Pregnant with Pneumonia

I've had a cold for about 2 weeks now.  Really, it was nothing major.  I had a stuffed up nose, a bit of phlem in my throat and the occasional mild sore throat when I woke up.  I always get infections in my throat, and sometimes in my lungs, so I know when it passes that line and I need to get meds.

Last night, I woke up several times struggling to breathe.   I felt like I could only breathe in about 50%, and if I breathed any deeper, it hurt like crazy (the only way I can describe it is trying to catch your breath in the freezing cold after running or something!).  I am a mild asthmatic so I have puffers (which I rarely use and work immediately when I need them), and they did absolutely nothing to help me.  It was very scary.

I went to the clinic and it turns out I have pneumonia.  I was given a Z-pack of anti-biotics, a hectic inhaler (that works slightly better) and put on a 4-day course of Prednisone.  The prednisone is what scares me.  There is conflicting data whether it's safe or not, and a 0.005% chance that if it's a girl, she will have a lot more testosterone in her body which could cause excess body hair and the likes (all according to the Dr I saw).  The Dr called my OB to see if she would recommend me taking it and she agreed, only because not having this clear up quickly is way more dangerous for both me and the baby.

I developed a fever for the first time since being sick today, and that along with not breathing freaked me out since fevers can cause you to miscarry if they develop quickly.  This pneumonia is so dangerous for both me and the baby and it scares me.  People who die from pneumonia are usually elderly, immune compromised or pregnant.  As for baby, all these meds and the fever (which I'm controlling with Tylenol) put the baby at risk.

I'm off work for a week and was given strict instructions to stay in bed, rest and drink fluids.  I go back on Wednesday for a follow-up, but was told if I don't improve or I get worse to go straight to the hospital.

I was getting so excited to finally be closing in on 2nd trimester, but I guess something else had to be thrown in there first for me to really appreciate being in the "clear" with this pregnancy.