How worried are you about infections

[lynn07]

Like listeria and toxoplasmosis during pregnancy? Maybe it's because I had a m/c last time, but I just find myself so anxious about what I'm eating/what I've touched/etc this time. With my DS's, I avoided the regular stuff and really never thought twice about it. This time, I'm washing my produce like crazy, and questioning half the stuff I put in my mouth (like, I ate sausage pizza this week and spent some time spazzing about it). How do you calm down and let that stuff slide off your back? I hate that it's bothering me so much this time!

[estrellita]

I do worry about it a lot after knowing what can happen. I do wash things as well as I can and I avoid lunch meats and deli salads (this is probably what kills me most, lol) and H cleans the litter box. If I do slip up and eat/drink something I "shouldn't" have (I've had a very small amount of lunch meat and a few sips of alcohol so far), I try to remind myself that the infections are very rare. Still not something I'd like to chance, but no one's perfect!

[Odonata]

I educated myself on the hype vs the true threats. I looked up ways those illnesses are transmitted and it clears up a lot of the anxiety. I found many food restrictions we put ourselves through are myths or exaggerated.

For instance listeria risks with hot dogs are only if they've been sitting around. But if you cook one yourself and eat it when it's steaming hot you are fine.

[vtdiamond]

I'm pretty laid back about this.  For me, it helped to read the book, Expecting Better, to get a better idea of the actual likelihood of these infections.  I try to remind myself that the likelihood of these are really rare so try to be careful about what I eat but am not overly crazy cautious about everything.

[awick14]

I agree with @odonta. I have looked up some stuff and talked to my doctor about it. For the most part just wash your fruit/veggies and make sure your meat is cooked and not left out on the counter.

[lynn07]

Aug 14, 2014 13:53:13 GMT -5 vtdiamond said:

I'm pretty laid back about this.  For me, it helped to read the book, Expecting Better, to get a better idea of the actual likelihood of these infections.  I try to remind myself that the likelihood of these are really rare so try to be careful about what I eat but am not overly crazy cautious about everything.

I'll check that out. Thanks!

[linz]

I was a little scared when first pregnant. Not only about these but also wanting to make sure I got enough water, ate enough protein, etc. But I don't worry anymore. I do make sure I have water intake but I'm not as strict on what I eat. I do avoid raw fish and make sure my meat is cooked thru (which I hate since I prefer medium beef). 

My Dr talked to me about listeria and said he's never seen a case. So basically be smart about it. I do get Blimpie almost every Friday because I know they cut the meat fresh and clean the slicer each night.  If I get meat from a restaurant I try to make sure it's some type of warm sandwich. I do not buy prepackaged lunch meat and do not eat it at a salad bar, but I do still enjoy salad bars other than that.

[nonsenseabound]

This is baby number three. So I'm pretty relaxed about deli meats. I'm still team sober and won't have a glass of wine even though I know it's probably fine.

I know one person who has listeria during her first pregnancy and it was very bad. Her baby is now 7 years old but it was a super scary experience. She ate at Jimmy Johns.

[estrellita]

Aug 14, 2014 13:49:41 GMT -5 Odonata said:

I educated myself on the hype vs the true threats. I looked up ways those illnesses are transmitted and it clears up a lot of the anxiety. I found many food restrictions we put ourselves through are myths or exaggerated.

For instance listeria risks with hot dogs are only if they've been sitting around. But if you cook one yourself and eat it when it's steaming hot you are fine.

This too. I eat cooked hot dogs and I would eat lunch meat heated up (actually I do at Subway and Firehouse, toasted or steamed meat) but I'm too lazy to heat it up at home.

As for the litter box, I think it's more an issue if I clean the litter box then immediately go eat something without washing my hands. But hey, if I can get out of litter box duty..

[mrspost08]

I have had numerous mc and never once thought it was due to food. I have avoided the regular things we should for the most part. I have had deli meat every so often. I really don't think twice about foods.

[Odonata]

Aug 14, 2014 15:17:15 GMT -5 estrellita said:

Aug 14, 2014 13:49:41 GMT -5 Odonata said:

I educated myself on the hype vs the true threats. I looked up ways those illnesses are transmitted and it clears up a lot of the anxiety. I found many food restrictions we put ourselves through are myths or exaggerated.

For instance listeria risks with hot dogs are only if they've been sitting around. But if you cook one yourself and eat it when it's steaming hot you are fine.

This too. I eat cooked hot dogs and I would eat lunch meat heated up (actually I do at Subway and Firehouse, toasted or steamed meat) but I'm too lazy to heat it up at home.

As for the litter box, I think it's more an issue if I clean the litter box then immediately go eat something without washing my hands. But hey, if I can get out of litter box duty..

I have two cats and my H is really "forgetful" about the litter box.  Though, I have one that cleans itself so really, how hard is it to just pick up the damn bag and replace it?

ANYWHO - What I researched about toxo is that cats will pick it up mostly from eating contaminated meat - so if they are outside cats and they hunt, there is a higher probability.  If you have outside cats and they've been outside for all their lives, there is a higher chance that they have already been exposed and now have antibodies so they cannot have the illness again.  As their owner you may also have already been exposed and have antibodies.  So the chances of a second infection are low.  Also, it takes 24 hours for the protist to "incubate" once the cats have released their feces so as long as the litter is cleaned at least once in 24 hrs the risk of contacting it is very low.  AND finally, in order to get toxo you have to ingest it so as long as you wash your hands well after doing anything with the litter your risk is also greatly lowered.  

[thatgirl2478]

I *wasn't* worried about any of it until the fruit I buy had a recall due to listeriosis... now I'm trying to get by via telling myself that if I wash the fruit & veggies really well it should be OK.

[Odonata]

Aug 14, 2014 16:24:42 GMT -5 thatgirl2478 said:

I *wasn't* worried about any of it until the fruit I buy had a recall due to listeriosis... now I'm trying to get by via telling myself that if I wash the fruit & veggies really well it should be OK.

This freaked me out as well.  What I don't like about listeria is how deadly it can be to the baby.  Other types of food poisoning do not cross the placenta so while you're sick as a dog you're baby is likely to be OK.  But with listeria?  Nope.  Having it on fruit, that I eat every day, just makes me feel so insecure with that I put in me.  After that outbreak I felt like it was EVERYWHERE.

[estrellita]

Aug 14, 2014 16:11:57 GMT -5 Odonata said:

Aug 14, 2014 15:17:15 GMT -5 estrellita said:

This too. I eat cooked hot dogs and I would eat lunch meat heated up (actually I do at Subway and Firehouse, toasted or steamed meat) but I'm too lazy to heat it up at home.

As for the litter box, I think it's more an issue if I clean the litter box then immediately go eat something without washing my hands. But hey, if I can get out of litter box duty..

I have two cats and my H is really "forgetful" about the litter box.  Though, I have one that cleans itself so really, how hard is it to just pick up the damn bag and replace it?

ANYWHO - What I researched about toxo is that cats will pick it up mostly from eating contaminated meat - so if they are outside cats and they hunt, there is a higher probability.  If you have outside cats and they've been outside for all their lives, there is a higher chance that they have already been exposed and now have antibodies so they cannot have the illness again.  As their owner you may also have already been exposed and have antibodies.  So the chances of a second infection are low.  Also, it takes 24 hours for the protist to "incubate" once the cats have released their feces so as long as the litter is cleaned at least once in 24 hrs the risk of contacting it is very low.  AND finally, in order to get toxo you have to ingest it so as long as you wash your hands well after doing anything with the litter your risk is also greatly lowered.  

Ah yes, I forgot about the outdoor cat thing. Mine have been indoors the entire time we've had them. I think we tried bringing them outside once on harnesses but it's very hard to do in an apartment, lol.

My H was bad about scooping daily (I was too..), but he has really been great since I got pregnant. He knows my sense of smell is ridiculous so he's been trying so hard to scoop every day and fully change the litter more often than we did before. He has been amazing!

[specialk]

DH was living at the police academy for the first few months of my pregnancy, so I had no choice but to scoop the litter box daily. I wore disposable gloves and washed my hands after, which was probably overkill. Not worried about that. I am a but concerned that I ate peaches from that listeria recall.

[formerlyllizzyb]

Not worried at all? I eat sushi, lunch meat, etc. while pregnant.

I don't eat hot dogs in general, and don't have a cat...so there's that I guess.

I did check on the recent fruit recall, but none of my grocery stores were impacted.

[GotWine]

I definitely think about the 'what ifs' a lot more in this pregnancy since my last loss. I'm much more thorough in my cleaning of produce, and I'm less trustful of fresh produce at restaurants. I think I'm just more on edge this time.

[fayeelle]

Sure, I think about things like listeria and toxo and make educated decisions. I eat heated up lunch meat and make sure to wash my fruits and veggies. And this morning I declined my normal over easy egg so I didn't risk salmonella.

As far as toxo goes I do have to be more careful since I work with animals. I have declined working on 1 patient that had been missing for weeks and came in with an unkept haircoat that was a bit fractious. While I do practice good hygiene between patients anything can happen and cats can jump and thrash flinging bodily fluids any and everywhere. So no....too risky.

And while yes, MOST people have developed antibodies for toxo after being exposed by thier pets some do not. I am one of them. I have played in barns while caring for horses since I was 5, had cats in the home since birth and worked in vet med for almost 14 yrs now. I had a titer drawn when we started ttc. Nope, nothing. My doc and everyone was completely shocked.

Not trying to scare anyone. I am one of the exceptions. Yay me?

[Deleted]

Aug 14, 2014 14:05:24 GMT -5 lynn07 said:

Aug 14, 2014 13:53:13 GMT -5 vtdiamond said:

I'm pretty laid back about this. For me, it helped to read the book, Expecting Better, to get a better idea of the actual likelihood of these infections. I try to remind myself that the likelihood of these are really rare so try to be careful about what I eat but am not overly crazy cautious about everything.

I'll check that out. Thanks!

I second this book. It really put things Ito perspective and it calmed me down immensely early on.

[Odonata]

Aug 14, 2014 21:39:14 GMT -5 fayeelle said:

And while yes, MOST people have developed antibodies for toxo after being exposed by thier pets some do not. I am one of them. I have played in barns while caring for horses since I was 5, had cats in the home since birth and worked in vet med for almost 14 yrs now. I had a titer drawn when we started ttc. Nope, nothing. My doc and everyone was completely shocked.

Not trying to scare anyone. I am one of the exceptions. Yay me?

Absolutely. I also had a titer done and I came up with nothing. 

Still, it good to know most of the ins and outs of how it is transmitted because so many people assume they have to get rid of their cats (and some do!) because they don't really know the odds or their level of risk. I even get shocked responses when people know I have two cats because the assumption is that toxo can be spread like a cold. OR they don't know why cats can be harmful, just that they are. 

[starfish79]

I am paranoid, but still eat the salad bar at Whole Foods, order whole coconuts to drink at Asian food restaurants.. I don't do deli meat or sushi. Or soft cheeses. Or sprouts.

It's all a big PITA.

[fayeelle]

Odonata - I completely hear what you are saying. I intercept multiple phone calls each month from frantic expectant mothers thinking they need to get rid of thier cats. Ugh! And to make matters worse they are getting misinformed by the ob office.

[Deleted]

I'm trying to avoid, but as posted in the other thread, I seem to be bad at that!

I'm minorly freaked out about listeria even non-pregnant because I once heard the description of what a guy went through when he got it. It was bad.

Cantaloupe is always what I hear of as being one of the worst offenders, but I have never been able to stand the smell of it anyway. So no worries there.

[imimahoney]

Aug 14, 2014 19:48:43 GMT -5 formerlyllizzyb said:

Not worried at all? I eat sushi, lunch meat, etc. while pregnant.

I don't eat hot dogs in general, and don't have a cat...so there's that I guess.

I did check on the recent fruit recall, but none of my grocery stores were impacted.

This is me although I do eat hotdogs. I love the Applegate organic ones.

[felicity]

I'm pretty paranoid about listeria after the stone fruit recall recently and also the hummus one earlier this year. What's scary to me is that the recalls come way after I would have consumed the food. I don't eat leafy greens, and I only eat cold produce that I can wash REALLY well. No salad bars. I don't eat deli meat unless it's at home where I can heat it until steaming. The thing about deli meat that scares me from sandwich shops is that while maybe there aren't a lot of national recalls, I don't know that we'd hear about local store contaminations, and it could be cleaned off once anybody went back to test. It just takes one time, which is what freaks me out.

[jorja]

Not very. I feel like there are so many things that this stuff is randomly popping up in (hummus, peaches) that I would literally have to worry about everything.

For me, I'm just trying to be vigilant about washing my produce and washing my hands/counters after dealing woh meat, etc. Otherwise, I would drive myself crazy.

As far as the litter box, FI was out of town on business the first three months of my pregnancy, so I really had no choice. The risk for an exclusively indoor cat is super low, and my OB told me that the parasite is only contagious after it's been sitting for a few days, so just to make sure to do it every day. She also recommended I wear gloves, so I grabbed a handful from work. They then tested me, and it showed I had never been exposed, so I stopped worrying about it at all.

I really do understand being anxious about it, though. It's really tough.

[Odonata]

Aug 15, 2014 10:23:25 GMT -5 felicity said:

I'm pretty paranoid about listeria after the stone fruit recall recently and also the hummus one earlier this year. What's scary to me is that the recalls come way after I would have consumed the food. 

The real mind trip was the incubation time - that symptoms could come out anywhere between 3 and 70 days!  I tried to blow it off thinking "well, I feel fine" but then that little paranoid voice in the back of my head would go "yeah, but 70 days from now you could still be sick!".  

[llamamama]

I am not extremely worried but I try not to risk anything. I will say I have cut back on fruit a bit because of the peaches scare. I really need to start working that back into my diet. It's just that of course I had been eating millions of peaches right before the news came out about that. I try to heat up deli meat whenever possible.

[sillygoosegirl]

I'm not worried. I've always thought most people are ridiculously overly paranoid about this sort of thing. The only things I'm avoiding eating are those where I can find a reputable source that can clearly explain what is not to be eaten and why, and it's not that much. I'm having my lunch meat hot if I have it at all, avoiding soft cheese if it's made with unpasteurized milk (so eating tons of soft cheese still), avoiding raw fish (but still eating other kinds of sushi whenever I get the chance), having my sugar and caffeine in moderation (okay, that one isn't about infection obviously), etc.

Virtually anything can become contaminated, especially if it is cold. But I will die if I don't eat. So I don't think it's worth worrying about that much.

[Odonata]

Funny but H is more paranoid than I am. He's always asking "can you have that?" And looking all worried when I'm like YES!

Last night we went out for dinner and I got the steak cooked medium well. It was the slightest bit pink inside and he was freaking out. But I know with a reputable restaurant and with steak cuts the risk is much less than ground beef so I was ok.

The sweet potato had goat cheese on it and he was nervous about that too. I know most restaurants use pasteurized soft cheeses but to be safe I just scraped the crumbs off the top. But H was all nervous because I ate the potato anyway as if the cheese topping had now contaminated the whole dish.

And when he's not around I still eat sushi. I've been eating sushi since my MS went away.