to drink while TTC

[ncob]

(name changed for this)

I have known of people having a glass of champagne over christmas dinner etc while pregnant and always thought I wouldnt do it.

Fast-forward to now, been TTC over a year (irregular cycles, endo etc). I have basically been teetotal this entire time. Not a big drinker so it wasn't too hard. Have had the occasional drink during/ immediate post-period when I know theres 0 chance of getting pregnant (DH away etc), still I could count this on one hand in the last 15 months or so.

Just feel a bit fed up and fancy a drink this bank hol weekend (i doubt ill have one as in 2 week wait currently and dont want to mess up my chances) but going forward, is it such a crime to drink occasionally till you do get pregnant? Surely most people do? Annoying that men dont have to think of any of this.

15 months of no drinking would be really hard for anyone. I’m also not much of a drinker (2 glasses of wine on a Friday kinda gal) and I wouldn’t go 15 months without.

As has already been mentioned, many babies are born after nights of heavy drinking and the vast majority are fine. What I did when I was TTC was to drink (mild to moderately) before ovulation (I tested for ovulation), then no drinking in the two week wait. I think this is completely safe as baby obviously not there before ovulation and alcohol leaves our bodies in hours.

Good luck with the TTC!

I had the occasional single drink throughout pregnancy. There's no evidence that this (as opposed to moderate-heavy drinking) causes any problems.

I reckon it’s absolutely fine.

I drank through the entirety of the 4 day Easter Bank Holiday weekend and found out the week later I was pregnant with my first child.
He's now 6'4 and going to college in September having got good GCSE grades.
I wouldn't put my life on hold 'just incase' especially if conceiving was taking some time.

as a ‘healthy lifestyle’ thing if you’re having fertility issues sure, though it’s almost certainly more about excessive drinking than drinking at all. As a ‘risk to baby’ thing, in the very early stages it’s not a thing. There would be millions upon millions of foetal alcohol afflicted adults if it was.

Ofc! I was on holiday during my TWW and drank everyday/ night and got pregnant that cycle.

With my daughter I did the same. Carried on with life as normal until I got a positive test

Read a book called 'expecting better'

The healthier your body is the better your chance of conceiving but You can definitely drink a little. My understanding is in the first two weeks (between conception and missed period) the embryo takes nothing from your blood it is just cells replicating themselves so the alcohol in your blood won't go to it, but IF you did an awful binge drink and made yourself extremely ill your body could go into a shock that would cause a miscarriage- so it's kind of 'all or nothing' at this stage, if you don't cause a miscarriage the baby will be fine if you stop drinking around first missed period time. I'm sure a huge proportion of babies are conceived when the mother has had a few wines.

This is just an anecdote but for reassurance I had a negative test on a Thursday when my period was due, drank champagne and cider all weekend thinking I wasn't pregnant then did another test on Tuesday as still no period and it was positive. Baby is totally fine xx

Yes but they are somewhat protected as primordial follicles and it is a crucial stage in the time when they begin to be prepped for ovulation and undergo Meiosis II ready to ovulate and be fertilised.

There's no evidence that an occasional drink will harm your chances of TTC.

There is evidence that alcohol affects egg quality, hormone levels, conception rates and miscarriages. Which is why all my fertility consultants have advised both of us not to drink. It’s not rocket science.

It has a big impact on sperm too - my healthy, slim DP had an odd craft beer with his dinner (only 1 or 2) and never drank to excess. His sperm quality (morphology and DNA fragmentation) massively improved when he stopped.

After 4 years of TTC/ fertility interventions, if I didn't drink every time I was in a 2WW I would have spent approximately 2 years tee total.

I abstained at the beginning, but now I won't until I have a positive test.

I haven't stopped, but I have made sure to stay within the NHS recommended limit, and haven't binged. A lot of fertility stuff is predetermined, and we're otherwise very healthy and active. It helps me feel like there's some normality in my life, and takes the emotional pressure off TTC. I've had one pregnancy which ended in a loss, and I stopped as soon as got BFP.

yes - but this is excessive drinking. Of course they advise that though.

What most people said, drank until I got a positive test. However I didn’t have any fertility problems. If I had I may have decided differently