Flu and Pregnancy

Hi ladies!  Hubby is concerned after I came home telling stories of how unhygienic one of my students was today...Her mom sent her to school with a fever and the nurse confirmed she had a fever and was trying to get mom to pick her up and sent her back to my classroom hacking up a lung and spraying her sneezes everywhere!  SO besides giving my "how to cough" and "how to sneeze" appropriately speech and what you should do with your hands afterward I was stuck in my room with a sick kid all day long!  ANYWAYS, Flu season is around the corner...I've never gotten vaccinated because I hate needles...I've tried to google flu and pregnancy and it seems it is recommended to get a flu shot...Just wanted opinions...Did you or Didn't you get a flu shot?  Has anyone had the flu while pregnant?  I'm going to ask my doctor about it Thursday BUT I just wanted everyone's input to help me decide my course of action!

Thanks!

[Brittney11]

I didnt get with my first nor will i get it this time around because its seems like ever time i get the shot i get the flu so would rather not.

[ovaz129]

It is recommended that women who are pregnant do get a flu vaccine.  I always get the flu vaccine every year and I have never been sick with the flu... ever.  But, the reason some people still get sick with "The Flu", even if they have been vaccinated, is because there are like a million different strands of "The Flu".  We just generalize and call all of these strands under one name, "The Flu" rather than saying, "I have influenza A3W4".  Make sense?  

So, the flu vaccine does work for many strands, but there are stands of the virus that are not affected by the vaccine.  Talk to your OB further about the vaccine.  He/she will be able to provide you with his or her opinion about the vaccine.  But, personally... I think it is a good idea.  Remember, the high fever that comes with getting sick with the flu can wreck havoc on your body and not to mention the growing person inside of you.  When I was teaching 1st grade, I always got the vaccine.  Those kids are nasty little buggers :)  (Not really... I was kidding.)

[kjbutcher]

I did not get it for the fear of needles also and that my second trimester didnt start until the very end of flu season.  I think there is a certain window when it is recommended.  The doc will know more, but yeah, I would definately get it if I hit that particular window next time.

[LauraB78]

I personally opt out of the flu shot. I only had it once, and it made me sooo sick..

[jesslee83]

i'm with laura....i got it at 18, and was completely sick for like 2 whole freaking weeks....i'm due shortly(crossing fingers lol)....so i'm not too worried about it....plus, i've always been a freak of nature, i'm never sick.....heck, i don't even have to worry about crossing my fingers!  i get migraines, really bad ones, pre-pregnancy.....and that's about it....unfortunately, they've never found a reason behind them, so i'm sure after i'm done bf'ing, i'll be back to my 1 excedrin migraine when i wake up, and 1 when i go to bed.....ONLY way i've been able to keep them at bay, or at least keep them manageable.....i don't even think i've had a "cold" since i was a kid.....my mom says aside from chickenpox, she NEVER had to worry with me getting sick....until pregnancy, i've been to the hospital maybe 5 times in my whole life? once when i was 2, i drank a GALLON of bleach, then in 2005 i had the WORST kidney infection, then issues with my teeth, and whatever it was that sent me to the ER in kentucky last spring(the whole "blood shooting" accident with df).....none of my trips were due to sickness really....and i havent' gotten "shots" since i was 14 or so? aside from that flue vacc, which totally whipped my a**.....

[MommyDee86]

Hey hon well i can say that i have now had the flu for a little over a week im 32 1/2 weeks along and not only am i at the point in the pregnancy where your body really starts to act up but the flu is draining me. I did not have the flu shot and i have to say not being able to take my nyquil dayquil tablets has really made things crappy. Other then that i would have to say that i dont think the pregnancy has made the level of the flu any worse then it would have been if i were not pregnant but i due know that not being able to take anything has made it highly intolerable. But sucking it up is what i have been doing and im getting through it.. I dont think that you really need to worry all that much and i know that my hubby got the vacc and he still got the flu so that just shows what a waste that was. I hope that you dont get it for your sake so good luck and i hope this helped.

[LittleBit310]

I have never had the flu shot. I have had 4 girls and am now pregnant with my 5th I am hoping for a boy. I hade the flu when pregnant with my 4th daughter and other then being sick for a week and lossing 6 pounds me and baby where both fine.