feel better soon!

I had a flu type illness when I was around seven weeks and it knocked me for six but all scans etc have been fine since (I'm 27 weeks now).

Baby is fine don’t worry.

Please take the paracetamol every 4 hours, rest and take plenty of fluids. All will be fine.

I had full pneumonia at 16 weeks & baby was safely cocooned inside me.

Thank you so much for your words of comfort.

@SouthwestSis I received my third dose of covid vaccine in December 2021. That was the last dose I was eligible for. I know that we can/should the seasonal booster covid vaccine in pregnancy but don't know how one goes about booking an appointment. Are they on offer all year around or only during flu season?

Baby will be just fine, I had numerous cold/fly type viruses during my 2nd pregnancy after catching everything DD1 caught from school. Here is a link to booking a vaccine/finding a walk in vaccine centre. My midwife gave me my flu vaccine at 16 weeks, which was last summer. All trusts run differently though so you may want to check with them at your booking appointment what services they offer or where they can signpost you to.
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/covid-19-services/covid-19-vaccination-services/find-a-walk-in-covid-19-vaccination-site/

I looked into this recently and it's only if you have a properly high temperature (more than just above 38 you mentioned) for a long time that it might even begin to affect the foetus.