Renovations while pregnant
Hello, we just started demolition/renovations on our recently purchased home and perfect timing, I just found out I’m pregnant! How have any of you handled this situation? How much did you take on yourself and how much did you have to back off from? How did you protect yourself from lead dust, etc? I’m worried…
Hello, we just started demolition/renovations on our recently purchased home and perfect timing, I just found out I’m pregnant! How have any of you handled this situation? How much did you take on yourself and how much did you have to back off from? How did you protect yourself from lead dust, etc? I’m worried because we bought this house with the budget that would only allow us to do most of the work ourselves. I appreciate any advice from my friends at brownstoner!
This happened to me too. Difference is our’s was a country house. I would really prioritize what NEEDS to be done and what can you get done in 9 months. Make sure you do all the demo ASAP because of course that’s what kicks up the most dust. Usually you can get that done pretty quickly. After that, you’re fine because modern materials don’t have all that toxic stuff. There is new “green” paint etc that is absolutely fine for babies. When I was preggers I did lots of painting and other work. Biggest problem is the stress of renovation which is not good of course – I know for a fact that my frustration with our contractor drove me back into early labor after briefly quelling the contrations!! Once you have the baby is the most frustrating because you can’t really do anything. That’s what drove me crazy – tendiing to a baby while my husband got to have all the fun!
My advice…don’t take any advice from anyone on this forum. You are going to drive yourself crazy with all of the various opinions found here.
Go talk to your doctor about this situation and gather some medical facts…not opinions from brownstone enthusiasts.
First off congratulations!
I tend to agree with some of the earlier posters in saying you should not be doing any renovations yourself during this time because of the exposure to lead dust and other harmful chemicals.
Could you expose yourself to the renovation and be totally fine? Of course. Many of our mothers and grandmothers smoked and drank for the full nine months and most of us are fine – but we dont do that now because we know the risks. The same holds true for renovation. And no matter how well you think you are protecting yourself, you are never fully insulated if working in a house being renovated. And you’ll never know what the effects are until its too late. Its just not worth it.
If you can’t afford a contractor, then I think its time to put your husband to work while you stay with a friend or family member. You can still participate by making calls, ordering supplies, getting permits, picking out finishes, etc.. There is a lot of “outside the house” tasks involved in renovation so even if your husband is doing the brut labor, you’re still contributing.
OP and 9:05…how do you “find” yourself in that position? I’ve been having sex for a long time and whenever I’ve “found” myself in that position it was because I had..uh..unprotected sex or planned to have a child. Take responsibility. I agree with 12:44…chill out. You’ve already demonstrated that you’re either 1) irresponsible or 2) totally fine with letting things play out as fate determines…so why the sudden panic? How about this: just wait and see where you “find” yourself next.
Sounds like the husban/partner will be shouldering this reno.
Man–wait till the baby comes and you’re doing this on 3 hours sleep…
OK i am not saying that you want to try and be around lead paint… but i will tell you that my parents renovated their house almost completely by themselves while my mother was pregnant with me and while i was a young child and i didnt turn out that bad ….. now granted this was 30 years ago and there was less information about the dangers of lead paint etc…. but I would say get everything tested and look into a very good mask (like the ones they use in hospitals for airborne disease) and speak to your doctor about what is off limits.. … I think it all depends on what kind of renovations you are going to be doing
if you’re pregnant, you should stay out of the house while it’s being renovated. Any renovation will stir up lead dust which you will absorb and then pass on to your fetus. Even a HEPA vacuum during renovations will not clean all the dust. Lead dust affects developing brains permanently. If your husband is going to work on renovations, he should keep all of his work clothes outside of the house/apt. you will be living in. You can never be too careful when it comes to lead dust. Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan has a pediatric environmental posioning (or something) department and you could try to consult with a pediatrician who specializes in lead poisoning.
I would be very careful of lead dust particularly. If you have an old house, you probably have lead paint. Obviously don’t breathe solvents, new paint fumes etc – easy to avoid – but the lead issue is one that can result in long term brain damage / lowered iq among other problems. Don’t do something you will regret. Lead is insidious. Renovation dust is very hard to limit. That said, you have to ingest it for it to be a problem. You need to do your research. Get your place tested. If you have lead, see if you can create an isolated living space (this is hard – lead dust will be airborne). Wash everything, keep your place clean (wet cloths, dont use dusters). Get a hepa vacuum cleaner. Shower & chg clothes when you come home. Don’t work in the house until it is lead safe. Don’t get OCD but be careful… Be even more careful when your baby is born especially when they are crawling, chewing etc. Don’t trust lead ababement industry people – the industry is rife with crooks and fear merchants. Talk to your doctor & perhaps get a lead blood test occasionally to monitor. Good luck.
9:05 – I think you missed the point, they are not using the contractor, doing everything themselves. They will be exposed to whatever dust,debris,particles, etc. that get kicked up throughout the whole process.
Totally not worth it imho.
What an idiot. Ignore that last poster. My wife and I found ourselves in a similar position. We had a friends place we could crash at (spare room) so if we ever had issues with fumes from paint or poly we had somewhere to go to at short notice. With some planning with the contractor we only had to leave a few times. Once because we could not take the mess any more and my wife was so stressed out we just had to walk away for a night.