Drank before I knew - first pregnancy, seeking advice

[woollymammal99]

I last took the pill on Saturday 20th April. I had what I think was a withdrawal bleed from about Monday 22nd to Friday 27th. I'm not sure if this could've been a period? But anyway, I was taking ovulation tests just to be careful, and it showed I was in peak fertility on Sunday May 5th. I took pregnancy tests for a whole after this, and once it was still showing negative on Wednesday May 22nd, I 'relaxed' and started drinking again. I drank roughly:

• 1 large glass red wine Friday 24th, in eveninh
• 2 medium glasses red wine Saturday 25th, in the evening
• 4 large glasses red wine Sunday 26th, spread out throughout whole afternoon and evening
• 1 large glass red wine Monday 27th (it was a bank holiday!), in eveninh

Then my period still didn't come, so I tested again on Wednesday 29th. Positive! I tested again Friday 31st. Positive again!

Me and my partner are thrilled about it, but I've obviously got concerns and I'm wondering if anyone can help. I'm reading conflicting things about when the placenta starts to form, when the baby starts sharing your blood etc. Obviously my main concern is the chance of fetal alcohol syndrome and any other damage done by drinking alcohol before I knew. And I'm also not sure how to calculate how far along I am, since I think I just had a pill withdrawal bleed not a period, and I also have read you don't conceive bang on your first peak fertility day (I read it takes a few days for you to ovulate and for the sperm to fertilise during this time). I'd really appreciate anyone's insight or guidance on any of all of these concerns. First time poster here, I'm sorry if I've done anything incorrectly here. Thank you so much, I'm happy to be here!

OP, you'll be fine. Nothing worrying there.

Lots of people are not keeping such an eagle eye on their efforts to conceive and will have drunk alcohol in the process and often shortly before they’re aware they have become pregnant. It’s totally fine.

It will be fine - the amounts you'd drunk weren't excessive (but obviously stop now 😜 which I'm sure you have!) - certainly not enough to cause foetal alcohol syndrome. As others have commented, it's very common for women to not know and drink a bit initially.

In answer to some of your questions, placenta starts to form around 9/10wks and doesn't fully take over until early second trimester.

Yes, actually ovulation tends to be within 12-36hrs of peak opk and then implantation typically takes 6-12 days. HCG then starts rising so possible you wouldn't see a positive until 17ish days post peak-opk.

Finally.. congratulations! Good luck with it all! 🥰

You'll be fine. Placenta isn't supplying until closer to 10-12 weeks so no worries there. Enjoy being pregnant before morning sickness whacks you!

Also, if you stopped testing opks after assuming you'd hit peak, it is possible you had another surge and ovulated later than you thought.

It happens all the time. Congratulations!

I drank alcohol through out my pregnancy, not to excess, may be a couple on a Saturday night. I also smoked, ate soft cheese and, I'm sure, did many other things that pregnant women these days are told are forbidden.

It's not a life style I'd recommend, but in 1969, it was perfectly acceptable. My adult child is disgustingly fit and healthy, they've had 4 days of ill health that get them from work or education, in their life.

I'm not saying this to encourage you to follow my life style in my pregnancy, in fact please dont. I'm saying this to try to reassure you that you have nothing to worry about.

Congratulations and keep safe.

It's the systematic and continuous alcohol consumption over 9 months that leads to FADS. Alcohol is not rat poison, it does not have immediate teratogenic effects.

I drank myself sober the night before I found out I was pregnant. She's now 13 and totally healthy. You'll be fine

I did the same thing, because I missed my period a few days after our anniversary celebration. The baby is now a healthy, happy adult in his 30s. Your baby will be fine.

Chronic alcohol use will damage a baby. An occasional drink or two won't.

OP you will likely be fine.

but FWIW there is so much misinformation about this. There is no safe amount of alcohol to drink. Any amount does have risks. Those with perfectly healthy children who drank throughout their pregnancies are lucky. It’s not just chronic alcohol use that causes damage.

People swarm in with “it’ll be fine” because it’s the kind thing to do and to make them feel better about their own choices.

You probably will be ok OP, honestly. But it’s not a given, and you’ve asked for advice, and that’s the honest truth of it.

Don't worry, it's such early days that it wouldn't have caused harm. Baby feeds off a yolk sac at the very start rather than a placenta, limiting the chance of harm at the dates you drank alcohol.

For fetal alcohol syndrome, you need to drink heavily throughout the whole pregnancy.
Not drinking alcohol during pregnancy is relatively a new thing (my grandparents generations did drink- she was surprised when I told her I won't have a glass of wine because I was pregnsnt) so everyone would of born with fetal alcohol syndrome for thousands of years....
Your baby will be fine!

In your case OP you'll be fine but I just want to correct my post above in case I'm spreading misinformation to anyone else. It is not true that the yolk sac stage means the foetus is less affected, in fact alcohol use is more harmful in the embryonic stage. I'm no scientist so I shouldn't have been speaking so confidently. Sorry! I was previously misinformed.

However, this article suggests that it would not be until the third week after fertilisation that risks present themselves
embryo.asu.edu/pages/developmental-timeline-alcohol-induced-birth-defects

So I am sure all is absolutely fine.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is just one of many Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders - a range of disorders characterised by behavioural and cognitive impairments (and I’d happily point you in the direction of many threads asking why there’s such a huge surge of ND diagnoses in adults). Please don’t spread misinformation.

I am perfectly aware. I used to work with children with fetal alcohol syndrome.
Telling pregnant women that a few glasses of wine will cause any of these issues is a misinformation.

Have you advised the NHS of that? Because their advice is that there is NO safe amount of alcohol to consume during pregnancy. Because that’s what the latest research says, but the fact you used to work with kids with FAS obviously means you know better.

That is because the safe limit is not known, @Pompleandprim rather than because ANY alcohol will definitely cause problems. The NHS takes a risk averse stance to everything (they definitely don’t want liability!) so will say to avoid lots of things entirely, not because they’re KNOWN to be harmful but quite the opposite - it is UNKNOWN whether they’re safe/how much is safe. This is an important distinction.

OP you’ll be fine, this is a non-issue, don’t worry :)

Exactly, it’s unknown whether alcohol in very early pregnancy is safe or not but everyone has told the OP it is fine, as if they know for sure. It is uncertain. I told the OP she will likely be fine but it’s not a given, because I’m sick of people falling over themselves to make a pregnant lady feel better because it encourages this culture. There’s a reason women are advised to stop drinking before trying for a baby - because we don’t know how safe or unsafe consuming alcohol in those early days are.

See below from FASD Awareness:

”Britain has the fourth highest rate of FASD babies born in the world, with as many as 17% of UK children exhibiting symptoms consistent with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE).

FASD is the most common cause of neurodisability in the Western world and presents around 3-6 times the rate of Autism Spectrum Disorder in the UK. There are more children born each year with FASD than with ASD, Spina Bifida, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) combined, and yet the condition often remains hidden or misunderstood by the wider population.”

Now look at all the posts asking why there are so many children with special needs nowadays. 3-6 times the rate of autism! A huge majority of autism will be misdiagnosed FASD. But we continue to tell women it’s fine to drink in pregnancy.

Oh for God's sake - she's had alcohol over four days before realising she was pregnant. No one is trying to encourage regular prenatal alcohol consumption on this thread.

OP, put it behind you and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy

Generations of women before us have drank during pregnancy as the guidelines were that X amount was fine. Yet the high rates of LD/autism you refer to did not affect them. Of course there may be an argument that such issues were less well known and under-diagnosed then, or alternatively that we over-diagnose/medicalise every issue now. Equally, diets 50 years ago were generally much better - most people eat a pretty rubbish diet full of ultra processed foods in 2024, women had babies younger, diabetes etc were uncommon. So, any one or combination of these things may explain LD or whatever else, but a few drinks during pregnancy is not going to cause FASD, nor autism etc alone. Expecting Better is worth a read for a useful overview of what evidence there actually is and how it should be interpreted.

OP you’ll be absolutely fine :)