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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

Who has a glass of wine? No bashing please

186 replies

Mamabear12 · 05/05/2013 14:09

I have a glass of wine once a week. A small glass and I feel guilty about this. Although, the midwife said this is fine. With my first I had a glass prob once a month. I was more strict. Also, this time around I have coffee (one cup made at home) every other day. I feel guilty about that as well.

Please list how often you drink either wine or coffee. If you don't drink either at all, no need to post please.

OP posts:
bicyclebuiltforfour · 08/05/2013 11:55

Agree with ChangeName.

My second pregnancy was in the US. Here, if you admit to having a mouthful of alcohol your entire pregnancy, the sharpened sticks come out to drum the evil mother out of town. However you can apparently be as fat as you'd like and feed your growing baby nothing but junk and nobody seems to judge Confused.

LCR77 · 08/05/2013 12:32

I really think it's a matter of personal choice. This is my first pregnancy and think that having alcohol/caffeine in moderation is perfectly fine within the recommended limits. I have a cup of coffee first thing at work then decaff rest of the day and I really look forward to my glass of wine every week.

At social occasions I've been drinking Becks Blue and Alcohol Free Kopparberg which are great alternatives.

Have also had runny eggs and parma ham Smile. Would rather not be stressed worrying about every little thing.

I don't judge others who decide to be super cautious so don't expect to be judged by my choices either.

sosooootired · 08/05/2013 12:39

my very lovely consultant at the portland said that a glass of wine to relax mum is a good thing..but just don't finish a bottle!

matana · 08/05/2013 12:41

In the first trimester i had none at all - just didn't want it, went completely off it and probably wouldn't have had it even if i did want to because i wanted to reach the 12 weeks mark first regardless. In the 2nd and final trimester i had a glass of wine maybe twice a week. I went to Glastonbury when i was 18 weeks and had a white wine spritzer (nice and refreshing for summer, lower in alcohol) maybe once a day while i was there. But then i also ate seafood and a chocolate mousse made with raw egg (accidentally i might add) while i was pregnant. DS has certainly suffered no ill effects.

sparechange · 08/05/2013 13:15

These may have already been posted, but I've found these, both from reputable journals and organisations
www.rcog.org.uk/news/rcog-statement-bjog-study-suggests-light-drinking-pregnancy-not-linked-developmental-problems-c
www.rcog.org.uk/what-we-do/campaigning-and-opinions/statement/rcog-statement-nice-guidelines-alcohol-consumption-dur
www.rcog.org.uk/news/bjog-release-danish-studies-suggest-low-and-moderate-drinking-early-pregnancy-has-no-adverse-ef

A friend had her first baby in France and said that when they went for their first scan, they were told everything was fine and they should go and have a glass of champagne each to celebrate!

When you look at the huge inconsistencies around the world on what you can't eat/drink/do when pregnant, it really does make me Hmm
If eating certain foods were so harmful, wouldn't you expect to see much higher instances of problems in countries that don't caution against them?

sparechange · 08/05/2013 13:15

These may have already been posted, but I've found these, both from reputable journals and organisations
www.rcog.org.uk/news/rcog-statement-bjog-study-suggests-light-drinking-pregnancy-not-linked-developmental-problems-c
www.rcog.org.uk/what-we-do/campaigning-and-opinions/statement/rcog-statement-nice-guidelines-alcohol-consumption-dur
www.rcog.org.uk/news/bjog-release-danish-studies-suggest-low-and-moderate-drinking-early-pregnancy-has-no-adverse-ef

A friend had her first baby in France and said that when they went for their first scan, they were told everything was fine and they should go and have a glass of champagne each to celebrate!

When you look at the huge inconsistencies around the world on what you can't eat/drink/do when pregnant, it really does make me Hmm
If eating certain foods were so harmful, wouldn't you expect to see much higher instances of problems in countries that don't caution against them?

Livinglavidafoca · 08/05/2013 13:24

Agree with changenametoday. I did not drink at all during my pregnancy but I had rum and raisin ice cream maybe twice and some people DSIL judged me because of it. Hmm

rainbowbrite1980 · 08/05/2013 13:26

i drank one drink a couple of times a wqeek during my first pregnancy - the second two I didn't but only because I went off it completely. I also went off coffee, and have never liked it since! Fortunately, I regained my liking for wine! I did drink tea whilst pregnant, one cup in the morning, after the first 12 weeks, and other than that drank peppermint tea. I've breastfed three children and drank alcohol normally - I mean normally for a mum of three children who has to get up early, not normally for when I was a student!!

honeytea · 08/05/2013 13:30

I drank a glass of wine a week after around 16 weeks. I loved it so much, I would run a lovely hot bath also evil I know on a friday night and sip my small glass of wine. Often we had plans on a friday night so some weeks I missed out on my bath/wine so I would say I drank 1 glass every other week.

Coffee I drank loads and loads of really strong coffee.

I live in Sweden and alcohol in pregnancy is a huge sin (I just didn't drink my one glass of wine socially) but coffee is seen as fine in any quantity.

Now I am breast feeding and I drink 3 low alcohol (2.8/3.5%) beers when I feel like an alcoholic treat, I am not worried about the alcohol going to the baby, I looked into how much alcohol my milk will have in it and it is something like 0.04% alcohol I don't think it would in any way effect my baby.

I don't drink wine now but mostly because it goes to my head very fast and I don't want to feel drunk and in charge of a baby.

Enjoy your pregnancy OP :)

Frogcatcher · 08/05/2013 13:32

Rum and raisin ice cream?!! Shock Some people need to get a grip. I'm only just over 4wks pg & found out v early at 11DPO. What would have been two boozy nights over bank hols were therefore sober instead but if I hadn't been using super-sensitive tests I would never have known & I'm sure so many people would have just drunk without realising. I'm now going to totally avoid until after scan & then be sensible after that. Schloer is currently keeping me sane when DP is drinking white wine!

islingtongirl · 08/05/2013 13:33

I'm currently 24 weeks and drink 1-2 cups of normal tea a day - couldn't live without it! Herbal teas apart from that and been having decaf coffee instead of normal. Eating chocolate too :)

As for drinking - I have had the odd sips here and there, was 6 weeks over xmas and had a sip of champagne a couple of times. Had about an inch or two in a glass over May bank hols and about half a small glass with my mum a few weeks ago .. that's about it I think. I am totally not against drinking within the recommended guidelines (as others have said about 1-2 units a week or thereabouts) but tbh I have just gone off it, and although tempting sometimes I just don't think I could manage whole glass and my tolerance will be so low now, I think I would feel a bit ...well guilty I guess, if I had a glass and felt woozy, which is probably silly as I know rationally it is unlikely to do baby harm. But I can say I am definitely looking forward to having a nice glass of champagne/wine when I have had baby and am definitely going to have a drink or two whilst Bf'ding if I want to.

islingtongirl · 08/05/2013 13:33

ps I found out I was pregnant after a VERY boozy xmas work lunch...and baby seems fine so far!

Featherbag · 08/05/2013 13:44

Pumpkin, you can't lump drinking and smoking in together, as there is lots and lots of evidence that any smoking at all harms a developing baby, while there is research which proves light drinking has no harmful effect! Smoking in pregnancy is a pet hate of mine, I can't bear to see a pregnant woman smoking (although I'd never say anything as I'm aware it's none of my business).

MummyJetsetter · 08/05/2013 13:48

For those who have said they drank very early until they got a bfp, that's no problem as the placenta isn't fully formed yet and the baby is nourished by the yolk sack which isn't in any way linked to your body. I think this is up until 6or 7 weeks so no harm done before that no matter how much you drank.

Ps I also eat runny eggs. Chickens are vaccinated these days and in the rare instance you did get a bad one it would only make you sick, it wouldn't affect the baby.

x

honeytea · 08/05/2013 13:50

I just googled the problems coffee in pregnancy can cause (I drank lots of coffee as there is no advice to avoid it in Sweden) it said babies born to coffee drinking mothers are smaller. My ds was 10 pounds, thank god I drank coffee, he might have been 13 pounds if I had avoided it!

dilys4trevor · 08/05/2013 14:00

Interesting on the smoking vs drinking thing. I remember being on a pregnancy site that was US based and they were all going mental about how one of them had seen a pregnant woman with a glass of wine, but then it became apparent alot of them thought smoking in pregnancy was OK, as long as you cut down Shock

I think different cultures have different views. Generally, it seems the Brits are very anti smoking in pregnancy but OK about the odd glass.

I drank about one glass a week when pregnant at the end, but nothing until then.

Anyone else found this US and UK divide?

ExpatAl · 08/05/2013 14:19

You can lump smoking and drinking together. The campaign against smoking was very effective in altering the national consciousness but the anti drinking thing never took off in the same way. It's pretty clear though that neither have any benefit for a child.

JoJoManon · 08/05/2013 14:20

I am 10+3. I have had a glass or two of fizz/wine about 4 times over the last 10 weeks, at weddings/hens and primarily so people don't suspect I'm pregnant. I don't feel remotely guilty about it. I even had a cigarette which I do feel a bit guilty about I have to say, though I don't plan on beating myself up over it.

As someone pointed out, the guidelines for zero alcohol is for people who don't know how to self moderate. The fact that you actually care probably means you are not one of those people so don't stress about it and certainly don't let other people judge you for it.

bicyclebuiltforfour · 08/05/2013 15:58

Expat: there's a difference between not having any benefit and causing harm.

Smoking has been clearly shown to both provide no benefit AND cause harm (to both baby and mother, during and after pregnancy: a baby growing up in a smoky environment will suffer).

Alcohol (in the small quantities we're discussing here) probably provides no benefit (other than relaxing the mother) but has not been shown to cause harm.

You simply cannot equate the two.

badguider · 08/05/2013 16:32

I drank lots in the first few weeks - it was xmas and new year (got bfp on 6 jan) and we'd only been off contraception for a few weeks and really didn't expect it!
But at that stage, the egg and sperm are just floating down the fallopian tube, getting it together and burrowing into the uterus wall (implantation) so nothing in the mother's blood stream can possibly get into the egg (which isn't even an embryo at that point).

Blueberry68 · 08/05/2013 16:53

Here here ChangeNameToday

Dillydollydaydream · 08/05/2013 16:56

No wine for me :( really fancy it though. The smell of alcohol really makes me feel ill, so does the smell of coffee and I can only just manage a small cup of tea.

Pinkyorkbunny · 08/05/2013 17:17

After becoming pregnant very soon after having a miscarriage, I didn't want to take any chances so did not drink - which was my prerogative! I've made up for it since though

I don't really mind whether people drink or not Wine.

OneFingerSjupesUpTheYoni · 08/05/2013 18:07

I've had a very stressful evening with the dc, dp has a jippy tum so i am seeing to the wee feckers.

ds is 18 months and never behaves for me in any situation so i have spent the last 2 hours saying ''stop touching the unit/don't jump on the couch/ give it to dd/right mr - bed/ where the bloody hell have you gone?! How did you get there/ for crying out loud waaaaaaah''

So once i've got the buggers fed and bedded i'm opening a tin of dps carlsberg and i'm going to enjoy it!

Bunnylion · 08/05/2013 19:06

bicylebuiltforfour and dilys4trevor definitely a UK/USA divide on thoughts on alcohol. My ILs are American and have all but driven me insane with a recent visit - monitoring everything I have eaten, drank, breathed, even things I've touched incase there are harmful to the baby. I am a walking womb carrying their grandchild with a stupid ignorant woman attached.

On their last night here I told DH that I may murder the entire family if they make one more comment on my pregnancy. He had a word and I enjoyed a big glass of red wine over dinner, with them both silently about to burst watching me.

They have also pointed out that epidurals are the modern way of doing things and breast feeding has no benefits at all and just gets in the way of the father bonding with the baby.