need advice with pregnancy and relapse

I am 22 weeks pregnant and on 2mg of suboxone a day. I relapsed about a month ago and havent been clean yet. I live in the state of california. I am deathly afraid of a thing called meconium testing. When the baby is born and passes its first poop they test it and can see all the drugs you have done, what specific kind, how much and when in your pregnancy all the way back to your 18th week. I know i will be completely clean in the next week but what are the chances that CPS will take my baby? Does anyone have any advice on drug testing/ meconium testing? Or any experience with opiate use while pregnant. Or any advice on California;s procedures for after birth testing? My doctor knows i am on sub and knows i use to use. Please dont bash me i am very guilty and scared. Any advice would be great!

Hi there! I have never heard of meconium testing. I am 16 weeks pregnant and have 2 other children, delivered in Texas. They both passed the meconium in the hospital, but it was NOT tested. I just cleaned the diaper in the room and moved on. I was on opiates with my son (dr prescribed) for fibroid tumors, but got off right before delivery (no suboxone). I am surprised that they would do that. Did your dr tell you about this test? And is it for every baby or just ones with suspicion of drug use? I know plenty of women who used, drank, etc. before they knew they were pregnant (and some during pregnancy!), and I could imagine that would be a CPS nightmare if every single one was called.

I would think that if your dr knows you are on suboxone and you are being honest, you would not have any trouble. Being on suboxone is a form of recovery, not a form of using, in many eyes. There are many more people on this forum with greater knowledge of the rules/regulations about suboxone. I am not one of them, but do know that neither of my children were tested for anything. I haven't heard anyone else on the forum mention that their's were either, except for the NAS scoring for withdrawals. Hopefully, someone from CA who just had a baby can get back to you. Hang in there!
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"It's never too late to live happily ever after...."

I am not 100% positive, but I don't think they routinely test the meconium. If you have passed all your drug tests at your Sub doctor's office throughout your pregnancy, then I don't think you have anything to worry about. They might test YOU at the hospital for drugs and if you pass that, then you should be fine. I'm thinking as long as those two criteria are met and they have no reason to suspect you are on drugs and you are just taking your Sub as prescribed, then there would be no reason to test the baby. Hope this helps Smile

Hi Calix!

Congrats on your baby! So, you relapsed about a month ago, and you haven't been clean since....correct?

If you don't mind me asking, what have you relapsed onto? Im only asking this because depending upon what you've been using, you may want to inform your O.B......just to make sure your baby is ok, possibly do another ultrasound, IDK?

Does your Sub doctor know you've relapsed? And who informed you about this Meconium testing?

IMO, I think you need to talk to your Sub doctor. You obviously relapsed because you were/are having cravings, right?
Have you always been on 2mg Subutex, or have you just recently tapered?

Alot of questions, I know! Im just trying to get a better understanding of your situation so that we can help you.
It sounds like maybe you need to go UP a bit in your Subutex dosage. 2mg is pretty low. This dosage may not be high enough to keep you out of withdrawl, AND keep your cravings at bay............which is probably why you relapsed??

I know that YOU KNOW THIS, but........whatever you've relapsed onto, PLEASE STOP USING, AND GET BACK ON YOUR SUB!
And, like I stated....call your Sub doc so you can let him know how you've been feeling.

Meconium testing is a very reliable and sensitive screening procedure for newborns. I did some Google searching and I couldn't find any law(s) that California has. From what I can tell based on this very cursory search, it seems to depend on each hospital's policy. You can always get creative in trying to find out what their policy is.

I would also like to echo Marie's sentiment....You said you haven't been clean yet. So, PLEASE go back on suboxone ASAP and end the craziness of this relapse - FOR THE BOTH OF YOU!!! You know this never ends well...only down the same fucking dead end. You can do this. I know you can. We're here for you.
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-As I have grown older, I've learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is a piece of cake.

-I'm only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand.

Talk to your Sub doc about your cravings/ relapse, and like others have said, get back on your Sub, at a higher dose if necessary, ASAP.
Do NOT report your relapse to your OB. If they have no suspicion of drug abuse they will not test the meconium. Don't give them a reason to!

Are sensitive teeth a pregnancy symptom? I recently started having sensitive teeth, only my front teeth.Is this a pregnancy symptom? I don't really have any other pregnancy symptoms except for being tired a lot. That's probably because I only get about 5 hours of sleep a night. (school). What are other reasons for sensitive teeth?