Drinking!

[Michelle9909]

i went to hospital this morning for an operation on to burn cells from my womb, started doing the pre op assessment and the doctor said my tummy looked bloated, so he did a scan and figured out I was 14 weeks pregnant ! Obviously I was shocked as still having periods but very happy! Without saying the op couldn't go ahead.
I have a major concern though, I have been drinking very heavily - around 8-10 cans of beer 3/4 times a week, I've been signed off sick from work and sort of drink to pass the day. Obviously now I know I'm pregnant I am stopping immediately and feel this won't be an issue and I'm not dependant. My main concern is that I've damaged my poor baby as I've heard the early stages are the most important. If anyone can relate to this or has any advice please comment.
Thank you.

Are you now booked in with the midwives for antenatal care? They will be able to advise you better and let you know if there are any tests they can do to assess for issues. They should get you into their system very quickly and do a range of assessments as presumably you've not been taking folic acid or vitamin supplements either.

I would be very concerned about FAS. Sorry, but that is a huge amount of alcohol.

I think you have a problem and your best course of action would be to address the reasons you've been drinking so much. Most people don't drink to 'pass the time' when signed off sick from work.

You need to be honest with your midwife/consultant about the amount you've been drinking.

Not only do you need to stop drinking now and be upfront with your medical team about how much you've been consuming, I'd suggest looking into getting help. Drinking 10+ beers a day is indicative of a problem, let alone that you were meant to be off sick meaning that drinking to that level would have an even worse impact on your health.

I hope your baby is OK - did they say anything at the scan indicating anything? Although it's still early as the 20 week scan is when they will check for structural problems. But first and foremost until you know what the situation is with your baby, take care of yourself and get help.

I'm assuming that's somewhere in the region of 15-20 units per day of drinking. tiny is right in that it's not a normal reaction to boredom and presumably you were signed off for a reason. It might be sensible to also see your GP for a check up and a chat about how things are going with the condition for which you've been signed off.

Do you have a partner/local family and friends for real life support? The next few weeks of tests and scans might be quite difficult for you and you may also need additional monitoring throughout the pregnancy if there are any issues found

When you see your mw, i would definitely tell her about the alcohol you have been drinking, its not a normal reaction to pass the day

I know its not a normal thing to do, I've been going through a lot at the moment and if I had any idea I was pregnant I would not of drank anything but I had no symptoms and still had my periods. I will inform medical professionals Im just so worried about there reaction. I have looked up FAS and I'm so worried, I have stopped now, but I'm terrified that the damage has already been done. The baby is looking fine from the scan today, have fingers, toes and joints, and the babies skeletal structure is normal for a baby of 14 weeks. When would they be able to tell if facial damage etc has been done as I would never be able to forgive myself.

I don't think FAS/D is something that can be fully diagnosed until the baby is born. A lot of the issues relate to brain development so you can't tell in utero unless they can do a foetal MRI which is a procedure that's not commonly available. They may be able to tell more at the 20 wk scan which is more detailed in terms of assessing the organ development but in reality you might not be sure either way until after the birth.

Don't worry about the reaction of the midwives and doctors - they've seen and heard it all and will try to support you and inform you about the options. Just be honest with them and let them help.

As pp says, you will probably only know when baby is born and then seeing how baby develops.
I think you need to tell the MW as although you may think it will be easy just to stop, you may find it harder than anticipated as the amount you were drinking was quite a lot.
You can't change the past and have no control over whether or not your baby will be affected. What matters now is that you stop drinking (which you have) and look after yourself and the baby e.g. eat well, take vitamins

Sorry it cut off early
....access good antenatal care and follow any advice given.
I hope you are managing to resolve the issues that lead to the drinking.

Congratulations btw x x

I agree with what everyone is saying about the levels of drinking being high and not normal, and also agree that you need to inform your midwife, obs etc.

I also wanted to say don't be too harsh on yourself though, you've made a mistake and it wasn't on purpose...what's done is done. There may have been some effect on your baby but there might not have been, so you jut have to try to be patient...I know that's easier said than done and I'm sorry I'm probably not helping much, but you obviously know what you did wasn't good for baby and have stopped now...there's not much more you can do, please don't feel guilty or keep kicking yourself or anything...try to be positive and have some hope...in the old days women used to drink right through pregnancy without harming their babies, and my own doctor told me (when I was panicking as usual about my baby) that he sees drug addicts and alcoholics have babies that come out perfectly healthily despite their mothers lifestyle and you're obviously not like that! Finally, just from my personal experience...I've worked with kids with FAS and I honestly think that a lot of their problems come from their difficult home situations, not from problems caused by alcohol in the womb.