Working whilst pregnant?

I can only speak from my own experience and I never experienced anything like you are describing. Certainly I had some morning sickness and the later months of pregnancy, some aches and pains and felt a bit bashed about as the baby moved around, but nothing like you are describing at five weeks. I worked until I was 38 weeks with one, about 30 with the other and until full term (own business) with the last. I think you should go and see your doctor.

If you are 5 weeks pregnant the fetus is a lot smaller than a Skittle.

@tan235 – “All the running around and carrying heavy things probably isn’t good for me?”

Remaining active and getting exercise throughout pregnancy is critical.

Typically, they say that you can continue doing what you were doing before getting pregnant (work and exercise for example) with only few restrictions (such as not lifting more than a certain amount (the amount varies from doctor to doctor so you should talk to your doctor about this)).

Some aches and pains are normal because the change in hormones has an effect on your body (such as loosening ligaments). People feel the effects from the changing hormones differently and at different times. Fatigue is also common in the beginning due to hormone fluctuations.

The best thing you can do is talk to your doctor and get their opinion. They know your specific health concerns (if you have any). In normal, healthy, uncomplicated pregnancies, woman can work and be active all they way up until they give birth. If you have any issues in relation to your health or the pregnancy, your situation may be different.

@Bellatrix wow that sounds a little different to me, I“m not experiencing cramping or anything, it’s just an all over feeling of having worked out!
Maybe I’m unfit and I’d feel this way regardless of whether I was pregnant or not?
A good sleep would help.

Each pregnancy is different. Have a good night’s sleep but if you continue to feel this way, talk to your doctor. It could be as @Seaofclouds suggested all about the hormonal changes going through your body. You really shouldn’t need to be precious about yourself. As long as you aren’t doing anything really strenuous and especially if you haven’t before pregnancy, you should be fine. Check with your doctor though.

yeah thanks, I think maybe I stretched a muscle working and trying to be precious at the same time, and maybe i feel the pregnancy more as I“m not very active.
Good advice guys.

Everyone is different, but I worked a very physical cleaning job up to my 8th month and rode a bike to work for most of that time.

Delivering a baby is VERY hard work on your body. If your body is bad shape and you are finding it difficult to do anything physical now, you should talk to your doctor about what type of exercises you can do to build up your endurance and strength for the up-coming challenge.

Although this is not a medical advice about working whilst pregnant to you, it can be good to realize that whole groups of women in all parts of the world (think South-East Asia, Africa) keep working because they simply have too, gto provide for a little food for their families.
Some up to eight months, maybe longer, into their pregnancy.

yeah @rebbel I was thinking that last night whilst complaining to myself that i had to work, I know that shoulder pain can be related to eptopic, does anyone know if you can have only shoulder pain with eptopic?
I“m slightly paranoid, and wondering if I should get myself to ER?

Not too hard.
Congratulations, by the way!

@tan235 Your uterus is expanding and is most likely bloated. The feeling is unpleasant. I’m sorry to say, if you’re having this kind of pain now, it may mean you will have pain through the beginning of your 2nd trimester as I did.

Make friends with: Yoga, naps, Tylenol, and baths.

After work, take a bath, stretch and put your feet up.

Watch the type of pants you’re wearing. You may already want to shop for a few pairs of maternity pants to end waist band pains.

hey @SpatzielLover I just took a bath! Luke Warm but was still great, the pain in my shoulder is fading, I think it’s definitely muscle as I had to lift so many things last night, kegs, beer, ice – holy moly, I also am so sensitive to my body and I think I’m just paying attention to every single little twinge and pain – and googling symptoms to much which I have to stop doing or else I’ll be loco before this 1st trimester is up, I have a U/S in a week, so how about I relax.

@tan235 I would talk to your boss about lifting things. The ladies I worked with forbade me from lifting heavy things and climb up ladders. Just use some common sense. Then again, they were pretty careful with me because I was in my late thirties and had miscarried before. I think keeping active as I did during my pregnancy, (and I was very lucky with good blood pressure and no morning sickness) helped prepare me for the delivery.

Cal your doctor. Your OB’s office should have a doctor on call for the weekend hours. There’s no point being anxious all weekend. Fluther is great, but it sounds like you are in need of a professional’s opinion. In the unlikely case you do have an ectopic pregnancy, it is a real medical emergency.

As far as quitting your job or not – if it comes to the point where you are really unable to do your job due to your pregnancy, you should be entitled to collect disability benefits rather than having to quit. In California, for instance, you can collect up to 4 months disability during pregnancy, if the pregnancy prevents you from being able to perform the duties of your job. Also, if you need to work a reduced load, disability payments can help make up the difference. You would start by opening a disability claim with your state’s employment department, and getting the right forms for your doctor and your employer to fill out. Sometimes it takes a couple weeks for the payments to start. But hopefully for now you are just experiencing a minor setback and will be able to continue working if that’s what you wish to do.

No more lifting!!!

I don’t think I could have been a waitress during my 1st trimester. I could barely do my desk job. I was EXHAUSTED!!!

Talk to your OB.

Up to you. I worked through all my pregnancies. I lifted heavy objects into my third trimester.

Speaking from my experiences, I had heartburn and some achiness in my groin area, causing me to waddle and drink lots of milk shakes with child number two,

During my first pregnancy, I had some minor tenderness in my breasts, some aversions to certain foods and lots of energy. I was very warm all the time and remember walking outside in the snow with no coat. I worked and stayed active during both pregnancies.

You need to see your Ob/ gyn immediately and not rely on us.

Symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy are:

Abnormal vaginal bleeding

Amenorrhea

Breast tenderness

Low back pain

Mild cramping on one side of the pelvis

Nausea

Pain in the lower abdomen or pelvic area

If the area of the abnormal pregnancy ruptures and bleeds, symptoms may get worse. They may include:

Feeling faint or actually fainting

Intense pressure in the rectum

Pain that is felt in the shoulder area

Severe, sharp, and sudden pain in the lower abdomen

Internal bleeding due to a rupture may lead to low blood pressure and fainting in around 1 out of 10 women.

Your body is used to the work as a waitress. If your body is used to working that way, getting pregnant shouldn’t affect it for a while. It would be a bad idea to start a new job as a waitress and getting your pregnant body used to running around and being on your feet all day. I worked in a shoe store until I was 7 months pregnant and then I had to quit because I was climbing ladders and carrying stacks of shoes and my belly got in the way. For now, I think you’re fine and if you’re really concerned, you can call your doctor and ask a nurse to leave a message with the doctor so you can avoid actually making an appointment. Good luck :)

My job involves climbing telephone poles, and pulling off manhole covers, and climbing down in them.
Women who do this same job have worked to 6 months pregnant, at which they usually do office work till 8.
You should be able to waitress.

Exercise is good for a pregnant person. unless your doctor says your pregnancy is high risk I would keep working. There is probably a psychological component to working after finding out you were pregnant, and you will definitely be tired, (You are creating a whole new person,) but if you suddenly become stagnant, chances of having a difficult delivery will increase.
I cleaned floors and operated a swing buffer 12 hours before giving birth to my second daughter.

My last day of work was the Friday before I went into labor (on a Sunday) I was a full 40 weeks. I didn’t have to be up and about as much as a waitress but I was up a lot. The only bad effect I had (besides normal aches in the tummy) was VERY swollen ankles aka canckles…. As long as you aren’t doing a ton of heavy lifting and your feeling up to it I’d say keep working. But if you don’t have good health benefits id say find a job with a good health plan. Having a baby is expensive… (like upwards of 10 thousand buckaroos or more) luckily most insurance plans cover a big chunk of that.

Slightly off topic but along the lines of working on one’s feet into late pregnancy: I am an elementary school teacher so I was on my feet all day until 8.5 months. Swimming worked WONDERS to keep the ankle/foot swelling down. Even when I was too big and tired to really swim, just floating in the pool and scissor kicking my legs back and forth for a while made the day’s swelling disappear. Not to mention the water made me feel amazingly light – such a relief after a long day. Highly recommend it if/when you get to that point.