don't eat this. Or that. You fancy what? Nope you can't have that either.

[socktastic]

Aaarrrggghhhhhh!!

How on earth did our parents successfully produce us? I'm sure my mum enjoyed soft cheeses and pate when she was carrying me.

FFS!

There's hardly anything you can't have - a handful of things really. It's no biggy.

I think those of us who've suffered miscarriages are more likely to take the guidelines seriously. You just don't want to leave anything to chance

I love pate, probably be one of the first things I eat after baby is born!
I'm steering clear of soft eggs after my friend cooked us both one a few weeks ago, meant to be hard boiled but turned out slightly soft. Anyway I had food poisoning after eating it, it was awful so I'm not risking that again! My friend had no ill effects so I'm thinking it must be something to do with being pregnant

Am on 2nd pregnancy and a lot more relaxed this time - as others say, understand the risks then judge for yourself! I avoid shellfish as have had food poisoning from them twice and it's horrendous! But now in 2nd trimester am enjoying a weekend glass of wine, licked the bowl when making cakes, eaten goats cheese - and I'm not sure I'll 100% resist an Xmas cheese board!
I did resist food samples at Bath markets though as if any food is going to be risky it will be that!

Went out for a Christmas lunch with work mates. Had a rare steak and a Diet Coke. There were a fair few cats bum mouths. Isn't it fun being judged on your decisions!!

I'm eating rare beef and runny yolks this time. Will abstain from patê and the soft cheeses with mouldy rinds but as Stilton is totally allowed I'm not feeling too hard done by! I don't like preserved meats anyway and would eat raw shellfish once in a moon so pretty sure I can get through the next few months without!

I've been eating pate and liver in moderation - I avoided it in the first trimester (as too much vitamin A affects organ development) but have had it a few times since then - maybe once every two weeks or so. It's the only thing I'm craving this time around. I think the thing that I found a bit telling about it was that when I did some research I couldn't find any data AT ALL on what safe levels were to eat, or any studies done on it - and given that liver is not the only food to contain Vitamin A I couldn't believe that it was because it was so dangerous that there would be an outright ban.

I've also eaten runny eggs, sushi and rare steak.

I think it's risk assessment - I wouldn't smoke while pregnant because there is a known correlation between smoking and risk to the foetus. But these are just risk factors, and the risk is extremely, extremely small. So that's how I made my decision.

Having had multiple miscarriages in the past also made me more fatalistic about it. There's nothing that can be done if it's going wrong - so you can't change anything. And it's extremely difficult to shift a healthy pregnancy. What will be will be, so you just have to get on with what you're dealt.

Sod if they tell us we can't have celery.... that's my biggest craving! I pretty much forget what we aren't meant to eat and find out later on that i shouldn't have eaten it... Whoops lol

I drew the line at raw oysters the other day and have cut down on caffeine (was on 6/7 coffees a day) and mould ripened cheese but I'm not ruining a good rare steak for anyone. Was a bit peed off when booking appointment midwife told me to avoid tea/coffee/coke. I challenged her with NHS guidelines on overall caffein levels. Her arguement was that it was so hard to keep track of caffeine consumption. Erm not really. Annoyed that others could have blindly follwed her advice.

I was pregnant this time 3 years ago. I avoided absolutely NOTHING. Ok, maybe I didn't gorge on oysters, like I normally do
Oh and I didn't drink alcohol. I wasn't against the idea of restricting to just one for the baby's sake though. I just thought, "What's the point of one?"
I'm afraid I dont buy into all the guidance bollocks. A lot of it is just to prevent the mother being ill as well - nothing to do with protecting the baby. And if I'm capable of weighing the risks of listeria when not pregnant, I can't see why it would be different when upduffed.

Only things I've avoided this time are pate I think. I've had small amounts of Brie (pasteurised), runny eggs (lion stamped) and the odd swig of lager and probably one full glass of wine across the whole pregnancy (now 32 weeks). Oh also switched to Clippers decaf tea which tastes really similar to standard tea.

I too considered the risks minimal and ate most things.

The only one I take really seriously is alcohol as someone above said with smoking, there is an actual link of developmental harm. I know some advise you can have small amounts but I just avoid.

I have eaten runny eggs, goats cheese and other things on the restricted list, but as the risk is a low one of me catching something rather than a developmental issue its extremely low risk. I certainly don't think its as restrictive as a lot of people think. It's inly fancy restaurants that might cause a problem really. If you ask the waiters they will advise against practically everything just in case.

But what you don't know is that there's a massively higher risk of some of the infections from things like pre packed salad and sandwiches, even though still very minimal, but there's obviously no blanket ban as the risk is one of contamination rather than nasties already in the ingredients.

Oh the injustice! My sister in law has just texted to tell me she's volunteered me to do the biscuits, cheeses and pates for Christmas Day!!

She doesn't know I'm pregnant yet!

Actually nearly cried when I saw the text. All the stuff I love, the smellier the better!

27+5 here and just had a nice glass of mulled wine - yum.

I've eaten rare steak, mould ripened cheese, unwashed fruit and veg (I try to wash it but I don't always remember ), and quite a lot of salami and deli meats etc etc...

The risk of listeria in particular is so low as to be negligible.

I don't take my antenatal vitamins either - I took folic acid for the first three months and that was it

Oh and I still drink caffeinated tea.

I read up on the risks and ditched most advice.

Pate. Under cooked eggs from friends chickens were about the only ones i followed. Listeria risk was my particular bugbear in terms of advice that didn't materially reduce my chance of listeriosis.

I was ,however, very picky about buffets, take aways etc.

They're not rules, they're guidelines. It's up to you to decide whether you want to research the risks and make your own decisions.

Don't normally eat eggs as I didn't like them before becoming pregnant but I'm currently craving them so badly so I think I'm going to cave and have them. I've become averse to most things I like to the extent I've lost 6 kg in the 7 weeks I've been pregnant so if my body wants something it's getting it, within reason of course.

I was having 1 or 2 cups of good coffee a day and happy with my decision to cut down to that but in the last week the very smell of coffee makes me feel sick. Really in to builder style tea all of a sudden though.

They are guidelines. Your immune system IS compromised while pregnant (so your body doesn't reject the foetus!) so yes you might find it harder to fight off a bacteria than normal.

I forgot the guidance about no runny eggs and I've been eating them my whole second pregnancy, oops.

I just got my BFP last week so I'm 5 weeks and I'm a bit concerned about Christmas. Awkward time to be pregnant (although I'm soooo happy!) My family know that I LOVE pate and I love wine. When I refuse both, dead giveaway. Any advice? Also we always have Chinese takeaway on Christmas Eve and I know our restaurant uses MSG. Again, refusing Chinese they would definitely know something was up. I wonder just how bad a one off Chinese can be? Hoping it'll be fine.

If it'll be part of a spread where everybody is having bits of everything then just don't make a big deal and it might not be as obvious as you'd think.

With the Chinese, you could go for something that is dry like a stir-fry rather than with sauce that will be more heavily loaded with salt and MSG.

If it's close family you'll be seeing could you tell them? I'm having a meal with DP's immediate family on Friday and we plan on telling them rather than come up with excuses for not drinking (and me looking green, stupid constant nausea). I'll be 8 weeks to the day.

Congrats on your BFP by the way!

Runny eggs are honestly fine as the risk is due to salmonella and all supermarket eggs in this country are lion stamped.

The MSG thing is bollocks (sorry). www.businessinsider.com/is-msg-sodium-in-chinese-food-safe-to-eat-2014-8?IR=T

I've thought about telling my parents and his parents (we are bursting with the news!) but one of them has a big mouth and will tell everyone even when instructed not to (Grrr) and it'll only be 6 and a half weeks at Christmas so very early days. We have booked an early scan on the 23rd December so maybe if we happen to see some positive signs there (I know this could be unlikely as very early) we could take the plunge and come clean! I think I'll go for the Chinese, I'm sure even if MSG was a problem, a one off wouldn't harm me anyway. hopefully they won't just serve pate alone as a starter for Christmas dinner!

There is a lot of preciousness here. MSG? They have a lot of babies in China, you know. They eat plenty of msg.
Runny eggs are fine, commercial eggs are salmonella free.
Rare steak is fine, its the outside that needs to be cooked.
Cheese is fine, listeria is more likely from ice cream or fruit, and not likely from anything.
Shellfish is fine, prawns can't hurt you.
Pate is fine, unless you eat your own bodyweight daily.

And stop with the language such as "allowed to have" or whatever, its not someone else controlling your choices, do some reading and choose for yourself.