House Renovation - safe during pregnancy?

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I'm now 29 weeks pregnant and for the past month our house has been going through some renovations - new flooring, bathrooms. This week our contractor is finishing the 2nd bathroom and we were getting ready to do the kitchen. We are in a 1 level condo and of course there has been a lot of dust in the apartment while the work is being done.
I have just heard from a friend of mine that doctors suggest to postpone any remodeling projects up to 1 year after the baby is born due to potential exposure to dust & other chemicals.

I am worried now that I have already been exposed to dust and maybe we shouldn't do the kitchen at this time. Has anyone heard that remodeling can potentially harm the baby or maybe your doctor had said the same thing?

Your responses are appreciated very much.

[Anonymous]

I am curious about this too as we started completely rennovated our kitchen in our old house b/f I knew I was pregnant. Everything still isn't complete & I'm due anytime now.

[Anonymous]

yes-any additional info would be helpful to me to....we are renovating our bathroom right now....and im 37 weeks pregs.
I am really worried about the dust etc especially because the old paint very well could have had lead in it...
we're trying to get everything done before the baby...painting etc. but fresh paint won't be good for the newborn baby either....
stress!

[Anonymous]

I worry about it, but we don't really have a choice since there is nowhere to put the baby until we finish at least a few of the many construction projects in our house, so we're renovating while I'm pregnant. It's dusty. I figure it's probably better to do it now while the baby has my body as a buffer zone for the stuff as opposed to after when they'd be breathing it in directly.

I take some consolation in the knowledge that when my mom was pregnant with me, she used some kind of blowtorch to help her scrape lead paint off the walls in her DC townhouse, and when the whole DC lead pipe debaucle broke, my Mom's block was one the first to have their pipes replaced. But I'm fine - I even started Pre-K early cause I was already reading. Maybe I could have been a genius and it got ruined by house renovations.

[Anonymous]

We did some renovating when I was PG... we just did a lead strip test to make sure there wasn't lead in the paint... we live in an old house, and I think that I left the day that painting was being done. But that was it. I don't think I sought medical advise at the time. Opps. DS is fine... although very 'spirited'

[Anonymous]

I did a full 2,000sqft house remodel during my entire pregnancy and through my child's first year of life. Just about everything including the drywall and electrical was ripped out and replaced. It is an old house and probably filled with all kinds of toxins. We are all fine and a year later, I'm still finding dust in the oddest of places. One thing we did do is tape up heavy plastic to try to quarantine areas of the house...not b/c I was afraid for our health, but because I hated the mess infiltrating the rest of the house.

The WORST part is when they stained and poly'd the HW floors. The smell was nauseating and we actually had to check into a hotel for a few days, I felt dizzy and really felt like we were being poisoned.

[Anonymous]

There are some environmentally friendly products you can use that will really cut down on your baby's chemical exposure - low-VOC paint from Ben. Moore and non-toxic (not poly) HW floor stains, for example.

[Anonymous]

Lead based paint is only a problem if ingested. I asked about this since we just bought a 60 year old house. We had a lead inspection done. The EPA has a report on lead based paint if you are interested. If you want a lead inspection done, All Pro Services in Northern Virginia does them. You can find their info on the web.

[Anonymous]

Be sure to get these children tested for lead.

It is great if you can avoid renovations, but life is life. An occasional stint in a hotel during certain particularly bad phase may be in order.

[Anonymous]

What about using an air purifier to help with the air quality?

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks everyone for all your replies. I feel a little better and not as worried realizing that many of you have done renovations while pregnant and everything is fine with the baby. We did buy an air purifier yesterday though, I think it is a good idea to have it when there is so much dust around the house.

[Anonymous]

Just continuing this thread ... given what I've heard, it sounds like it is best to move out of the home during renovations, if that is an option ... but, what about the furniture that's left behind? I'm assuming we should just do our best to cover everything in plastic (or some other covering), if we can't move it out with us. We are planning 2 bathroom renovations ... the baby is due just before Thanksgiving, and I'd like to give my wife the spa bathroom she's always wanted and a slightly updated 2nd bath for the baby before her arrival.

Also, would anyone recommend repainting the walls and ceilings to seal off any remaining dust? Or, is a damp "wipe-down" adequate? We also have hardwood floors, so I think the best we can do there is a "Swiffer-based" sweeping followed by a cleaning with a wood floor cleaner.

Thanks for any posts!

[Anonymous]

Bathroom renovations should be easily containable - I wouldn't even move out for most of that (assuming you still have a remaining bathroom to use). We did a hall bath renovation (complete gut, but didnt have to break through walls) and it took about a week and the only real issue outside the bathroom was dirty handprints in the hallway outside. They can seal off vents and use plastic sheeting to contain dust.

[Anonymous]

Have a really good post-construction cleaner come when you are done - they should go over all the walls, baseboards, doors, furniture etc. It'll be expensive, but worth it. The dust can take a week or so to settle sometimes, but the cleaning really helps. And I second the low/no-VOC paint and floor stuff. It makes a HUGE difference. No new paint smell, but I guess that's what's bad for yoU!

[Anonymous]

i was so relieved to find this forum! i am 17 weeks pregnant and we have been renovating our house for the last couple months. We also have been living in the house during all of it! we have completely gutted our living room and kitchen down to the studs so i have been worried about drywall dust and insulation and all that having an affect on my baby. but seeing how many women have been exposed to all this and more during pregnancy and having perfectly healthy babies makes me feel sooooo much better! i hope this helps other women wondering about this.