Oh dear. I'm TTC and I drank a bottle of wine last night despite trying to be good...

[Impers7]

Hello

I'm feeling very guilty. OH and I are trying to conceive our first and despite knowing that I shouldn't, I had a lot to drink last night.

I'm a drinker. Not as in a I've-got-a-problem drinker but as in I-love-a-drink-and-can-easily-finish-a-bottle-when-in-like-minded-company drinker.

I know that this has got to stop. Right now I could conceivably be pg - but despite noticing some unusual symptoms, I'm still keen on a drink.

I'm just looking for a bit of a slap around the face with a wet fish - someone to put me off the booze. And perhaps someone to reassure me that if I ever discover that I am pg it will be easy to give up the booze for good...

[chocolatebuttontheif]

Try not to worry. When I got a great new job I celebrated and drank a whole bottle of champagne. I then found out a few days later I was 5 weeks pregnant and I felt awful!

I would say drinking when ttc is fine as long as it's in moderation. And I did find it easy to stop when i found out i was pregnant. When we went out I found drinking J2O's with soda helped as it was much more exciting than lemonade or orange juice!

[Folicacid]

I wouldn't worry too much as you may be TTC for a long time ands can't live like a nun for all of it!

[fizzpops]

Once you know you are pregnant it will be easier not to drink. I am the same sort of drinker as you and I didn't have a drop through my entire pregnancy and didn't miss it.

We are trying for our second and I find the 2ww very trying but only because I don't know if I am actually not drinking for any other reason than a maybe. If I knew I was I would be into 'mother mode' iykwim.

[Impers7]

Thanks for your messages. I guess I'm worried that I won't have a "mother mode" that I will automatically switch into and that I will be tempted with a drink throughout. I haven't been pregnant before so I have no previous experience to go on!

[AlpinePony]

You are allowed to drink you know - unless they've started giving out Martyr Crowns with every bottle of folic acid!

[chocolatebuttontheif]

The way I see it is that if you don't agree with drinking in pregnancy then you won't want to, the same applies to smoking, caffeine, eating raw eggs etc.

My sister smoked and drank throughout her entire pregnancy because she didn't see a problem with either

[Impers7]

Thanks for your reassurance. I'm sure I'd muddle through pregnancy (if it happens) as best I can, with or without a drink on occasions!

[dollylolly]

Hi this might sound strange but i was ttc for 3years i went to docs and they told me everything was fine, my friends who have children actually told me to go out and have a few drinks as it relax's the body when ttc, yes it sounds crazy but i did it and 2 weeks later i got a BFP so dont worry :)

[Kazorina]

Agree with Dollylolly, if anything it will probably help you conceive. Think about how many babies are conceived after one drunken night.... Don't be so hard on yourself.

[dontcarehow]

Think about what your mum & grandma probably did whilst she was pregnant with you, before all of the health warnings and scaremongerings all over the media. And how did you turn out? Its only recently that women are being advised not to drink, based on quite flimsy evidence. I'm not advocating being blind drunk every night, but you'll probably do more harm worrying so much about it than actually doing it, as long as its in moderation. That being said, whilst our parents/ granparents generation probably drank throughout pregnancy, I doubt it was anything near what us girls today drink. So a nice mixed message for you there! I'd say, you're trying so you're not actually pregnant, and it takes about a week after conception for the cells to actually start receiving blood from you, so you're probably OK!

[ravenlocks]

To re-assure you on not being able to easily stop drinking when you get pregnant...

I sound like a similar drinker to you, the sort that when I told the doc HONESTLY how much I drank he looked shocked(!) I kept track for 6 months in prep for a medical and was curious about how much I actually did put away, averaged 25 units a week.

When I was pregnant I couldn't stand the smell of the stuff - if DH was drinking I had to be at least 6 ft away from the glass. It was no problem whatsoever to stop, didn't get that craving for a glass of wine after a 'long hard day' atall that I did when I wasn't pg.

DH and I have recently given up the booze - since end of Nov - (but made an exception for Xmas and NYE) in an attempt to concieve. Only because we have been going for 10 months and still not up the duff so trying this as something we can control that helps us think we are doing something positive. Might not make a difference but hey we are giving it a go.

[Ariesgirl]

You can drink as much as you want and it won't harm the baby if it's not been conceived yet! If you're a heavy drinker it may hinder conception, but on the other hand so many babies are born to parents who were wasted when they were conceived that it makes you think. When our mothers carried us, they drank, they may well have smoked, they formula fed, they ate pate, blue cheese, you name it. I'm assuming all of us made to us adulthood :)