Painting in pregnancy

[Kittybrainz]

I’m having a major panic, and feel incredibly stupid for not even thinking 🤦🏼‍♀️😭 I’m 22 weeks pregnant and have spent the entire day painting our landing. Husband has spent Aprox 5 hours stripping paint off the stairs with a heat gun both been non stop whilst our 2 year old has been at my mums so really cracked on.

Now after my mum has said be careful of the fumes I have looked and seen all the risks that come with it. I’ve never painted anything myself or done DIY so totally gone over my head 😢 husband put a sheet over the top as a barrier for the dust but I’ve been sat on the floor upstairs with no mask on as I didn’t notice any fumes, (just thought I’d could small the heat gun) the windows weren’t open but husband had the front door open the whole time.

It was only when I stood up I noticed the place looking really dusty but with being sat the whole time I’ve not noticed up until then and now I’m panicking like crazy that I’ve done harm to our baby 😢😢😢😢 the window is open now and all dust seems to have cleared.

The paint I used was a water based with minimal VOC, but I’m concerned as the dust was coming from the stairs my husband was stripping which is from previous owners, the house is an old Edwardian townhouse terrace. Have no idea the history of the paint work 😢

Is there something I need to do, apart from not being so ridiculously uneducated in future 😣😢 I’m so worried about our little man 😢

(picture to show the level I’ve been at, I’ve spent the whole day sat down painting as it’s a low level and the sheet went up and over the top of the stairs opening to stop as much dust but still came through)

Take a deep breath and try to calm down.

You have painted the hallway and been in dust - you haven't been taking crack or injecting heroine.
Get plenty of fresh air today and if you decide to paint the babies room do it with the door and window open.
Please don't be hard on yourself OP - When pregnant with my second I smelt this amazing thing ordered it was eating this amazing cheese, cousin also pregnant at the time told me I wasn't allowed to eat it, as it was unpasteurised.
Sorry to admit I glared st told her to go away (nearly stared crying) as this smell was what I needed in my life. I didn't eat it again but I did that day as I needed it.
Good job BTW love the colour

Did you buy the house? If so you would have been informed of and lead in the paint that was previously there but it's highly unlikely.
I painted the whole house when pregnant with my 1st on my own.
And so far been doing plastering, scrubbing and sanding iron paintwork, cleaning out old mouse nests, and will absolutely be painting later on in the pregnancy.
You've been on the floor where the air is cleaner with dust, plus it looks so incredibly blocked off (well done to your partner) plus any dust/fumes that you have breathed in has to be filtered by your body first (nose filters, lungs filter, blood filters) then filtered through the placenta

Thank you so much for the reassuring replies, I really appreciate it ❤️❤️

Try not to worry, what's done is done and there's no point working yourself up into a frenzy for something that's already happened.

We completed on our new house at 33/34 weeks pregnant then spent a good few weeks doing some renovating - painting, a bit of plastering, electrics, new carpet etc etc - before we moved in. I was there a lot while the work was being done 'supervising'.

Our baby is nearly 3 weeks old now and is absolutely fine.

I’ve actually inhaled by mistake some solvents (way nastier overall than any household products) from fairly up close and both reading the MSDS and talking to 111 they ruled out any likely harm. Generally, long term repetitive exposure to some compounds is problematic but one off very unlikely to cause a problem, plus you were quite far away. I’ve heard anecdotally of women who used pest control products while pregnant and nothing happened either if that helps you feel better!