Christmas drinks?

[Wowrosiexx]

I would love to have a glass of champagne on Christmas Day with my family. I will be 14weeks and 5 days on Christmas Day, I have not drunk at all thus far in the pregnancy and I definitely don’t plan on making it a habit and my 12 week scan was absolutely perfect. My partner is completely fine with me having 1 glass and my family are a bit confused why I’m apprehensive as my mum had occasional drinks on special occasions with all of us children and my sister in law also did when she was pregnant with my niece. I would like to know everyone’s opinions and what they are planning on doing in the festive period.

I don't have a problem with people having the occasionally drink and I read Expecting Better before I conceived thinking that would be me, but I've not really fancied alcohol yet. I have gotten really into fancy mocktails though! Got some on theme ones planned for Christmas day with cranberry juice in them.

Hahahha I really don’t judge people for most things. If you knew me in real life you would know this but neither of us can prove that.

For me if something went wrong I would beat myself up and blame it on that one drink (that realistic didn’t do anything) I’ve had enough miscarriages and rough pregnancies that’s it not worth the mental toil.

I also think it’s only alcohol if you can’t go 9 months without drinking alcohol it sounds like people are more dependent than they realise.

One glass of champagne will be fine, I would just make sure you have it once you’ve eaten and with food, sip slowly and stay hydrated. The harm from alcohol to fetus comes from your own blood alcohol level, how high it goes and for how long. You can keep this lower by ensuring you’ve got lots in your stomach and drinking slowly so it never really “peaks”.

It is such a personal decision! Personally after doing some research I’m comfortable having a glass occasionally but wouldn’t bat an eyelid if others didn’t want to!

Me too.

It probably won’t do any harm, of course it won’t, but what’s the point in risking it? Is a small glass of champagne THAT good? You must be desperate for booze if you drink in pregnancy.

As soon as I have a few sips of booze I can feel it, I’m obviously not pissed but I can feel my face feel hotter and my husband says when he drinks a pint he can feel it after about half a pint.

If grown adults, feel it, imagine what it does to a 14 week old unborn baby.

I would and did with both my pregnancies, I wouldn't feel bad at all about having one glass of champagne! I also have many doctor friends who drank throughout their pregnancies (not regularly obviously but 1 glass every couple of weeks or so) and my own IVF doctor told me he didn't see any harm in the occasional drink during pregnancy. Obviously the NHS have to stick to the official guidance which is zero alcohol but I think it's widely acknowledged that it's highly unlikely small amounts of alcohol will have any negative impact.

Risking what? Your fetus ‘feeling’ alcohol? 😂

I would like to know everyone’s opinions and what they are planning on doing in the festive period.

Personally I have decided not to drink at all. Though I am surprised that at parties and meals etc so far, I have had a couple of (usually older) women who have questioned why I'm not drinking and have said "oh you can have one!" when I explained I'd just rather not drink while I'm pregnant. I don't think one glass will do any harm, but personally I wouldn't enjoy it as I would still worry a little bit, and there's the chance that I'd want more than one once I'd had the first one 🤣.

I'm sure if I was sipping on a glass of champagne, I would probably also get comments. People seem to love to give their opinion to pregnant women!

I've been drinking none alcoholic prosecco, which is actually quite nice. Tastes better than it did a couple of years ago. It's nice to drink something out a fancy flute, makes me feel a bit more like me.

I'm going to make some mulled apple juice on Christmas Day; much nicer than none alcoholic mulled wine, and some nice mocktails.

Looking forward to a glass of rose champagne in March though!

I probably wouldn't until later - I had Nosecco at Christmas, and then had one small (we have ridiculous vintage wine glasses - they literally hold about 70ml) glass of red wine a week from 34 weeks with dinner on Saturday nights.

But I doubt you'd significantly - or even slightly - damage your baby with one single solo glass of champagne!

One glass is absolutely fine

@MidnightPatrol just re looked it's risk of fetal alcohol syndrome disorders so not full fetal alcohol syndrome.

But as I said I've not looked into it enough to have made a decision. I currently think I'll feel too guilty to enjoy it. But nearly everyone I know had a glass or 2 during pregnancy and I certainly don't judge them for it.

A small glass for a special occasion won't hurt, especially after the first trimester.
I went to 4 weddings when I was pregnant with my youngest and had a half glass of champagne at each for the toasts

The Freixenet 0% sparkling rose is really lovely and tastes like the real deal. At one point my husband went back to the fridge to check it was definitely alcohol free because it tasted so similar

I’ll be 7 weeks over Christmas and I fully intend to have a glass of champagne. We haven’t told anyone (and won’t for a while) so if I drink the champagne and then switch to non-alcoholic gin in a gin bottle I don’t think they will notice. Plus it’s Christmas and I adore champagne.

Echo people who say read Expecting Better. I didn't drink in the first trimester but I've had two small glasses at parties in this pregnancy and will have one at Christmas probably. I actually didn't drink loads before getting pregnant and so it's not like I can't resist it. I've just read the risks and I'm happy with them. Last pregnancy was covid so I did drink the odd glass but not until third trimester as I had no opportunity to until then!

Also OP- welcome to motherhood. This won't be the last thing you are judged for 🙄

Personally I wouldn't and haven't ton any of mine because had anything gone wrong I would never want to beat my self up about it. But everyone makes there own decisions ☺️

Personally, I wouldn’t. In fairness though, alcohol isn’t something I’m particularly fussed about so I don’t miss it at all. I’m quite happy to drink coffee and eat sushi though, and I know some people wouldn’t do that.

It's a personal decision but I also wouldn't. It's one of those things where it will probably be completely fine but if it wasn't (even if it wasn't related) I'd probably think back to that so it wouldn't have been worth it for me.

You can get some lovely non alcoholic fizz and other drinks now so to me there's just no reason to have the alcoholic stuff.

😂

Oh god just crack on and have a glass if you want to. The occasional small glass of something is perfectly fine, so much melodrama and self righteousness in some of these posts 🙄 have a good Christmas!

Came here to say this! The author Emily Oster did a long podcast that goes into this and many other topics on the podcast 80,000 hours. It's a long one but SO informative, I felt like I'd read the book by the end! Would highly recommend

I was relaxed about the idea of having the odd glass of wine during my pregnancy but I went off the taste so didn't bother in the end. I had a sip of my husband's wine or beer on a few occasions and was disappointed each time! So maybe keep in mind that you might not enjoy it, even if you decide to have a glass of fizz.

Totally fine to have a glass. Seems to be a very British thing to totally abstain from alcohol