Pregnancy after loss is a trip. If you haven’t been there, you probably don’t get the mental acrobatics that I go through on a daily basis. Today, I’m offering a glimpse into this mental state via a list of reasons I’ve called the nurse line, on-call OB, or sent a medical message during my first 16 weeks of pregnancy.
- Face lotions/cleansers – this one has been the subject of multiple inquiries (three, to be exact, and counting):
- I was concerned with ingredients in the facial cleansers I’d used pre-pregnancy and wanted to know if they were safe for use in pregnancy. Verdict: glycolic acid and lactic acid are ok, salicylic acid is not.
- I accidentally used an oil-free moisturizer with retinol for about a week after my regular (safe) moisturizer started making my face burn. Verdict: retinol is really, really bad. However, retinol was listed most of the way down the ingredients in the lotion I used, so very little of it would’ve been absorbed.
- I brought a bag full of paper masks and my new moisturizer to my OB appointment and made my doctor look over them. Verdict: At this point, she said the only thing she’d really want me to avoid topically is retinol.
- Alka Seltzer calcium chews – I’ve been taking Tums for extra calcium, but the chalkiness grosses me out. I saw a commercial for Tums soft chews, and it seemed like the perfect solution to my problem. The next time I was at Target, I noticed a gleaming end cap of what I thought were Tums soft chews. I grabbed the Target brand (because, hello, I hate paying more for the same thing) and started taking them immediately. After about a week, I noticed that the back of the container said to check with your doctor before using if pregnant. Turns out, I’d grabbed the generic Alka Seltzer brand, NOT Tums. Alka Seltzer products are not recommended for pregnancy, as some contain aspirin. I noticed this on a Saturday, which means I’d have to wait days to find out if I’d made a critical error. Verdict: After sending a medical message, my doctor confirmed there was nothing harmful in these chews and that they were a suitable substitution for chalky Tums.
- I fell on the ice – after the 2 feet of snow we got in mid-April, the parking lot at work was a skating rink, and I biffed it. I called the nurse line and they said I could come in for a heart tone check. I took them up on the offer, and all was good with Baby Schmitz 2. This is the only item on my list that I think is actually a legitimate reason to open a medical inquiry.
- Concerns about a foot massage causing preterm labor – Annnddd… now we’re onto my most ridiculous one, and proof that I can take the fun out of even the most relaxing activities. I scheduled an appointment to get a pedicure and heard that reflexology/foot massage could cause preterm labor. Verdict: There’s no doctor in the practice that would advise a pregnant woman not to get a pedicure. Also, the foot massage you get with a pedicure is not at all intense. After experiencing a very nice, relaxing pedicure last weekend, I realized just how truly crazy this question was.
- Unpasteurized cheese – I bought a really innocuous-looking bag of shredded Parmesan cheese at Trader Joe’s only to notice after several days of snacking that it was made with raw milk. Raw milk (unpasteurized) products can be infected with Listeria, and Listeria can cause some pretty serious issues (death) with unborn babies. Verdict: The 2-32 day window for Listeria development closed (finally), so I’m assuming this particular raw milk cheese product was not infected with Listeria.
- Preterm labor concerns – I had a bunch of weird symptoms crop up one weekend (why does it always happen on a weekend?) and worked myself up enough to where I felt the need to call the on-call OB. I lucked out, because my normal OB was on-call. On-call OBs are sometimes really dismissive, so it was nice to have my concerns validated. I was given the option to come in to the ER for a check. I ended up not taking her up on that offer, because I had a regularly scheduled appointment Monday morning, but it was nice to have a chat with someone who understands my history and gets why I’m a little paranoid. Verdict: all was fine at the follow-up appointment.
Reading through this list, I’m sure you’re noting how irrational some of these concerns are. The thing with pregnancy after loss is that the whole thing is irrational – we’re doing the exact same things, and expecting (or hoping for) a different result. Raw milk cheese, foot massages, and facial cleansers didn’t cause me to get severe preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome in my first pregnancy, but after the worst outcome ever happens to you, you just want to do everything right. I’ve actually handled my anxieties very well overall, so I’m not beating myself up over the few moments of crazy I have had.
