WIBU to have half a glass of champagne on Christmas Day

[PineconeK]

I'll be 10wks by then.

Acceptable as a one off indulgence or a silly risk?

Oh I'm having the pudding. It serves 12 though and has 60ml of rum in it, so 5ml a portion. Much of which will burn off in it's two steamings.

I think the shop bought microwave ones are quite boozy though as they contain more alcohol and they aren't steamed, so barely any alcohol is removed.

@italianwifey Christmas pudding is fine. There's more residual alcohol in a glass of orange juice.

OP if you can enjoy your champagne then do so. At 10 weeks it would have turned my stomach but there's nothing wrong with having it. I've had the odd drink here and there, and intend to have mulled wine on Christmas Eve, champagne AND a Tia Maria on Christmas day!

Have a full glass and enjoy it!

Well obviously the chances of doing any harm are minimal but why would you even risk it?

If this is the mindset you wish to adopt you - almost literally - wouldn’t do/eat anything. You certainly wouldn’t get into a car. Or eat anything from a restaurant. A balanced, rational approach to risk is what is needed here.....

When I was pregnant with DS, I had two glasses the night before I found out, a small glass on my 30th birthday (13w), a small glass at Christmas (31w) and a small one on h due date. My son is nearly 2 and absolutely thriving. I joke to my partner and say the antioxidants must've done him good

I haven't had any yet in this pregnancy but I'll have a small glass over Christmas and not feel guilty.

I didn’t think it was worth the risk, however small. I’m not that desperate for a drink. I even stopped using alcohol based mouthwash.

I went on the basis, approved by my GP, that a relaxed mum makes for a better of than a stressed mum. So Gp was happy that I have a small (as in properly small glass) glass of wine once a week, and 1 proper full caffeine coffee a day. Her view was that it was all about moderation. She was more concerned that I keep active to make it easier on myself for labour and post-birth.

I personally wouldn’t in the first trimester, and don’t drink really anyway. There is still a lot of disagreement between researchers about the effects of alcohol on unborn babies.

I probably wouldn't in the first trimester, just in case something went wrong and I'd then blame myself. Plus I felt so sick I wouldn't have wanted it!

But after 12 weeks, certainly after 20, I would (and will be! I'll be 32 weeks on Christmas Day and am planning either on having one glass of prosecco, or two half glasses with orange juice to stretch it out! Sad that I've planned this out already). So far in this pregnancy I've also had one glass of prosecco with a fizzy afternoon tea at around 22 weeks, and a very small glass (more like a juice glass) of
Cider at around 19 weeks and a half a lager shandy at around 25 weeks (all on three separate occasions!). I'm much more relaxed than I was with my first.

I went on the basis, approved by my GP, that a relaxed mum makes for a better of than a stressed mum. So Gp was happy that I have a small (as in properly small glass) glass of wine once a week, and 1 proper full caffeine coffee a day.

Honestly - does half a glass of wine a week make that much of a difference to your overall stress level?

Maybe I'm just a lush but I didn't drink in pregnancy because while I do enjoy the taste of a fine wine, I also generally like the buzz of alcohol and the amount needed to get said buzz is more than what would be considered safe for a pregnant woman.

I had zero interest in a small glass of this or a half glass of that.

Biddypop we are allowed 200mg of caffeine a day anyway? I think one "proper" coffee is about that, instant is 100mg. I have almost my entire quota of caffeine most days to be honest, and I imagine once or twice I've slightly gone over.

Totally fine. I don't like seeing the guilt trip implied from some posters.

People are alsonow discussing Christmas pudding and Christmas cake? Really. I find this hard to accept.

I find it hard to believe that such a thing has any affect on foetus at all. Risk is minute surely, or practically none. Why is this even risky?
Why is this even being discussed?

I know - but so many people on here and in RL immediately cut out all caffeine “just in case”, so I was adding that in for context.

I also didn’t eat shellfish that didn’t move - like mussels or clams. But shellfish that swam around and found its food (rather than filter feeding in place) were ok - mostly prawns as I didn’t eat crab/lobster anyway.

And while I didn’t eat unpasteurized soft cheese or any blue cheese, I did eat pasteurized soft cheeses as well as hard cheese as the listeria would have been pasteurized out.

The other thing was salads - coleslaw and the like. I did still eat that when I bought the tub and opened it at home myself. But I didn’t get a ham and coleslaw sandwich from a deli counter as you wouldn’t know how long it was open or what may have grown on it.

The hardest thing though was no wholly cones for a while summer.....

Whippy cones not wholly ones!

And a glass of wine after my weekly dutiful phone call “home” absolutely did wonders for my stress levels!! I have a DM worthy of her place in Stately Homes.....

I probably wouldn't at that point in the pregnancy, mainly because even the smell of alcohol would knock me sick especially anything champagne/prosecco-like.

After 16 weeks I had a glass of wine a week though.

As PP have suggested - Expecting Better gives a very factual look at alcohol in pregnancy. I don’t know how much you drink normally but unless a tee totaler, half a glass isn’t even going to reach your bloodstream. I mean I probably wouldn’t knock it back in one mouthful but you’re not going to do that anyway 😂 so sip away.

...that said after reading it I tried to drink half a glass of prosecco at 15 weeks but I couldn’t stomach it! Not nausea, just...couldn’t. The tiny 100ml glass of red I had a week later though (last week)... yum!

I wouldn't in the first trimester, but honestly wouldn't judge a woman who did. Although I physically couldn't have done so in the first three months anyway, as I was feeling so bloody unwell.

I've had the odd small glass here and there this pregnancy, not with any regularity - but I really haven't been a regular drinker since having DC1 anyway.

I think that culturally speaking, drinking during pregnancy is considered more acceptable in the UK than many other countries. So most people here will probably advise you that it's okay to drink a little during pregnancy. I didn't realize that until reading this article the other day, which was also criticized for fearmongering.

www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/30/study-suggests-rate-of-foetal-alcohol-syndrome-disorder-higher-than-thought

A quick google brought up this article discussing the rate of drinking during pregnancy in different countries.

www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2017/01/19/the-worst-countries-for-drinking-during-pregnancy-infographic/#291f162f59ed

I'm not from the UK so culturally speaking, it wouldn't occur to me to drink during pregnancy. That being said, I think I'd save it for the second and third trimesters and skip drinking during the first trimester.

Well obviously the chances of doing any harm are minimal but why would you even risk it?

These threads never get far before the people with a risk tolerance of absolutely 0 turn up. I always wonder whether this attitude is one that is applied to analysis of all risk in life or just those pregnancy/ baby related?

I think people find it easier to be zero tolerance about some things than others. I don't really struggle with the idea of going without any alcohol. But if someone told me I couldn't have any chocolate I'd find it much more difficult! I suspect that there are very few people who completely avoid every single thing that has the slightest risk associated with it.

I craved sherry trifle with dd2 at Christmas, was avoiding it until dh menitioned it as a joke to my consultant at an appointment around the 21st (I was very high risk.) She laughed her leg off at me and told me to "fill my boots" there wasn't enough to do harm. Same with a glass of fizz. (I couldn't face the fizz but did scoff plenty of trifle )

I’m 16 weeks. I’m really looking forward to a glass of gin and bitter lemon on Christmas Day (it’s the only time I ever have a drink usually)

Aldi do a really nice alcohol free Prosecco if you’re worried