Alcohol and TTC

[toomuchtimeonline]

Hi - I've been lurking here for months now but have finally plucked up the courage to post.

I was just wondering (with all of the news today about pregnant women not drinking at all) what everyone thinks about drinking whilst TTC - do you all just give up in the period that you could be pregnant e.g. post ovulation or do you wait to see if you are pregnant 2 weeks later? Or have you all given up completely?

Also, have any of your men given up alcohol to protect their sperm? No one seems to talk about the effect on men much - and since it is 3-4 months in advance it seems quite hard for them.

I am just starting TTC and I find the whole thing a mine-field (how naive of me to think you just BD and get pregnant and carry on life as normal). Obviously in an ideal world both of us would be tee-total for 6 months and health freaks but.. well any advise on what you're all doing/have done is much appreciated.

When ttc for this current pregnancy I didnt drink and dp only had one night out and didnt drink excessivey. Still not drinking.

I don't really drink much at all but I'm pretty sure that I concieved on the evening I had one glass of wine. DP rarley drinks so it really hasn't been an issue for us.

Hi,

I must admit I have not given up alcohol completely while ttc - maybe a glass of wine 2-3 times a week. I won't drink at all if I get pg though.

DH is not drinking atm anyway - for different reasons.

When we were ttc our first, we both stopped drinking completely.

I did drink with DS7 - but wasnt aware of preg as was told no chance of me geting preg. Had a very heavy night out round conception/early preg.

Should also say I don't worry about having the odd glass of wine in the 2-week wait - mainly because I've made a conscious decision to try and be "normal" and not obsessed with where I am in my cycle!

And welcome to mn

Hi, toomuch

join us in june thread

as for your questions - i dont drink that much alcohol anyway (not even once a fortnight).if i do feel like a drink whilst ttc i tend to have one, but only one.before ov i may have 2 glasses of wine, but only the once IYSWIM? when im pg i drink nothing.

My dp hasnt given up alcohol, but then again, he doesnt drink every week either.when he does go out, he has whatever he wants.

make sure you are taking folic acid. many us take a pregnancy/conception vitamin too, such as pregnacare, etc. dont take a regular one because of vit a. Others here use pre-seed, but i dont know much about that. there are also tales of grapefuit juice, cough medicine, etc. read through some threads to see is prob your best bet

Good luck

Awen - did your dp give up 4 months before you started trying? I'm not sure I can wait another 4 months before TTC (as DP has been drinking until now) and also not sure I can convinve him to give up completely anyway.

Goingfor3 - you sound very virtous - I hope I can become more like you.

Doggiesaywoof - I feel the same as you in terms of not wanting to obsess about TTC but I'm just not sure how I reconcile that no alcohol whilst TTC since, whilst not a heavy drinker, alcohol does play a large part in my social life.

And thanks everyone for responding so quickly to a newbie!

My Dp doesnt drink often anyway, no he didnt abstain for 4 months before, but he only drinlks when he goes out. Think is all about moderation xx

makes a change from everyone calling a newbie a troll!

"Troll"? Scary! I'm glad you've all been so nice to me! Have newbies been called Trolls on here?

Scorpio1 - thanks for the invite and making me feel so welcome! I've joined you on the other thread too.

Awen - I think that's what we've agreed. DP doesn't drink loads anyway and he's now started to be more careful about big nights out but if you google these kind of things they start talking about damaged sperm and birth defects and it scares you - which is why I thought I'd come and get some re-assurance from MM.

toomuchtime I don't want to be preachy (hate preachiness) but it's worth checking you and dp are within recommended limits (14 units per week for women and 21 for men) - just for general health, not just ttc.

Sorry if that sounds patronising

No - don't worry - sounds fine.

We really don't drink that much at all - the odd glass of wine every now and then and then maybe a night out once a month or so. I've decided not go over 2 drinks every now and then whilst TTC and thinking about giving up completely once I know I've ovulated (I'm taking my last few pills at the moment as aiming to start TTC in June - so just thinking about it at the moment).

And DP is the same - although I'm not sure he'll be giving up his once a month big night out.

However, neither of us go over our recommended allowance.

Hello toomuchtimeonline (that?s me too! )

I have always liked my booze as has my DH! I have to be honest and say that I found it too hard to give up alcohol totally when TTC I did cut down though but funnily enough, when pg as I am now ? 6 weeks, it?s easy to give it up!

I did give up spirits and drink wine instead when I was TTC as I read somewhere that that was better but can?t remember where now, I also tried to drink less just before OV as I read (Zita West) that your body?s sensitivity to toxins increases by 70% between 11.30am and 7pm on the day preceding OV and that in the 5 days prior to OV a good diet and as few toxins as possible are particularly important and you should not drink heavily.

I did try to get DH to cut back but it was pretty hopeless! He did agree to take WellMan vits though so maybe try that tack instead!

Thing is, TTC is fun (well, for a while! ) but you just don?t know how long it is going to take and you can?t put your life on hold, and it can be stressful and sometimes you need a drink or even a blow out to cope with it! Best of luck to you hope you fall before it starts to feel like a burden!

As Scorpio says (hey Scorpio! ) It?s worth taking pregnacare or some other specific pg vits as soon as you can. The other stuff Scorpio mentions is more about trying to help your cycle and produce more fertile CM then about health itself but if you need to know more on that, just let us know. There is so much to know (if you want to) so take it a step at a time or else you?ll get overwhelmed!

Awen ? who called a newbie a Troll? actually, I don?t want to know, I avoid all the nasty threads!

I was ttc for over a year. I started off being good, but then the novelty wore off and I stopped putting my life on hold as I thought it would never happen.

This month I had wine every night (couple of glasses ). I also had fish every night for a week and then a big brie sandwich an hour before I thought I should test. BFP!

Of course, I am now panicking like mad about it all.

congrats sideways

Congrats to MrsMcJnr and Sideways on your BFP!! Hope I'll be there with you soon

I may have to buy the Zita West book and have a read. I have cut out spirits and am sticking to the odd glass of wine or beer so hopefully that's enough. I think that for the first couple of months I'll probably be so excited that I won't drink at all however, i'm not sure how long that will last if it takes me a long time to get pregnant.

I'm taking folic acid but I have quite a healthy diet so I wasn't taking any other vitamin supplements - I didn't realise you had to - does everyone take pregnacare type tablets?

DP has agreed to show restraint in his drinking - which is good - I'm just not sure whether his and my definition of restraint are the same!

Thanks to everyone for not calling me a troll too!! - I'm a bit worried about posting on other threads now..

I'm in the liking booze camp . With my first pg I didn't give up at all and was working in a 'work hard play hard' culture so drank ALOT. In fact, in the 2WW DH and I went away for a very boozy weekend. Looking back I realise quite how innocent, and therefore stress free, ttc was then.

With my 2nd pg we weren't really trying (we conceived the month before we were planning to start if that makes sense) and so again, was drinking but not as much as before as by then we had a 17 month old so had cut down because toddler + hangover don't mix too well.

Unforetunately we lost that baby so have now been ttc again for quite a while (coming up to a year since we first conceived) and tbh I don't think I could have coped if I'd given up completely as it part of DH and I's lifestyle/relaxation. I have cut it out completely mon-thurs but still share a bottle of wine with dh fri-sun. I stick to wine and try not to have too much.

welcome to MN BTW !!

Thanks Wheelybug.

I like the sound of your GP - mine is more of an abstain type of guy

From what you say about how much you and your partner drink, I don't think you need to worry. Relaxing about ttc definitely helps!

SIDEWAYS ? I have been looking all over for you to congratulate you!! fabulous news!! Are you coming to join us on the Graduate board? how are you feeling?

Toomuch ? thanks you don?t have to take the pregnacare type tablets as long as you are making sure that you are getting everything that you need. Noone has ever been mean to me by the way and I?ve been on MN for nearly a year now so please don?t be scared to post

Wheely I like your style! DH and I have often said that we think eating and drinking are our hobbies haven?t spoken for a while, hope you are well?

Anniemac I suspect alcohol gets the blame for many conceptions but I shouldn?t think it is really the culprit!

I think all these guidelines from various government and other bodies are to be taken with a pinch of salt. If one followed all the guidelines about what not to eat, what to eat and how much, what to buy and not buy, what to expose oneself/dc too (like the baby monitor thing) then we'd all be completely mad, never go out, and live on water and beansprouts!
My motto is everything in moderation, if you can't have a glass of wine or 2 to relax especially during 2ww then you'd go totally bonkers instead of just a bit!!!

Well we got pregant on a very boozy holiday. I think being relaxed helped.

Last time I only drank, ate 'bad' food during AF and for a week after...i.e Before ovulation and possible pregnancy.

But I was lucky in that I fell pregnant the first month we tried and once pregnant alcohol was unappealing.

If it takes ages this time, I'll see how the only drinking one week a month thing goes