Is It Safe to Have My House Painted While Pregnant?

I hate to come across harsh but which is more important ascthetics (sp?) or yours and your future child's health? Maybe rethink this one...Paint is generally carcinogen no matter what stage they are in. Take the cats and move out if you must do the work now. By the way, your other child also should not be exposed to the fumes as well. It is known to cause brain cancer. Please don't be offended by my abruptness, I just hate for you to unnecessarily hurt yourself and those you love. Hang in there and feel good!

Definitely wait until after the 1st trimester (after 13 weeks) when the baby is most vulnerable to teratogens. I would minimize your exposure all together, though. Perhaps wear a mask if you needed to be in the house before the paint is fully dry. I agree with the other posters to really try to avoid the fumes as much as possible while pregnant.
Perhaps have your husband or some outside help do the work late in the pregnancy ( or while you are away for a number of days)?
Good luck/

Always us zero or Low VOC ANYTHING, pregnant or otherwise. VOC stands for Volitale Organic Chemicals. Benjamin Moore has a line of these. There are others as well. Paints/finishes,other than the above, emit toxins while applying and continue to emit on an ongoing basis.

You should research to find out what the most current ideas are about this, but when I was last pregnant (4 years ago) I was told to avoid solvents, oil-based paints, and any scraping of old paint (because of lead.) Latex paint used with ventilation was OK.

First trimester is when all of the critical parts of the baby are formed. Really after that it's mostly just growth and development. So I would really try and wait until you're at least 13 or 14 weeks. And then, I would make sure you keep the house well ventilated and not spend too much time there if you can avoid it (schedule an all-day trip to the park or the zoo or something for a couple days in a row).

Have you considered waiting until April to do the work? It should be warm enough to open the house then, and the baby will be almost "cooked" :)