drinking moderately until 18 weeks

[secondtimearound31]

Hey ladies,

Looking for a little reassurance! Have just found out I'm pregnant and am into my second trimester... my concern is I've drank alcohol on a number of occasions (regularly) in the past 4 months... always wine or beer, never spirits but definitely over the 'should be ok' mark... i'd say between 3-6 units on some days and fairly frequently.. generally with food over a long period of time and not to get drunk. had my friends hens event and wedding and drank probably 5 glasses of champagne at the wedding.

i know no one can give a definitive answer, we had a scan and all looks good and normal... but just after some stories of hope where other ladies have gone on to have normal healthy babies!

I think google is scaring me!

I think you'll be fine, my mil told me she went to a wedding when she was pregnant with my husband (and didn't know as she was told she couldn't have children) and in her words 'got absolutely smashed!' He seems alright 😂

But honestly I think if you are in the second term and had a normal scan baby will be okay, dr google doesn't know everything x

... Scans can't pick up FAS though.

Worrying about it at this stage doesn't change anything, so the best you can really do is abstain from now on. But PP's comment above isn't accurate.

I’m not a scientist but from what I understand FAS is a possibility (not a given) in situations where alcohol has regularly been consumed in binge-drinking quantities throughout pregnancy. This is not the situation you have been in.

Telling your midwife is all you can do to help. Good luck.

Your doctor should be able to reassure you hopefully and fingers crossed all will be well How did you get to 18 weeks without realizing you were pregnant btw??

I was so sick during the first trimester I would have thought I had a serious illness if I hadn't known lol!

One of my antenatal group didn’t find out until she was 31 weeks (she had been having periods too) so by the time we all rocked up in that church hall, she had only known for about a month! She had definitely been drinking and quite a lot: her sisters hen and wedding had fallen over this time and she was on the younger side of 30 so was still living a pretty “going out” type social life. Her baby was fine and he’s a very bright 5yr old now. I’m sure everything will be fine. Good luck.

I’m in no way espousing hitting the bottle when pregnant but in my generation (as in when mum was pregnant with us) none of this was a thing. In fact, the Dr’s seem to think all pregnancy related issues could be fixed by a relaxing glass of wine. Some Dr’s even ‘prescribed’ Guinness as somehow being beneficial for the baby and tee totalling mothers suffered through consuming it during their pregnancies.

Most of the photos I see of Mum and other pregnant relatives back then were at celebrations with a glass in their hand and they were obviously a bit ‘merry’. We all turned out fine, academically ok, all went to uni, got decent jobs including as Dr’s, lawyers, engineers etc and have not had any major issues in life.

As I said I’m in no way supporting consumption of alcohol while pregnant but on the other hand in your situation I certainly wouldn’t beat yourself up over it, will probably be fine.

I'm no expert, but I have heard of people's kids being absolutely fine in these situations. I know people who have done worse and then found out they were pregnant. It isn't worth worrying about it now, but advise abstaining and following the guidelines from now.

If there is a predisposition to something, alcohol certainly wouldn't have helped, but things could be totally ok too. You will need to wait and see.

My health visitor advised me to drink a glass of wine in the early stages of labour to relax (and this was 4 years ago) and other friends have been advised to have a Guinness when their iron count is low by midwives too, although never more than 1-3 units.

Thanks everyone, I’m still freaking out massively but by all accounts even in chronic alcoholics fas is rare ... going with god on this one at the moment.