Overwhelmed by pregnancy dos & donts!

[PenguinPoo4]

Hi,
My DP and I have decided to try and conceive our first baby - eek! But I'm finding all the advice out there about what you can and can't eat and physically do a bit irritating. I've heard that you cant have hot baths whilst pregnant, can't eat soft boiled eggs, brie etc. etc. but people can never tell me WHY! It seems that a lot of pregnant and TTC women take all these precautions because 'it's better to be safe than sorry' and I do agree, but i want to be able to assess the risks for myself and make an informed decision about things based on FACT!Is there a book out there that actually goes into the science behind these things? I'm thinking studies, research etc. Please dont think I'm taking this all lightly and just looking for an excuse to carry on bunjee jumping and drinking wine whilst TTC and pregnant - I'm not, I just want to be able to make the decisions about how to manage my health myself - and lets face it, I could be TTC (so possibly unknowingly pregnant) for bloomin ages so at least if I can understand why I'm having to give up nuts or whatever then I may find it a bit easier!
Thanks!
PS I've lurked for a while but this is my first ever post so please be gentle :)

Can't see any reason not to eat cheddar! I think you end up so paranoid you end up eating a less healthy diet. I sometimes find myself not bothering with veg or salad cos not sure it's been washed thoroughly, avoided shellfish and sushi due to finger wagging despite their many marvellous health benefits, and glugged lemonade in the pub, which probably is as harmful as a small spritzer, because people who don't know what a becks blue is a frown at you for drinking 'beer' in public. I agree wholeheartedly with the OP that we pregnant and ttc women want facts, not 'just-in-case' nagging from the experts and ignorant finger wagging from the general public!
I think pregnancy is a fine time to try and cultivate a VERY thick skin, something which I am failing miserably to do.

I did all the right things - tried for 6 months got pg and had an mc.......then i did all the wrong things and got pg immediately! I can't say they are related but I can say that I was much more relaxed during my everything wrong month as I allowed myself everything that I had been avoiding for 6 months "just in case"....I got drunk, had runny eggs, had full body massage ect. I didn't expect to get pg as it had taken 6 months before and had assumed it would be about that time again.

In terms of charting/temping ect only you can decide what is best - I am the kind of person who likes to understand the reason behind things and why they work the way they do. As a result I created my own chart which I used to monitor changes that I perceived in my body - I didn't do temperature monitoring as I thought this was too complicated but did monitor the changes in my CM, got some cheap ovulation kits from eBay and noted anything unusual in the 14 days leading up to my period. This was great for me as I could plot a cycle, which after being on the pill for 8 years was really helpful and I could see what was normal for me - thus preventing me convincing myself I was pg when it was simply a sign of my AF. It also helped me know when to test.....testing early is something that everyone tries not to do but it's really hard. My husband bribed me with a luxury holiday to stop me testing early....that worked really well.

So what is the point of my rambling post - TTC can become an obsession - you don't think you will turn into one of "those people" but it's difficult to be objective when pg seem to be announced thick and fast around you. Relax, enjoy yourself, enjoy your partner, keep it fun and stay focused on why you want to have a baby and not just having the baby!

Best if luck with it all xxx

As a non-medical, non-scientific person who is interested in all things medical and scientific, I found these Cochrane reviews excellent and really informative. Thank you enormously for linking them on here - now have a good list of questions to ask my consultant!