Drinking when TTC

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Just looking for some advice really about what other people do. We are nearing 6 months of TTC and just wondered what other people do with regards to drinking. I really don't want to feel like i am putting my life on hold but then i am really nervous about any impacts on a baby that may or may not even be there and i don't know what to do. For example this month AF is due on Monday and i ovulated 10 days ago but this weekend i am going away with some friends for my DH 40th birthday - it will be fairly chilled, lots of walks but also lots of pub dinners and lunches where i will probably fancy a few glasses of wine. i am probably overthinking this completely but what do other people do?

Try and remember that a lot of babies are concieved under the influence of alcohol!

Its easy to sit here and say, but the more relaxed you are, the more likely things are to happen... Stress and anxiety will get you no where, so if you want a glass of wine, go for it!

I know plently of people who have had the occasional drink throughout pregnancy, with no problems at all.
Hope this helps x

To be honest, I didn't stop drinking as such, I cut back. Stopped having the odd glass of an evening and when we went out, I would hold back. I got pregnant around 20th December and before I realised I was pregnant (didn't find out until Jan) I found myself not really wanting a drink. The key is to relax and not get too caught up in it all. Allow yourself some time to relax and eat/drink what you like. Soon enough you will spend 9 months avoiding all the good stuff! Good luck OP x

Thanks both I knew i would be overthinking it! I started off really relaxed and as each month goes on i feel like i want it more and more which in turn leads me second guessing everything...silly i know

Not silly at all. We all do it I imagine! I know I did. The reason I didn't find out until Jan was because I was becoming obsessed with taking tests and decided to stop over Xmas and just relax. You can end up over thinking stuff and sometimes, it is best to just relax and enjoy 😁

I've.cut back a lot since coming off pill and have alcohol free cider which is so yummy. I have had some Pimm's but then had AF since then and then half a cider couple of weeks ago. I'm now 4dpo and going to a gig on Saturday night and debating whether one drink will be okay. I'm only being super cautious and cutting down on caffeine too to firstly get myself in that headspace for when I do get pregnant and also as I'm 38 I worry about the age factor but I agree you need to forget about the whole TTC process and something just chill out and have a couple of drinks and there is no need to worry about it X

Hi OP,

I was asking the same on another TTC thread after a guilt filled weekend of Aperol. Lots of Aperol and was surprised by the responses tbh. I assumed most would say, yes, cut it out completely etc, but they didn't. Actually what they said, as echoed here, made so much sense and that is that being relaxed and chilled out is so important when TTC and if you're spending your time fretting about those 4 units you had the night before or that McDonald's you had at the weekend, it can't be good for you.

Obviously if you were drinking heavily every night and only eating processed rubbish, then yes, you should probably address that, but it's obviously not the case, so relax and enjoy the odd glass or two, if that's your thing. It's certainly mine

Thanks all - it is really helpful to get some perspective - no one knows we are TTC so i find it a bit all consuming and I was feeling guilty that i wanted to go away this weekend and enjoy myself with a few champagnes and ciders to celebrate in case i am pregnant but in reality the % is so low and i wouldn't even know until next week so you are right i should just relax!

Embarrassingly each month AF comes then i think about TTC more and more which isn't good just still trying to work out how you stop thinking about it all the time

I went to a wedding last weekend and took a test the morning of the wedding. I figured if it was positive I wouldn't drink. If not then (as was the case) then I'm probably not far gone enough for a drinking session to have that much of an impact

I've been looking for a thread like this! I'm going to a wedding between ovulation and AF this cycle and am agonising whether or not to have a couple of drinks there or not. So far most things I've found about this seem to suggest that in the first three weeks from ovulation, it's all or nothing, so any external factors either have no effect or result in very early miscarriage, but not cause longterm illnesses.

I did read a quote saying that while there's no conclusive evidence of whether drinking around ovulation can cause harm to pregnancy, it can definitely cause pregnancy in the first place 😄

OMG I feel exactly the same! We started trying only a week ago and a friend invited me for drinks Friday evening and I just don't feel right even having one.

I Love a drink but am really worried about it, equally if it takes me a year or longer to conceive I'm not stopping drinking when I may not even be pregnant for a while. It's a dilemma for me

This is what I've been thinking too. I'm 34, almost 35 and we have been TTC for 16 months. I thought I should maybe cut down on drinking too. My problem though is I can go for ages without a single drink and then I might go out and binge really bad 🙈 Sometimes the stress of TTC just calls for it though lol

I think us women are so hard on ourselves! Men don't realise the turmoil I don't think half the time that we put ourselves through

I've come to the conclusion that until I see a positive pregnancy test I shall just live my life!!

How many people get pregnant by 'accident' and their babies are just fine.

As long as you stop when you know you're pregnant I don't see the issue