How careful are you about observing pregnancy rules? i.e. food, lifestyle etc

[flyingcloud]

I know it's a case of weighing up the risks, but coming on MN scares me sometimes! Today I read that dying my hair and eating chinese food are bad. I just wondered what experienced mothers' individual takes on this were. My friends are split between the strictly observant ones (no caffeine, no chocolate and not a snifter of alcohol) and the ones who don't really bother to find out what to do and what not to do, so eat pâté, drink a glass when they feel like, dye their hair, fly as late as they can, etc, etc.

I have done the following while pregnant, mostly unwittingly: not knowing I'm pregnant or not knowing it wasn't allowed and I'm feeling increasingly guilty:
Drink coffee (one cup a day, can't do without)
Eat chocolate
Have eaten steak tartare before knowing I was pregnant
Drank like a fish for the first two weeks (when I didn't know I was pg)
Smoked for the first two weeks (ditto)
Eaten packaged service station sandwiches
Dyed my hair
Eaten chinese food, undoubtedly stuffed with msg

etc, etc

I am not immune to toxoplasmosis either.

You may think I'm stupid for asking all these questions, but would love some real motherhood experiences.

Thank you!

Um, I'm more like the people who think a little bit of what you fancy does you good.

I was fairly relaxed with ds1 and he's turned out OK.

Soemtimes, I honestly didn't think and had lots of sushi or smoked salmon but i always inspect my food closely and if it's off I would not have touched it.

Eggs and steak too, but only good quality stuff. (what a snob)

Do what you feel safe and comfy doing and weigh up the risks then.

Congrats!

chinese food is a new one to me. Since when has that been bad?

excuse the rouge apostrophe in "put's".. it's pregnancy brain

and I can't even spell rogue

I am 30 weeks pregnant with third.

Am v. relaxed about diet. Limited caffiene in the first 3 months, but have gradually upped intake, since less of miscarriage risk.

Readily and willingly eat pre-packed sandwiches. Have had brie. Have had a glass of wine now and then. Will be having my hair dyed in a few weeks (not new colour type/salon, so know that don't react adversely and never have before).

Whats wrong with dying your hair when pregnant?

What's wrong with chocolate?

Oh, and to answer the question I cut out: caffeine (except in chocolate!), painkillers, alcohol, soft cheese, runny eggs, pate etc.

Ooh yes, artificial sweeteners, I cut out those too.

Is smoked salmon bad? I wondered and so avoided it but could never find anywhere that specifically said yay or nay.

I probably had too much caffeine, two cups of coffee a day and more chocolate than was probably good for me but I didn't see much anything advising me to stop entirely - just in moderation.

I had no alcohol at all - can never just have one so had none at all.

Was careful with eggs, cheese and fish, but thought the bagged salad advice was silly till I realised it was about toxoplasmosis.

Currymaid - painkillers as in paracetamol? I had four horrendous colds and it was only the thought of allowing myself another 2 paracetamol before bed that got me through them...

I'm a 'little bit of what you fancy does you good' kind of person. Only thing I adhere strictly to is the listeria stuff (soft cheese, pate etc) - Have the occasional glass of wine, coffee, dye my hair, eat seafood (from reliable sources)

huh? brocolli and other veg that do harm??? Since when exactly?

I'm pg with number 2

I have 3 cups of normal tea a day (although no caffeine for the 1st 3 months)

Veggie, so meat/fish rules not an issue

Eat cooked brie/stilton/goats cheese and have had the odd cold slice of brie especially when on holiday in France recently

Eat M&S and Boots pre-packed sandwiches plus bagged salads (wash them first).

Drink 2-4 glasses of wine a week, no more than 1 at once, this is my biggest weakness and has been the hardest struggle (no alcolhol for 1 st 3 months tho).

Have read a lot and weighed up the risks and these are the choices I've made. Have had a stressful pg (work and study wise)and the wine helps me relax and sleep, so be it.

Oh and the stuff about chinese food and chocolate is completely new to me. And I ate smoked salmon too.

Fizzpops, I used to take nurofen but stopped as I think it's an NSAID which can be a miscarriage risk.

Just didn't bother taking paracetomol instead - until I went into labour, then I took a couple, followed by some hardcore anaesthesia!

They invent new rules all the time! Never heard the ones about chinese takeaways and pre packaged sandwiches and it wouldn't enter my head that they would be a risk. In fact I had an egg mayo sarnie today from a service station and it doesn't worry me (perhaps it would if I understood what the risk was).

I eat mayo where its obvious its from a jar. I try to stick to one diet coke a day, and feel a little guilty if I have 2. Giving up chocolate wasn't something I thought about, though I have gone off it a bit.

I don't drink, but for my first pregnancy I did go on an all day session when I was probably a week or two pregnant. I tortured myself reading horror stories on the internet until the midwife set my mind at rest and told me not to worry about it.

Not sure what I think about peanuts, I've read conflicting things about it. I don't eat them but I never really did, and if it was in my food then I would probably eat it and not be too concerned about it.

I don't have painkillers but never really needed to - would have paracetamol if I needed them. I make sure my eggs are well cooked, as well as my meat.

Oh gawd, is brie bad? I've been eating brie and tomato sandwiches for lunch loads recently!

minx - out of interest, why did you avoid alcohol completely during the first 12 weeks? Is it thought to carry more of a risk then? I've heard a couple of people suggest that but wasn't sure what it was based on.

I follow the rules religiously - but then thats because I have lost 3 and so will try anything to make a baby stick.

i was quite relaxed with coffee and wine but my mum ate brie when preggers with me and i had listeria when i was born, not pleasant so please be careful

bigchris, just googled brie and its off the menu for me from now on.

had a mc back in sept and read that alcohol in 1st 3 months increases risk of mc so was v careful.

Thanks for letting us know about brie bigchris, tbh I'm more paranoid about listeria and toxoplasmosis than the wine. The bacteria is a real thing whereas the research around alcohol is less clear.

Being a veggie I do miss my soft cheese tho!