Oh dear, caught tucking into soft cheese and pate ...

[SaltySeaBird]

I've only found out I'm pregnant with number two a few days ago!

At a big family event today I suddenly realised DH was giving me a questioning look from the other side of the room. He made his way over and sat next to me and glanced at my plate full of soft cheese, crusty bread and pate and said "odd I remember you not being able to eat any of that when you were pregnant before, have the guidelines changed"

Oops I totally forgot. He finished some of the rest of it for me.

I already feel a bit overwhelmed and guilty that the new baby will never have the same focus and attention I gave DD. I was obsessed with what I ate when I was pregnant before, this time I'm feeling a bit too laid back.

I wouldn't worry about either but especially not the cheese. I think there's a lot of misinformation about cheese!

The health risk from pate and soft cheese are hideously overblown (in my opinion as someone who has worked in the food industry and studied food hygiene).

Unless both were homemade by a mad uncle in his garden shed I'd eat up. You aren't going to get crazy food poisoning from some Tesco brie.

Liver pate is a bit more dubious as the vitamin A in the liver can build up in your system over time. However this is the same for non-pregnant people and again, I have never met anyone who has managed to eat enough liver to get vitamin A poisoning; you'd have to be eating it by the bucketload. I've stopped having it at home as DH doesn't eat it so I'd have to eat the whole tub myself but I still eat it at restaurants/parties if I fancy it.

PS - forgot to say congratulations! And also I'm sure being laid back is better than totally stresshead xx

too much vitamin A can cause birth defects which is why it is advised to avoid liver, pate, etc

True, but again, you actually have to eat a fair amount of liver before you exceed the daily recommended amount. The vitamin A then sits in your body until you are ready to use it; normally you are using it up at about the same rate as you store it so you never get too much in your system at the same time.
However if you ate loads of liver every day you'd get excess vitamin A building up. It's this build up over time that is dangerous, not the vitamin A itself (which is actually important in small amounts for immune system development and healthy skin and eyes).

I pretty much eat whatever I want in pregnancy including steaks that are medium rare, a bit of sushi and some cheese in Italy in a restaurant that I had no idea if was pasteurised or not! I wouldn't eat stuff that I thought wasn't fresh, or where I didn't trust the source but a little of what I fancy shouldn't do me too much harm I feel!

I was much more laid back while pg with DC2 than with DC1. Had runny eggs, pink steak (with bearnaise sauce... Made with raw eggs. Double oops), even a few glasses of prosecco over Christmas and when DC1 was being a little shit DC2 is now 2.5 weeks old and perfect. In fact, the pg, birth and breastfeeding have all f

Posted too soon!

...all gone more smoothly than before.

I think it's normal to be more chilled second time around. And that's a good thing! Don't feel guilty.

I was pretty chilled with number 1. Now pregnant with number 2 and I ate runny egg and blue cheese last night. I don't make a habit of it, but I think the risks are pretty low.

Zoe Williams's book about pregnancy has a whole section about how the food risks during pregnancy are very much inflated and women are talked down to about them. I think it's her that points out that pregnant women eat all these things in France with no censure. I very much doubt it would be an issue.

One lot of pate won't overload vit a!!

And the other things are food poisoning ... A tiny, tiny risk if they've been kept properly.

Don't worry. :)

Expecting Better is a very good book, I recommend it. I read it just before I got pregnant and as a result have been pretty relaxed about what I eat! I eat soft cheese if it's pasteurised, sushi twice a week, have a glass of wine about once a week, and a double shot coffee every day. So far pregnancy seems to be going okay. ( I think!)

I have avoided shellfish, rare meat and pate but I doubt a oncer will hurt anyone.

Gennz cooked seafood is FINE. :) No one is warned off it even those who follow the "don't eat" lists.

oh I have been eating seafood! Have been eating raw fish even (if from a good source). Just no shellfish, like raw oysters, mussels etc

I wouldn't eat mussels raw anyway - but cooked would. Unfortunately during morning sickness that 'texture' was a massive trigger so I went off them - and cockles which I love. I do hope I grow to like them again!

You will be fine. I ate Brie all the way through both pregnancies and really want some now....

I absolutely love goat's cheese and gave into eating some the other day

I think it's important to keep ever changing NHS advice in perspective.

I found it interesting talking to a Japanese lady who said that in Japan although mercury is warned about, women are encouraged to eat lots of fish - omega 3 is made a much bigger deal of (it wasn't mentioned to me). Raw fish is also allowed, and women are advised to keep hydrated with water and tea (I was advised to cut out tea!). When I did some Googling, Japan has the second best infant mortality rate in the world, way better than ours which is way down the list.