My name is Katie and I'm 18 years old. I found out I am pregnant this week. I am extremely shocked and overwhelmed. I can't sleep at all and am very stressed. I am hoping to learn and make friends from this site. I have an important question, and I don't feel comfortable asking anywhere else. In January, I drank a few times as well as smoked weed and cigarettes. I told my doctor and he said that as long as I stop now that I have the same chances as everyone else for a healthy baby. However, I didn't tell him that I also did exstacy (sp?) twice. It was my first time trying it and I took one pill each time. I also did cocaine at least 3 times when i was pregnant. I am not sure how far along I am yet so it could be up to 5 times. I haven't touched any drugs since and plan on trying everything to stay healthy from now on. My question is... do you guys think my baby could already be damaged in some way? Any serious deformities or ilness or any problems at all? I am scared to death I could have caused a serious problem or defect or something. Oh, and the doctor said I possibly concieved the within the 1st 2 weeks of January.
There's no way of knowing, risks are different for every person and every pregnancy. I wouldn't let that stress you, though. There's no point in dwelling on what you did before you found out you were pregnant, all you can do from this point on is ensure that you're healthy here on out, yanno?
If it calms your nerves a bit, yes there have been women who've done some not great stuff before they found out they were pregnant, who went on to have really healthy pregnancies and babies. The weekend before I found out I was pregnant, I had drank so much that I had alcohol poisoning. My boy's fine, instead of dwelling on that, I just made sure that it didn't happen again.
Welcome to the site, by the way! I'm Cristi. Hopefully you'll find everything you need here :)
hey welcome to girl-mom! I am Beth, 21 years old and mom to Madeline who is one month old. I don't know much about the whole drug thing...but you came to a great place for support for everything that you are going through! The girls here are great, and are full of advice and support on everything!! So...check everything out!
Take Care!!
-Beth
Hi there
I don't know much about the drugs either. I Think the biggest thing to look for in your fetus, is that it is growing properly. I recommend that you find a docter that you would feel comfortable confiding in. If you docter knows of your drug sittuation, your docter will know to regularly monitor your babies growth throughout the pregnancy. If the docter doesn't know, he/she wont know to take any special precautions that might be needed, especially once the child is born, incase it goes through any type of withdrawl symptoms. But, I don't really know much about it. It would be best to talk to a health care professional.
If you live in a small town where there is only one docter, maybe you'll want to phone an annonymous hotline. I googled and found these ones off of this site http://www.coolnurse.com/hotline.htm
Pregnancy Hotline
1-800-4-OPTIONS (1-800-467-8466)
Pregnant & Young Hotline (Birthright)
1-800 550-4900
If these people don't have the answers to the questions you have, I bet the'll be able to refurre you to someone who can. Also, there are a lot more phone numbers on this site, take a look! Good luck :)
thanks for the replies, i have an ultrasound tomorrow morning at 10. i am hoping to hear an update from my doctor as far as the growth. from this point on i plan on being as healthy as i can. i have been eating (or trying to) right. does anyone know any super good foods for me to eat or any vitamins you can take in addition to the prenatal vitamin your doctor gives you?
i smoked and drank before i found out. my son is fine. i agree with cristi just focus on being as healthy as possible from here on out...
btw i'm jenni mama to 2 year old xander, welcome!
same as above (jenni)
I did several vodka shots the night before i took a test, and i was a chronic pot smoker as well...
from a developmental standpoint, it tends to be hit or miss, like an all-or-nothing deal, and it usually favors the nothing, because the placenta is there to filter out toxins.
what's done is done, so try your best not to worry (easier said than done, i know). you are taking care of yourself now and that is what counts.
best of luck & I hope to see you around!
welcome to girlmom. i can definitely relate to the way you are feeling...i had the same reaction when i found out i was pregnant. i was 18 as well, and conceived in January too...new years day. :)
i agree with the above posters...all you can do is not dwell on it and try to have the healthiest pregnancy you can (if you are continuing it.)
i have personally heard that embryo/fetuses are less susceptible to things like that than we think. obviously i'm not saying for people to drink or do drugs while pregnant, but it seems as though nature wouldn't have set it up to where we didn't know about our pregnancies until after they occured if they were very easily damaged in those early stages. that's a totally non-scientific opinion though! i have read that in the early stages, drug use or alcohol, if it does any damage, usually results in a miscarriage, but that's definitely not the only cause of them.
also, i don't think you need to tell your doctor everything if you don't feel comfortable. it's possible that things like that can be used against you later.
just a note about the phone numbers provided above...i don't know about the pregnancy hotline, but i know birthright doesn't provide abortion information.
i hope you enjoy it here. :)