37 weeks pregnant and withdrawing from Vicodin

[momytobe16]

Hello all.. I am 26 years old and am currently 3by th7 weeks pregnant. I have been addicted to vicodin for at least 3 years .. it started with multiple head injurys from snowboarding to broken ribs, to recently finding a cist on my ovary. Somehow the pills just kept comming and before I knew it i was addicted. I only realized how addicted I was when I found out I was pregnant and tried to stop cold turkey. I had all the severe withdrawl symtoms and after reading other posts on here of people in the same situation sayiing how bad it is to quit cold turkey while pregnant I went to my OB. He told me that I was safe to quit cold turkey because I was only taking around 5 a day at this point. I told him (crying like a baby in his office) that I didn't think I could do it and needed help tapering off. He basically told me to tough it out, which led me to taking them again. I have now gone on and off of them sseveral times and haven't been able to stop. I have felt very alone, and horribly guilty for what I may have done to my little baby. I just want him to be born healthy. My (new) doctor does not know I was still recently taking vicodin but all the tests and ultrasounds have been coming back great, he is currently 7lbs.
Reading over these forums the last few months to try and get some info on what could potentially happen I have heard a lot about women having their babies taken from them by CPS if the baby is born addicted. This will not happpen to me! I am currently on day 3 of no vicodin and the withdrawls are crappy, but nothing I can't handle. I flushed my meds and am not looking back. I'm so dissapointed that I didn't do this sooner, but better now than never right? My question is. How long does the vicodin stay in my system and moore importantly how long will it be in the babies? I'm die in just a few weeks but the doctor said I can safely go into labor any day now. I'm hoping to make it at least another week before my baby boy comes so that this crap that has ruined my life won't be in our systems anymore! I would hate for my baby to go through withdrawls and would die if he were taken away from me. Please any info will help. I know a lot of you will have opinions and think I'm a horrible human being but please don't. Answer just to put me down. I'm putting myself through enough, I know I've done wrong but all I want is to be a good mommy to my baby boy. Addiction is a powerfull thing and I wish id never seen a pill in my life! Thank you!!

[scoobyshaggy31]

I'm so glad you did this & I did the same today...Doesn't it feel great? We can stay clean & make it to the end & not worry now so much....Hopefully we can enjoy the rest of our pregnancies (because we all know there's more stressors in life) & not to mention- all of the late pregnancy symptoms we can endure...if you need someone to talk to you can always message me & hopefully we can support each other until one or the other's water breaks! This forum has been amazing...

[Ashelen]

Congrats! I'm so glad that you told your OB! I'm Co-Community Leader over in the Pregnancy 18-34 forum and every time we get a woman asking a question similar to yours, the answer is ALWAYS "Tell your OB". always always. I'm so very glad that you did; our doctors are there to help us, and doctors who bring babies into this world are there to help us bring healthy babies into this world...never underestimate how much they want your baby to be healthy, despite the bad rap they get.

Now come on over to the Pregnancy 18-34 forum and count down to the end with the rest of the ladies there :-).

[sudie58]

i am so glad everything is going to be ok, and you should be proud that you did the right thing.
! dont forget to tell us when your little one arrives! we shall want to know!
i hope it all goes well for you, god bless.

[vicki595]

Oh Honey- I'm so relieved and happy for you!!  You're right, always speak to the OB and don't be afraid. It's the best way!!

I'm glad you feel better,as well.  It's always scary when a pregnant woman comes on the forum. A lot of advice can be misunderstood.

But,you're good now!!

Keep in touch!!

[momytobe16]

Hello everyone!! So I went to my doctors appointment this morning and told him my situation. Man am I glad I did!!! He was overly reasuring that my baby will not be born addicted and that there is no chance he would be "taken" from me. He said its good I stopped taking them because of how addictive they can be but that Vicodin is considered safe during pregnancy and most doctors have no problem prescribing them to pregnant women. He also said that he deals alot with women who take methadone and alot of babies are born addicted to that but even then they don't come and take your baby away. He also told me not to mention it when going into the hospital and if for some reason it were to come up tell them the truth that u had a prescription but stopped taking them. But the chances of my baby still having it in his system are so low he told me to rest easy. Nothing wwas going to happen. I'm very glad I stopped taking them. I'm on day 7 and feel great ( considering I'm 9 months prego) and I'm so glad I talked to my doctor!! I hope this helps anyone in my situation. It can be scary with people telling you alk kinds of things that are going to happen to you -and not knowing for sure. If u have time taper off them but if ur a jerk like me and waited till the end then just stop taking them!! Its worth the peice of mind. And talk tobyour doctor! !!!! Best peice of advice I got on here!! Thanks everyone for your help. Now I can focus on getting my lil man here!! Xo

[Eebb26]

Glad to hear u r doing well. Just keep going . U r thru the rough parts. Just still talk to ur dr