X-ray

I'm just curious, what do you do if you are the tech and you are the pregnant one? Do you have to leave your job during your pregnancy? I'm sure you will be fine. The human body is incredible.

Hey L.,
My daughter is now 7 and i was having x-rays while i was pregnant with her. She turned out fine, Everything will be fine. I wouldnt really worry about it, You are still in the early stages.
Congrats and relax,

S.

Hi L.... I am an RN and have seen many radiology techs who are pregnant do xrays. They will even do portable xrays which means there is no wall to stand behind. They never wear lead vests either. I think you are fine. Just to make you feel better, give your OB a call just to let them know and see what he/she says. Congrats on your new pregnancy!!

I really wouldn't worry to much if I were you. If you are pregnant and break a bone they do x-rays on you. My cousin had x-rays while pregnant and they didn't know she was pregnant at the time. And if you tell them your pregnant they just stick the vest over your stomach. And I had a tech tell me that that vest really doesn't do much of anything other than to make you think you are being well protected. My Mom said that years ago they used x-rays like they use ultra sounds now and millions of babies survived this without any complications. If I were you I would stop worry so much and enjoy my pregnancy. But to ease your mind tell your doctor about the x-ray. Congrats on your pregnancy.

Hi L....
I use to work in a Radiology department and would help the techs with children, specially those where Mom or Dad couldn't be in the room for reasons just like yourself. Now this was 10 years ago and even then, the protection behind the "glass partition" was more than sufficient to protect pregnant moms... just as well as a lead shield. Each X-Ray tech wears a moniter that records the amount of radiation THEY potentially received. That's why they stand behind the partition for each x-ray. If there had been any danger to you, they would have had you step outside the room.
Now, like I said this was 10 years ago and I'm in no way a doctor, but I think you can rest a little easier. Remember stress can be just as harmful to the fetus. So, if you are in real distress about this, pick up the phone and call the doctors office so you don't have to wait till your appointment. I'm sure they would be happy to answer your question.
Hang in there! I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
Have a good day!

Hi L., I am a pregnant x-ray tech. I am 26 weeks and have been shooting x-rays since day one. There are several protective barriers you have to take with being pregnant. One,
stand 6 feet away from the prime source of radiation. if you were standing about 30 feet from your daughter you are safe. Two, standing behind a lead barrier. If they had you standing behind a wall,corner wall, glass barrier, ext. all of that is lined with lead.. so thats another form of protection. Third,woud be the lead vest. I wear a lead vest only because i do have to interact with my paitents shortly after the x-ray is shot. But yes! standing behind that lead wall and more than 6 feet away you ARE protected. Do Not Worry! I was very nervous about continuing to be a tech while pregnant and then was reassured by my dr that everything would be ok as long as i practice saftely. Good Luck with the new baby!!! I hope I helped!

I was the exact age as you are now and I didn't know I was pregnant but was much further along than you were. The injected me with radioactive dye! Talk about guilt! I have von willebrand's disease and bleed alot....so I hadn't missed yet. It was 4 months along before they would allow me to be tested b/c of insurance, you had to miss. But with a jolt of radioactive dye I had a normal baby that is a 15 year old business woman that makes her own soaps, scrubs, lotions, body butter etc....all natural. I did freak out though and I went to the hospital and made them figure out how much exposure she would have gotten at the age of gestation. We did extra sonograms and she has no effect from the dye. If you are behind the wall you are safe. The tech could not do that all day and be exposed all day long...and if you look closely they were a special badge that has a detector on it, it will turn colors if they have gotten radiation. Most people don't know that. At least they used to....I worked in Radioactive Imino Assays as a Lab Tech and we had to, you do lab test with radioactive tags on specimens. Theirs looked the same. So take a deep breath and breathe easy....your doctor will be the best judge but I had a direct dose and nothing. I thank everyday too. Hope that helps.
B.

If you are still worried, call your doctor and either talk with him/her or make an appointment before next week. A little reassurance goes a long way.

A little about me:
I am a 62 year old grandmother who has two grown sons, one married with an 8 year old son.

You'll be fine. I used to take x-rays at work and I'd have to be right up close to restrain whatever animal it was we were working on and when I asked my doc if I would have to stop once I got pregnant she said as long as I wore a vest I'd be fine. Standing behind a partition 30 feet back for a couple of x-rays is a lot less exposure than what I'd have been getting taking x-rays several times a week and being right up close, lead vest or no lead vest (which my doc thought was fine). As it turns out my boss hasn't let me near the x-ray machine since she found out I was trying to get pregnant, let alone now that I am, so it hasn't even been an issue.

I find the Internet to be more of a "hindrance", than a "help" sometimes! Please don't read too much into it! You will drive yourself nuts!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

You will be fine. I had to take my son for chest x-rays when I was 7 weeks pregnany. I stayed behind the wall. It was fine, no problems. It is not enough radiation to harm you or the baby. The techs are at a high risk because they are around it 24/7. Not sure of the saturation rates, but I promise you that wall absorbed it. I would not be surprised if the wall itself was made with a protective material. Try to relax and then talk to your ob.

I would love to know about the results of your daughters xrays or what the doctor said about this. My daughter too has nursemaids elbow. Haven't had an incident in quite awhile. She is 4. I was told she would outgrow this.

Thanks

L., I can tell you from personal experience this is NOTHING to worry about. I had to have a full body scan MRI done when I was about 6 months pregnant with my first. I am fine, she's fine. She is now a happy and healthy 4 year old and too smart for her own good.

You don't need to worry at all. I'm a veterinarian so we take a lot of X-rays and are trained about scatter risks. That partition they had you stand behind was leaded glass so there is no chance that you got exposed to any dangerous levels of radiation. And even if you hadn't been behind the partition, standing 30 feet away from the primary beam drops your risk of exposure to almost 0. Even then X-ray radiation is only really dangerous to a pregnant mother if you're being repeatedly exposed to them (like if you were exposed to x-rays weekly). Hope this helps sooth the nerves and congratulations!

I am an xray tech and the wall that you stood behind is a lead wall with leaded glass in it. It is perfectly safe. That is where we stand, and we are monitored monthly on our radiation doses. No extra protection is needed behind this wall. You can sleep at night - your baby did not receive any scatter radiation!!!

I had a mammo at 3 months and I was fine. DOn't worry!

L., I am a worrier too, so I know how things can just eat at you. But I really feel you have nothing to worry about in your case. You found out SO early that you are expecting. Most people in your case may not have even known they were pregnant. Those little embryos are much stronger than you would think.

I took a test before we went away for our anniversary, it was negative. My husband and I went out and I drank the whole weekend(not obnoxiously).

A week later, I took a test, it was positive. So I was pregnant when I drank. I was so paranoid the whole pregnancy. Please don't worry yourself! You are a good mama, and I am sure everything is just fine! Congrats on the new baby!!!

You will be fine. Being present for one x-ray isn't going to cause any problems. You don't want to be getting mutiple x-rays with is why they say no x-rays. Just try to relax and enjoy the pregnancy. I know what you mean, I'm a worrier too, especially when it comes to pregnancy!