X Rays

Hi there! I have been an x-ray tech for 7 years now and can tell you- don't worry! Pediatric chest x-rays have a very low radiation dose. I am glad they had you wear an apron, whether or not you were pregnant it is the right thing to do. I went through my entire pregnancy working around x-rays. People do it all the time. My son is one and a half and perfectly healthy! I also have number two on the way. The worst thing you can do is worry about it now. Just forget about it and try to avoid any more radiation if at all possible. Best wishes and congratulations!

I would not worry about it at all. When I was 5 months pregnat, I had a tooth bothering me. I told the dentist that I could not get any xrays because of the pregnancy. He told me that as long as you are wearing the vest it is fine. SO he took the x rays. THey did put two vest on my stomach. One going one way and hte other going the other.

When I was in high school I did and internship at the hospital and part of the time I was in x-ray. There was a pregnant woman that was working in there and she would just wear the vest whenever she was in the room with the patient. She just had to wear a little meter to measure how much radiation she was getting. I'm sure you'll be fine since you had the vest on. Don't beat yourself up over it. I'm sure you wouldn't have gone in the room if you had known you were pregnant. I'd mention it to your OB when you go in just to be safe though. BTW its about 4am so I hope this all makes sense :)

Don't worry too much--I also had an MRI done on my head when I was just a few weeks pregnant. I had suspected, but didn't know for sure, so they had me take a pregnancy test and it came back negative, so we went ahead with the MRI. I can't remember if I was wearing a lead apron or not. A week or two later, I found out I really was pregnant. My son is now 17 months old and is healthy and happy. So really, don't worry about it! You should be fine. You could always mention it to your OBGYN when you go for the first time, and he/she can help assuage your fears. Good luck with the pregnancy, and congratulations!

Hi T.,
I did kinda the same thing when I was pregnant with my 4th child. But I was the one getting the x-ray at my Chiropractor's office. I found out 3 days later that I was pregnant. I was so worried I started doing research on getting x-rays while pregnant. What I found was, and I'm not going to have all the right numbers, that when x-rays were first made they did indeed have HIGH radioactivity and were very dangerous to unborn babies but with the advancment of technology, todays machines are much more efficient and use very very low amounts of radiation. So as long as the machine being used is fairly new and up to date on matinence you and your baby should be just fine! My 4th child was born just fine, and is now a very happy perfectly normal beautiful 3yr old, if anything she's very smart for her age :-)

C.

T.- I am also a x-ray tech. Have been for 20 years. I also have 2 children and went through both pregnancies while doing x-rays. Both of my children are healthy. As a x-ray tech I hold patients and am involved with exams that have much higher doses than a pediatric chest x-ray. Since you were shielded, I wouldn't worry about it at all. We routinely do chest x-rays on pregnant patients when needed , we just shield them, same as you were. I myself had a CT when I was pregnant with my first and didn't know it. Ct's are higher dose but everything was fine. Mention it to your Dr, if you are still concerned.

Hi T.. As moms, I suppose it's our job to worry, but try not to here! Like others have told you, old machines did pose a threat to a fetus, but nowadays, the threat is so very small. They asked you just as a precautionary measure because no one wants to do any tests on humans/babies on the new machines so they'd rather just be safe than sorry. But there really is SUCH a small tiny minute chance of anything going wrong. And think of it this way, given your first two tests were negative, the baby had probably JUST barely implanted. Don't worry! To put your mind at ease even more, though, call and talk to your OB or an RN at your OBGYN and I'm sure they'll tell you the same thing. Congratulations on your newest addition!

I wouldnt let it bother you to much. With my second child I was 3 months along before I found out. I had, had catscans done on my ankle, x-rays done, and my son who is now 3 is 100% healthy, he is actully healthier then my first and I took 100% better care of myself with her then I did my son. So sit back and enjoy bringing another little bundle of joy into the world. Wish you luck and congrats on having another one.

I'm not sure if this is true...my daughter's pediatrician told me that the risk is not in a few x-rays. You would have to have many, many x-rays for there to be a problem. The problem that occurs is later in childhood, and it is leukemia. She said that of course, they don't want any risk which is why they ask if you are pregnant, but in reality, those that should be concerned are the ones that work in that field. Haven't researched that but I'm sure that's what she said. I would not be concerned!

If you had said yes or maybe, they would have given you a lead apron (at least thats what happened when I went in with my son and I wasn't sure). You were already wearing one, so the radiation that got to your baby was minimized.

Worrying can be bad for you and your baby's health. I know it's hard to not stress out, but you can't go back, just forward, so going over and over it in your mind won't help anything. Go ahead and mention it to your doc when you go in for your prenatal, he can probably reassure you that baby will be fine. Until then try to relax.

Congrats on your pregnancy!

I did the same thing. Had no idea that I was pregnant -- didn't even exect it. Surprise. We took tons of xrays and all I had was the vest. Hang in there. I now have a healthy 5.5 month old. You are not a terrible mother. Don't beat yourself up I think things will be fine.

Congratulations on your pregnancy! As everyone else has said, the risk is very low. Especially since they had you wear the lead vest. At this early gestational age, the main risk would be of miscarriage, but as long as everything is going OK, I wouldn't worry since that is very, very rare! The risk of later childhood cancers is also extremely rare and is more common when pregnancies are further along. There are many cases when X-rays are necessary in pregnancy and we do them all the time (if we need to). In fact, I had an x-ray when I was pregnant with my son.
I agree that you should let your doctor know when you have your first visit, but try not to worry!
Best wishes,
Dr. C. Swartz
Ob-Gyn

T.,

Congratulations on your pregnancy. I work in Orthopedics and we take tons of x-rays, so although I am not an expert on the subject, I have some expirience. The risk to you baby is quite low, especially since you were wearing vest. We've had pregnant mothers come in with injuries which required x-rays (for example broken bones) and even when we x-ray the mom, I've been told the risk is very low. So I think you should stop worrying and feeling guilty because I think everything is going to be just fine. I have even worked with a number of girls who are x-ray techs who take x-rays throughout their pregnancies. I know how it feels to worry that you put your child at risk, but by wearing the vest, and having the x-rays focused on your son and not you, I think you took plenty of precausions. There are so many things we might accidently get exposed to everyday (smoke, loud noises, chemicals, etc) and somehow the majority of Moms and babies are healthy. So relax and enjoy your pregnancy!

Its hard not to worry but there's nothing you can do to change the past now. Before I found out i was pregnant i went out to celebrate my birthday and got incredibly drunk. I found out the next week I was pregnant. My son is 13 months now and is happy and healthy even though I drank heavily that one night. Just be healthy and try not to worry the rest of your pregnancy, thats all you can do now.

Tristan - if you were wearing a lead vest covering your abdomen then you and your little one should be fine, especially since the xray was focused on your son and not on you. If you had known to tell them you were pregnant, they probably would have one of the nurses hold him during the x-ray. The vest is the next best thing. You are NOT a horrible mom and I feel pretty confident that your little one is going to be just fine. It takes ALOT more radiation exposure than several indirect shielded xrays to affect a fetus, more along the lines of radiation therapy for cancer.

Here is a link to an article that should reassure you:

http://www.babycenter.com/404_is-it-safe-to-get-an-x-ray-...

Good luck and God bless you!

The best advice, in my opinion, is don't worry. You can't change the past, and it is proven that worry on the mom's part is bad for the baby. Higher blood pressure, etc. I had an emergency x-ray with my son when I was 5 months. He wasn't breathing, I had no gown, and it had to be done. I have a very healthy little girl who has no problems other than reflux (which both of her brothers had). There are plenty of us around having kids today who's moms got x-rays with us and we are just fine. Look through history, there was a period where every woman got an x-ray to make sure the baby was in the proper position. Yes, you want to avoid it if possible, but you couldn't, and you were protected. Relax, and enjoy the rest of this pregnancy. (I actually did a lot of other x-rays, too, as breathing is something that does not come easily to our middle child. The others I just wore a gown.) GL! and Congratulations!

Try not to worry too much! I broke my leg when I was 31 weeks pregnant, and had multiple x-rays and 2 surgeries (it was a compound fracture!) My sone is now 3.5 years, happy, and healthy. You never know what the future will hold, but we're fine so far. I also know people who had dental work and x-rays taken with that, and their children have had no problems. They are now teenagers! Of course, talk to your ob about this, but I'll be surprised if he or she is very concerned! Good luck,and congratulations!

I would call your OB/GYN or primary care doctor and ask them. I know I had single dental x-ray when I was early in one of my pregnancies but I already knew I was expecting and they used a double layer of the lead apron over my abdomen. The bottom line though is that what's done is done. Now you need to just concentrate on doing what's best for baby from here on out.

L.