Drinking before realising pregnant

[scared23749]

I know there have been threads like this before but it's not just the drinking I am worried about. I just wanted to know if anyone had any experience in this.

I have found out I am pregnant at about 6 weeks. Just before 4 weeks, I went and had to have an xray of my throat and it meant I had to drink a certain type of liquid to show up on the xray. They made me do a pregnancy test beforehand (obviously because of risks). It was clearly a little too early to tell.

I have now been on holidays the last couple weeks and I have been binge drinking and found out I am pregnant. Like full blown holiday drinking almost everyday. My immediate impulse was that I would have to terminate because I cannot stand to think of the damage I could have done through the drink combined with the Xray. I have booked in for a consult today but I'm just feeling so emotional at the thought of it.

I don't feel prepared for this baby as completely unplanned and my life is a bit of a mess at the moment. I don't have the support of partner, relationship is basically on the rocks. I feel so stupid for getting in this position and I hate that I feel I have to go a certain way with the decision.

I'm so sorry, OP, this all sounds so hard.

I know the exposures to the baby are only one part of the situation, but I don't think they in themselves are significant.

I was at a similar stage (actually post-miscarriage) when I was continuing to have positive pregnancy tests and the possibility of a new pregnancy was mentioned, before which I had been consuming alcohol. The midwife said not to worry, the risk is minimal as a baby is getting it's nutrition supply from the yolk sac rather than the placenta.

The risk from X-rays in pregnancy also appears to be minimal:yourhealth.leicestershospitals.nhs.uk/library/csi/imaging/1431-checking-if-you-are-pregnant-before-having-an-x-ray/file

Take care OP, anyone could find themselves in this situation, I hope you come to the right decision for you

If it were just the alcohol consumption that was worrying you, I would tell you not to worry. My friend is an obs and gynae doctor and he said the baby is basically a separate entity at this point. Damage occurs later on. I had a HUGE night out the day before I found out I was pregnant (did the test hungover on the toilet...) and all has been fine so far.

But it sounds like the alcohol consumption ISN'T the only thing worrying you. Can you discuss this with friends, family or the midwives at your local pregnancy unit? I'm sorry you find yourself in a difficult situation.

You weren’t pregnant at the time of the X-ray though. And the dose would be quite small, and away from your lower abdomen so I would try and reassure yourself with that.

You should hopefully have had your consultation today, so hopefully you got a bit more reassurance.

It's so hard not to give yourself a hard time. The only thing to do is accept you can't change things now.
If it reassures I was binge drinking, eating unpasteurised cheese and handling chemotherapy up to 8 weeks pregnant (irregular periods). My perfectly healthy child is fast asleep in the next room.

I had a HIDA scan 2 weeks before I got pregnant and had to drink some radio active drink so it would show up. The scan was on my liver and the machine was over my whole abdomen. I’m 11/12 weeks and baby is growing well just had a scan this morning but I am having a scan in fetal medicine at 15/16 weeks to check baby’s heart

I'd check with your pregnancy unit the risks and what they suggest. Don't give yourself a hard time.
I know survivors bias isn't too helpful but I found out I was pregnant at 5 weeks, and the whole time had been binge drinking almost everyday. (It was lockdown and me and my boyfriend drank a LOT). My baby boy had no side effects from this.
Best of luck 🤞🏽