Any of your preggy patients crave toxic things like PineSol?

dawngloves, BSN, RN · Dec 19, 2006

My mom would huff Pine Sol when pregnant. She would also stand in the grocery store smelling bottles of cleaner. My sister and I turned out OK, for the most part.

Jo Dirt · Dec 19, 2006

I love the smell of Irish Spring (dark green) soap. OMG. I'd take 10 baths every day. I also like the smell of clean things. Laundry soap, fab softer.
As far as the pica...ice, ice and more ice. I crave ice from certain places too. I love my ice machine on the frig, but love, love the ice at Sam's club's snack bar. LOL. And yes...I am anemic...

I like that ice, too, love those pellets.

Jo Dirt · Dec 19, 2006

hmmm, it's interesting that most of the smells that these women are craving are related to cleanliness. Wondering if this could be related to the nesting instinct I've heard about during pregnancy? Maybe r/t making a clean safe home for the future baby? Never been pregnant myself, as I'm a guy, and never worked OB/GYN, but does that sound plausable?

I don't know. I hope it starts to sink in, though, my house is still a mess (but the potty and kitchen floor is clean).

JVanRN · Dec 20, 2006

I remember when I was pregnant I found the smell of gasoline, paint thinner, and markers appealing. I didn't sit there and sniff it or anything because I knew/know better, but for some reason it was oddly appealing. (and no I've never sniffed them to get high)

mgalloLPN · Dec 21, 2006

My mom craved peaches and strawberries with me and those are my fave fruits. Her sister craved Mud and dirt and actually tasted them (that was about 20 years ago).

HeartJulz · Jan 28, 2008

Still to THIS VERY day intense clean, nice smelling aromas are like an aphrodesiac (mis sp?) I love the smell of VS candles, body lotions, bleached towels, shampoo, yum.... cant get enough of clean crisp smells ... and my daughter is 14!!! Pregnancy def. entices your sense of smell .. and continues well aftr you have given birth .. maybe it enhances it all because its all bred for being a mom.. like when animals can sense things through sense of smell? weird, I know but they do say we came from apes and monkeys!!! lol

Kiwimid · Feb 3, 2008

if the craving gets too much, try changing brands, one with a different scent. it is fairly common,but i would not drink it. your a sensible person and know that im sure. good luck with the rest of your journey

SurroDoula · Feb 3, 2008

I had a doula client (pregnant with twins) that craved concrete and wanted to lick her basement walls. The craving was so bad that she had to stay out of her basement so she wouldn't do it.

ragingmomster, BSN, MSN, RN · Feb 5, 2008

When I was pregnant with #2 and #3 I would stop on the way home from work every morning and fill my gas tank. I have always loved the smell of gas but just HAD to HAVE it every day.

I also had the tremendous urge to mow the lawn every day. Mostly toward the end, just thinking I would move toward labor with the bouncing and jouncing.

Horribly, I was also craving the smell of spray paint. I am hoping nobody thinks I need to be flamed or educated but I would take the can and spray 1or 2, 3 foot passes over my metal bulkhead (cellar door) every couple of days when the craving got sooooo bad I just couldn't stand it. This was outside, lots of fresh air, but I just loved the smell.

All kids are great and healthy, my midwife was aware and cautioned me strongly. Just impossible to keep from doing some of these things.

On the other hand, my patient last Thursday told me she was eating a 5 lb bag of ice daily. Amazingly, no anemia!

preemieRNkate, RN · Feb 5, 2008

I couldn't get enough of the smell of matches. I would light them and then blow them out. I also LOVED the smell of brand new diapers. My DH thought I had lost my mind.
Erin

I'm not pregnant, but I'm a NICU nurse, and I think new diapers smell good! My coworkers think I'm nuts...I'm like, "smell these, they smell really good!"

Makes me wonder now what I'll like when I am pregnant?

Kanani_Ikike · Feb 5, 2008

I don't know if it has anything to do with being pregnant, but I'm craving the smell of PineSol and Comet. I'll go wipe the counters or clean the toilet or mop the floor just so I can smell it.
My husband is freaking out and says I am going to poison the baby.
My papers from the OB say to call them immediately if I start eating dirt, but it doesn't mention craving the aroma of cleaner.
I'm not asking for medical advice about what to do, I just wonder if anyone has had a patient with such a craving?

When I was pregnant, I used to become almost "high" off of the smell of laundry detergent. I confess, and I am now ashamed of this but,I used to get freshly laundered washclothes and suck the detergent out of them. My mother would wander what had happened to all of the clean washclothes. Now, I realize how nasty and dangerous that had to have been for my baby.

I am so thankful that it didn't harm my baby, but I just had to have it. I guess I had a severe case of pica or something.

lupin · Feb 7, 2008

I'm at 21 weeks now and I have always had a strong sense of smell. My husband jokes that I'm part bloodhound. I could always smell a late night code brown when I worked in LTC.

Now it seems like it is tenfold. I can walk into my house and smell that cat litter from my two cats and say yep, that needs to be changed. (Don't flame me, that job is DH's. I know better.) My husband swears I'm crazy. I can even open the fridge and start cleaning it out by smell.

Lately I've been wanting citrus type smells around me. I changed soaps so I could smell grape fruit in the shower. My dish soap has changed to lemon joy. And I use fabric softner now for laundry. Never did before. Especially the Downy with lavender febreze in it.

No cravings, though I'm on a strict diet d/t gallbladder problems and the surgeon refuses to do surgery until I deliver. First time in my life I should be able to eat exactly what I want and can't.

Oh well, I'll just keep lemony smelling candles in the house.