Guess who is sick with the cold? (Thanks, sick students and coworkers!)
"Most women catch a cold at least once during pregnancy. Although the signs and symptoms can make you miserable, even a bad cold isn't a hazard to your baby. Colds tend to last longer during pregnancy because of changes in your immune system.
To keep from catching a cold, the best strategy is to eat well, get plenty of rest, exercise regularly and avoid close contact with anyone who has the sniffles or a sore throat. If you do come down with a cold, take care of yourself using minimal medications. Many cold remedies that you may be accustomed to using-- including aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, and others), decongestants, cough syrups, antihistamines, nasal sprays, herbal remedies (echinacea), and megadoses of Vitamin C and zinc-- aren't recommended during pregnancy.
To treat your cold, get plenty of rest, drink extra fluids, help clear nasal congestion by using a humidifier in your bedroom or by putting a towel over your head and breathing steam from a pan of boiling water removed from the stove, and continue eating well even if you don't have an appetite. Call your health care provider if your fever reaches 102F, you're coughing up greenish or yellowish mucus, you have a cough with chest pain or wheezing, symptoms are severe enough to keep you from sleeping, or your sinuses are throbbing or you have facial pain."
From: Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy (2004)
To keep from catching a cold, the best strategy is to eat well, get plenty of rest, exercise regularly and avoid close contact with anyone who has the sniffles or a sore throat. If you do come down with a cold, take care of yourself using minimal medications. Many cold remedies that you may be accustomed to using-- including aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, and others), decongestants, cough syrups, antihistamines, nasal sprays, herbal remedies (echinacea), and megadoses of Vitamin C and zinc-- aren't recommended during pregnancy.
To treat your cold, get plenty of rest, drink extra fluids, help clear nasal congestion by using a humidifier in your bedroom or by putting a towel over your head and breathing steam from a pan of boiling water removed from the stove, and continue eating well even if you don't have an appetite. Call your health care provider if your fever reaches 102F, you're coughing up greenish or yellowish mucus, you have a cough with chest pain or wheezing, symptoms are severe enough to keep you from sleeping, or your sinuses are throbbing or you have facial pain."
From: Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy (2004)