The due in September crew head into the second trimester! :) (Thread 6)

[Treaclepie19]

Hi all! Stats sheet here :)

I did cornberry, I watched it at the time and brought it up on here. Yes I watched the bit about the Professor and his sonograms where he suggests baby doesn't move for two hours after a unit. I can only assume his research has not been peer reviewed and approved as, like shinjuku, I've extensively researched the issue and not found anything damaging except on this programme. I'm not advocating getting drunk (!!), just don't think us preggos should beat ourselves up over a small glass of fizz. Especially if depriving yourself of everything else!
Shinjuku you've taken the words right outta my mouth xx

Think the speed you drink at makes a difference too. I'm in the moderation camp (no booze 1st trimester, 3 glasses of wine over the last 4 weeks) and have made a glass of wine last a good hour or more with food.

No haven't seen it but have read all the evidence in it before as none of it is new according to the reviews I read. I honestly think that most people's intake of sugar is more dangerous than someone having a glass of wine occasionally. Sugar isn't a poison no but diabetes is big risk to pregnant mums and babies. Doesn't orange juice have traces of alcohol in? If we're really not taking any risk at all whatsoever by totally eliminating it we couldn't drink that either? Sorry I am not trying to turn this into an aibu but I can't help myself sometimes

Fair play to you for avoiding soft cheese (I do too). Again a tiny risk and I can see why others take the risk but to me it's a much less calculate risk as any amount could be harmful.

Sorry not sure where the confused smiley came from!!

PS I am a hypocrite having not seen it I realise - was it itv? I'll attempt to track it down

Oh and Expecting Better is a good read. The author goes back to the studies and comes to her own conclusions about alcohol, caffeine, cheese etc. Gives you the info you need to make your own informed choices.

Sorry Cornberry you're quite right the article is old.

Alcohol is totally unnecessary as is chocolate, foods with artifical additives, packaged sandwiches and salads, I totally agree, but I just don't think most people avoid all unnecessarily, potentially risky things and I don't think a small glass of wine once every few months is a bigger risk than a packaged sandwich (which have caused listeria in the past) every day but the packaged sandwich eaters never get told off!

Stanway I need that book!!

On ITVplayer. I'm just very susceptible to health warnings in general so I may have taken it to heart, but I still think it's worth a watch :)

I'm sorry I have to disagree. Everything you consume carries some risk - but I think it's pretty clear that it's not reasonable to compare a packaged sandwich with alcohol in pregnancy. Sorry :(

Fair enough. I don't have anything against people avoiding risks but I actually think it is a reasonable comparison as one sandwich could be harmful to a foetus if it contains listeria. Maybe some risks seem worse to some than to others. I guess I see listeria as a very unlikely risk but one you just can't mitigate by reducing the amount you eat etc whereas alcohol in tiny occasional amounts hasn't been proven to be dangerous.

Agreed. Not proven to be safe either.

No, along with most other things

I havent seen the program or researched re drinking in pregnancy but personally, it's not that big a deal for me not drinking. I don't see the need for me to have a small glass of alcohol. However, I have turned into a lover of chocolate & crisps & appreciate that's not good either! I wouldn't judge a pregnant woman for having a drink, but I just wouldn't myself (probably because I only drink to get drunk - so don't really see the point!). The NHS guidelines are there for a reason IMO, and I drank a lot over Christmas/New Year when I didn't know I was pregnant & the midwife doesn't seem too bothered.

For me the harmful stuff-to-avoid-in-pregnancy falls in two categories.

The first is things which are probably Ok in small quantities, as it's excess that might cause harm: alcohol, caffeine, vitamin A.

The second is things that actually are generally ok, but if they go wrong they go wrong completely and spectacularly and it would only take a one-off going wrong to cause harm. So I mean listeria risk from pate, salmonella from dodgy eggs, falling off a horse.

The problem with the first group is that it can be impossible to know how much is too much. With the second it's that it's impossible to predict.

IMO for the sake of 9 months (well, actually 8 as one doesn't know for the first month), and the risk of long term feeling guilty if something happened and you were not sure if you had contributed, I'm just avoiding the lot. Een though I did not in my previous pregnancies. I know that I am still horse riding, but now that I am 13 weeks, and my uterus is no longer fully within my pelvis and therefore not as well protected I am going to stop. Not worth the stress. And avoiding these things is relatively easy.

I've been pondering the no deli meats / prepped food / pre packed sandwiches / salads thing. If you work or are out of the house a lot, what exactly are you meant to eat?

I take cut fruit and stuff from home, but my actual lunch is always bought from somewhere, and usually in the form of something like a pret sandwich.

Reading up the thread on vitamin D; it's recommended because it has an impact on your fertility - both in terms of being able to get pregnant and then carry the pregnancy without complications. Deficiency in pregnancy has been linked to pre-eclamapsia, diabetes etc. There's some more info here if you're interested www.bulletproofexec.com/the-top-5-reasons-vitamin-d-makes-women-bulletproof/

It's a bit of a misnomer in that it's not actually a vitamin, it's a hormone that your body produces when your skin comes in contact with sunlight. I was under the impression that over the year the summer would average out the winter and levels would stay at a normal range. However, I went for a yearly physical and my Vit D levels were really low, at around 22 (recommended 35 and up) which was odd as it was just after summer.

At the time, I also couldn't get pregnant, with no identifiable cause. I started taking really high Vit D supplements on advice from my GP and 5 months later I was pregnant (and the Vit D level was well in to the 'normal' range) Was this the reason? I have no way of telling, but I think it might have contributed a bit

I've always taken my own pack up from home when working, rarely buy prepackaged even now when caught short with a hungry toddler

I don't drink whilst pregnant - I am not a big drinker anyway. In fact I haven't drunk any alcohol since my first pregnancy. As I see it, the risks are low but there is sufficient evidence there for me to want to avoid it. I know plenty of people who did/do have a drink whilst pregnant and they have had no problems. For me, it is not a big deal and I am not bothered by not drinking so I abstain.

miss that's really interesting about the vit d.

I'm trying to remember what I did when I was at work last time. Think I just made lynch or bought something freshly made eg from a bakery.

Lunch!!

Bumpology is great- had it from the library a few weeks ago. Great if you come from a scientific background and are fed up with sweeping unjustified statements in normal pregnancy books! As it is based upon peer reviewed journals and its referenced so you can go back to read the source (if so inclined)

I have just read the chapter on vitamin d in my DH's medical physiology textbook. However you get it (from UV or food) it acts to increase your absorption of calcium from food which is otherwise quite poor. Being pregnant you need more calcium then normal and again more once the baby is born for breastfeeding. Its a Lot more complex than that, but that is the useful.bit.

Personally not drinking just in case as it doesn't seem much to give up for me, very much looking forward to a glass of wine in September though!

Bailed on the nct sale :-( my dh said he wanted to come and I got really excited..but he's been working nights, ironically doing obstetrics on call and when I woke him up he was just too tired and I was to sad to go on my own- hence reading text books by myself...

On the bright side, he's been filmed walking about in this series of OBEM, have asked my mum to find him and I think I'll just watch that bit!

I got all excited then - I had a school friend of the same surname who is an academic. not the same person though lol

one very pleased granny/great granny has just been informed

I'm another abstainer of alcohol. I'm in the camp that it's not that difficult to avoid, along with other things that could be harmful during pregnancy. And as a pp said, if something went wrong, I would always doubt myself.
Everyone is free to choose what they want to do, but I'd lump it with having a sneaky cigarette while pregnant - just not worth it.
Last time not only did I abstain throughout pregnancy, but because DD was such an unpredictable feeder, I didn't drink for another 14 months! It was pretty much 2 years without booze. I
Didn't really feel like I was missing out though.

I have stopped drinking alcohol completely and have been avoiding all the 'bad' foods. I did have a flute of champagne at a wedding yesterday though and it was heavenly. had a sip of a second glass a few hrs later and stopped though, the guilt got to me! have just started drinking coffee and tea again as I had completely gone off these in early pregnancy, but am only having a cup every other day ish. and I can't stand decaf so full caff it is.

my DH's cousins partner is a midwife at my hospital so is going to try and pull some string for me regarding the consultant as one is better with twins apparently- scarily she said herself 'it's who you know' which with regards to birthing has made me feel a tad on edge!

starting to show at 14 weeks, which I presume with twins is quite normal. still, a few people at the wedding commented you couldn't see my bump so must be looking half decent still!

feeling a lot less tired generally and far more upbeat and energised. anyone else coming into their second trimester feeling tonnes better?