Hot tubs?!

[beagleowner]

Oh my gosh I just found out that hot tubs during your 4 - 6 week increase your risk of spina bifida and other neural tube defects! I think I was about 5 weeks when I went to a hot tub for like 45 minutes! (didn't know I was pregnant).

How much would you ladies worry? I had already been taking a prenatal dosage of folic acid so at least there's that.....

 

[Ali33]

I wouldn't worry..

 

[Audraia]

Yea you're not supposed to but going in once, I wouldn't worry too much hun. If you've been taking your vitamins and doing everything else right since you found out I think you're good. It's more of a chronic use thing I believe.

 

[beagleowner]

Thanks....has anyone else gone in a hot spring or hot tub when they were early on, like between 4 - 6 weeks, and things were OK?

 

[beagleowner]

You know what? I'm a complete psycho. And I say that as a mental health professional, so I know from what I speak. I was looking at the wrong date--I was actually only 3 weeks pregnant before the neural tube is even close to forming. That is IT....calling a new therapist immediately.

Thanks for bearing with me ladies. If I wasn't so grateful for the above posts, I would delete this whole thread. (I don't even know if that is possible but that's how ashamed of my idiocy I am)

 

[justhoping]

Oh my gosh I just found out that hot tubs during your 4 - 6 week increase your risk of spina bifida and other neural tube defects! I think I was about 5 weeks when I went to a hot tub for like 45 minutes! (didn't know I was pregnant).

How much would you ladies worry? I had already been taking a prenatal dosage of folic acid so at least there's that.....

hot tubes increase m/c period please stay away from them as theyraise your core temp

 

[beagleowner]

Oh my gosh I just found out that hot tubs during your 4 - 6 week increase your risk of spina bifida and other neural tube defects! I think I was about 5 weeks when I went to a hot tub for like 45 minutes! (didn't know I was pregnant).

How much would you ladies worry? I had already been taking a prenatal dosage of folic acid so at least there's that.....

hot tubes increase m/c period please stay away from them as theyraise your core temp

Yup, but this question was regarding hot tub exposure before I knew I was pregnant. I am 16 weeks along now.

 

[justhoping]

Oh my gosh I just found out that hot tubs during your 4 - 6 week increase your risk of spina bifida and other neural tube defects! I think I was about 5 weeks when I went to a hot tub for like 45 minutes! (didn't know I was pregnant).

How much would you ladies worry? I had already been taking a prenatal dosage of folic acid so at least there's that.....

hot tubes increase m/c period please stay away from them as theyraise your core temp

Yup, but this question was regarding hot tub exposure before I knew I was pregnant. I am 16 weeks along now.

but nothing you can do about it now....just tell the doc and have him just keep a look out...

 

[beagleowner]

Oh my gosh I just found out that hot tubs during your 4 - 6 week increase your risk of spina bifida and other neural tube defects! I think I was about 5 weeks when I went to a hot tub for like 45 minutes! (didn't know I was pregnant).

How much would you ladies worry? I had already been taking a prenatal dosage of folic acid so at least there's that.....

hot tubes increase m/c period please stay away from them as theyraise your core temp

Yup, but this question was regarding hot tub exposure before I knew I was pregnant. I am 16 weeks along now.

but nothing you can do about it now....just tell the doc and have him just keep a look out...

Yep; thanks, I actually posted above that I miscalculated the dates so I should be in the clear, but you are right. I need to stop worrying about things I can't change.

 

[Ali33]

You know what? I'm a complete psycho. And I say that as a mental health professional, so I know from what I speak. I was looking at the wrong date--I was actually only 3 weeks pregnant before the neural tube is even close to forming. That is IT....calling a new therapist immediately.

Thanks for bearing with me ladies. If I wasn't so grateful for the above posts, I would delete this whole thread. (I don't even know if that is possible but that's how ashamed of my idiocy I am)

Don't be ashamed! We all have preggo brain. xx

 

[heyluu]

When do the neural tubes develop? Just curious since you mentioned it. I had a few really hot baths earlier in pregnancy.

 

[beagleowner]

When do the neural tubes develop? Just curious since you mentioned it. I had a few really hot baths earlier in pregnancy.

Weeks 4 - 6 of pregnancy (in the normal way of counting, gestational age, i.e. 2 weeks after ovulation through 4 weeks after ovulation).

But baths most likely shouldn't be a problem because a) the water cools down, whereas hot tubs are constant temperature, and b) you usually aren't submerged up to your neck in a bathtub.

 

[heyluu]

And they would know if there was a problem with it at the nt scan right?

 

[beagleowner]

And they would know if there was a problem with it at the nt scan right?

No, I believe not; it's done through a blood serum screening which is conducted at 16 - 18 weeks. Which makes me realize I haven't had this screening offered, I wonder if I should do it? Hmm.

 

[heyluu]

Ohhh that must be the second set of bloods taken.

I would ask about it if they haven't offered, but that's just me.

 

[smokey]

Oh my gosh I just found out that hot tubs during your 4 - 6 week increase your risk of spina bifida and other neural tube defects! I think I was about 5 weeks when I went to a hot tub for like 45 minutes! (didn't know I was pregnant).

How much would you ladies worry? I had already been taking a prenatal dosage of folic acid so at least there's that.....

While the theory and study of hot tubs, hot baths, hot water bottles and their link to spina bifida has been around for nearly 35 years there has never actualy been a proven link to them.
It still remaines that no one actualy yet knows for sure what causes spina bifida.
It can come from hereditary factors or can even just crop up as a fluke.
I was born with spina bifida and was lucky enough to have army surgeons work on my spine for my operations because my father was in the army at the time and with it being 32 years ago at that time very few survived being born with it.
I not only survived (despite my mother being told to abort and that I would not live or would be paralized for life) I live a completly normal life and you wouldnt even know I had it to look at me.
Because it was army surgeons and due to it eing so succesfull I spent years going through tests and various things while they tried to determine what caused it and the end result was they just didnt have a clue and the whole heat thing was never proven to be right or wrong.

 

[beagleowner]

Ohhh that must be the second set of bloods taken.

I would ask about it if they haven't offered, but that's just me.

Yes, it is, and I probably should. I went back through my debit card statement from that month and looks like I took the hot tub at like five days after ovulation, and the "baby" is one cell at that point so according to this cool chart I found, it's basically impossible that anything could've caused a defect (or rather, any defect would've led to miscarriage). And I've taken a multivitamin with the pregnancy-level folic acid for over a year.

But it's still good to know what it says.

Incidentally if I can find the chart again I'll post it if anyone is interested. It shows what is developing at what week and how sensitive the baby is to different environmental impacts at each time.

 

[smokey]

And they would know if there was a problem with it at the nt scan right?

I had extensive scans on both my pregnancies every 2 weeks to check the development of the spine and while they cant say 100% clear for legal reasons they showed me where the spine was fully formed, and where there was no breaks in the skin for nerve and cord exposure.
So yes they can check and see this in scans but they need to know that this is what they are specificaly looking for to study the area correctly.

 

[beagleowner]

It still remaines that no one actualy yet knows for sure what causes spina bifida.
It can come from hereditary factors or can even just crop up as a fluke.
I was born with spina bifida and was lucky enough to have army surgeons work on my spine for my operations because my father was in the army at the time and with it being 32 years ago at that time very few survived being born with it.
I not only survived (despite my mother being told to abort and that I would not live or would be paralized for life) I live a completly normal life and you wouldnt even know I had it to look at me.

We are lucky to have someone with your in-depth knowledge of the subject on this board! Thank you so much for contributing. I'm glad you are doing so well--I understand there is a hugely varied spectrum of degree to which people with SB can be affected.

 

[smokey]

Mine was quite a rare form, it was classed as inbetween meningocele and Myelomeningocele.
The spinal cord/neural elements are exposed through the opening in the spine but by shear fluke had a tiny blister covering it (rather then a fold of skin or no neural exposore of meningocele) but because it was still actual cord exposure rather then just fluid it was still technicaly classed as Myelomeningocele.
The tiny blister prevented full exposure to air so prevented full infection and paralysis.
I also had the hydocafulus so had to have shunts put in to drain the fluid from my brain.
My mum was told after the 5th operation that I would never walk but I took my first steps at 11 months and there was no stopping me after that.
I did spend the first 5 years in a adapted buggy/wheelchair but mainly because I couldnt walk long distances but that was it.
I still have to have random Physiotherapy and suffer pins and needles in my legs and bladder/bowl problems but thats it.

The irony of it was when I gave birth to my son I had a specialist consultant on standby because I cant have a epidural (where the cord and nerves tether the injection would paralyse me) the dr actualy turned out to be one of the drs that operated on me as a baby so I knew I had a good dr