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March 2013 Moms
lindseybell3
member
Why do they have to make it smell so good if you can't eat it??
Drinking during pregnancy
lindseybell3
member
I'm going to write a blog post about this and am looking for some reactions. This is my 2nd pregnancy and I think I have an interesting perspective on drinking during pregnancy because my husband is Irish, so we've spent quite a bit of time over there both while I was pregnant and also when various family members have been pregnant (they live full-time in Ireland). In Ireland, and I think in most of Europe, it is perfectly normal and acceptable for pregnant women to have the occasional drink or wine with dinner. Here,as we all know, it seems to be a real point of contention. I had a couple of drinks this past wknd at my sister's wedding (one beer at her Bachelorette Party and one glass of wine at her actual wedding). During my last pregnancy, I also had an occasional beer. I definitely got some shocked looks when people would see me, obviously pregnant, and sipping a beer. I also got some comments about drinking during breastfeeding. What are your personal views? Have you/would you drink during pregnancy? Do you base your decision on medical reasoning or social stigma?
This is an interesting blog post that got quite a bit of attention about drinking during pregnancy as well if any of you have time to check it out: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1338937/Why-I-enjoy-glass-3-wine-pregnancy-police-telling-Im-evil.html
Why do they have to make it smell so good if you can't eat it??
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Drinking during pregnancy
Personally, I don't drink at all.
However, I've had a few friends who've had a glass of wine (their personal preference) while pregnant. They don't get drunk or tipsy, just enough to calm down some, especially after a long, trying day. I've also had friends with pre-term labor who were encouraged to drink a glass of wine, if they wanted, to help themselves relax and to calm early contractions.
I think, as long as you are aware of your limits, talk to a doctor, do your research and know exactly what you're doing... well, it's kind of like caffeine. Be smart about it and accept responsibility for the LO's well-being with every choice you make.
Personally, I don't think a drink here and there during pregnancy is a big deal. . . especially during 2nd and 3rd trimesters. Heck, I admit I had a small glass of champagne during 1st trimester when celebrating something with a group of friends (so naughty).
I would be uncomfortable with drinking on a regular basis, especially during 1st trimester when it has been shown to possibly lead to FAS, and the exact amount of alcohol exposure for FAS is not known and seems to vary.
But I am of the mind (and most doctors seem to agree) that the occasional alcoholic drink isn't going to harm the growing baby.
That being said, I haven't had any drinks (other than tiny sips) since that naughty glass of champagne, because I have no problem with abstaining. But, I am not opposed to possibly having a glass of red wine on the occasional Friday evening, so I might at some point. Mmmmmm, now you have me craving wine.
Earlier this year I was at a bar and saw a very pregnant woman enjoying a pint of beer. At first I had to do a double take, but then I was all "yeah sistah, you enjoy that beer, you deserve it!"
Yes, this is interesting. I was googling it this Friday as my coworkers and I sopped up a few drinks at a little watering hole. I was sopping water, but we talked about it.
It IS totally a cultural thing. The idea that if a lot is bad then we should tell pregnant women to do NONE of it is old-fashioned and the "easy way out." The more accurate answer is that a little is okay, but be responsible. Same for fish, coffee, McDonalds, and lots of medications.
One website I read said that in France pregnant women are judged if they eat fresh salads as many of the greens are sprayed with pesticides. Of course that doesn't mean they all are, but judgment is passed. I have no idea if that is true or not ("It must be true! It is on the internet!"), but it isn't the only time I've heard such.
I probably won't indulge this pregnancy, but if I want a glass of wine, I'll have one. : )
CageyMack
37, married to my favorite person in the world, DW! One darling surfer-girl (12) and one darling, sweet boy born 3/16/13.
5/2013 Started TTC #3, DW's turn: 5/2013: Diagnostics (shg) and surgery (polyp rem.) for best chances. July-Oct: IUI # 1-4, medicated, monitored, triggered. All BFN. IVF in Jan May. Sheesh. Whoop! IVF#1 cycle started 4/2/14. 5/1: 19 eggs retrieved, 8 matured, ICSI'd. 4 fertilized. Only 2 to transfer/freeze stage. 5/6: Two embryos transferred. 5/15: Beta #1 9dp5dt is 134! BFP! 5/19: Beta #2 13dp5dt is 672! B'erFP! 5/21: Beta #3 15dp5dt is 1853. Yay!
"Things separate from their stories have no meaning. They are only shapes. Of a certain size and color. A certain weight. When their meaning has become lost to us they no longer have even a name. The story on the other hand can never be lost from its place in the world for it is that place.” ― Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing
I had a few sips of champagne at 8 weeks to celebrate my best friends wedding (toast, etc) But other than that, I have not had a drink. Im not sure if I will or not. I didn put back three Odouls though a few weeekends ago lol.. the ODoules Amber is nto bad at all if you are wating a beer.
So for now I am not goign to drink, however....if in the third Tri I am not sleeping and very uncomfortabble....I will maybe be having a small glass. I agree that moderation is key and wont do anything.
I am glad this is a topic. I had a tiny little glass of red wine last week and a half a glass of champagne at my best friends bachelorette party. I felt a little guilty but I wasn't
I asked my doctor the other day and she said it would not harm the baby. In the 3rd trimester red wine actually helps with braxton hicks contractions. My doctor's favorite line is "Everything is fine in moderation".
I haven't drank at all during my pregnancy. Mind you there are a lot of other things that I am choosing to eliminate from my diet as well. I will aknowledge that there are different rules of thought for alcohol during pregnancy.
My husband is from an Italian background, and tradiition or not, he was adement that I not drink during pregnancy.
My sister on the other hand will drink during pregnancy, citing that 1 drink a day is allowed. I have seen her have more than 1 drink a day, and also questionable sizes of the 1 drink. I do find it funny that she is either more self conscious about it now, or she chooses who she drinks in front of...
As for drinking and breast feeding. I do not think there's a problem as long as you pump and dump for larger amounts. I'll already placed my order with my DH that I expect a beer in the hospital after I've delivered. I don't know if its an old wives tale, but have heard that this will help with milk flow anyway.
There's my two cents.
I allow myself a diet coke or two a day which is a lot more than some people are comfortable with.
I can honestly say I've never had even a sip of an alcoholic beverage during any of my pregnancies. It's just not something that sounds appealing to me, at all. Not to mention, it would be just my luck that I'd drink a small glass of wine and then the next day a complication would arise... totally unrelated to the miniscule amount of alcohol I consumed the night before, but I'd still end up blaming myself because that's just how I am.
Even my crunchy, lax midwife says she prefers that her patients completely abstain from alcohol during pregnancy. Who woulda thunk it?
That being said, to each her own. I'm not going to look down on the mom who induldges on the occasional glass of wine.
I see nothing wrong with a glass of wine or champagne toast here or there whatever.
I personally just do not enjoy it. I know it doesn't matter but I still feel guilty. I will only drink a small glass of red wine, in 3rd tri, around family or close friends, never in public, ahahhah
I did go to a wine tasting last week. I just took a sip and poured the rest into my sister's glass. Sometimes I crave shiraz which is really weird but I do take sips of everyone's drink just to taste.
As far as breastfeeding, all bets are off. I drink as long as I know I can safely nurse in the next feeding or have enough saved to pump and dump. Sometimes I use guiness to help build milk supply ; )
Natural M/c 12/13/08 at 8w5d
I decided not to drink at all during pregnancy, but that is mostly because I just don't really miss it. I'm slightly allergic to booze, and I get horrible migraines and runny noses from drinking. To be honest, I've already had enough migraines with this pregnancy, so I don't want to do anything that could cause another round of headaches. Just the thought of booze kind of turns my stomach too, and that's actually one of the first reasons that I knew I might be pregnant!
That being said, I have been really annoyed by my friends who just don't understand, and keep telling me that I can drink a glass of wine if I want. I'm well aware that an occasional drink won't hurt the baby, but I'm just not interested in drinking right now.....like, at all. I thought we left peer pressure back in middle school, but apparently I was wrong. I guess some of my friends are just a little too progressive.
However, I do expect to enjoy a celebratory margarita as soon as the baby is born! With a little bit of pumping and schedule planning, I don't see a problem at all with drinking while breastfeeding.
I don't drink at all but that's only because I choose to eat my calories. :-) People give me a hard time about the one diet soda I drink a day so I would say that's somewhat similar to people judging those who choose to have a glass of wine here and there.
I say do what you feel is best but definitely do so in moderation. Who are we to judge?
I have always thought the Europeans had it right on this.
I haven't been drinking, but I will almost certainly have a small glass of red at Christmas and a small glass of champagne at New Year's. Beyond that, we'll see. I agree with the PP who said no more than a small glass per week - sounds like a good rule of thumb to me.
Fortunately, my DH is happy to defer to me on the majority of the pregnancy do-or-don't issues, so I get no pressure from him on this issue either way.
Same here.
I am not comfortable drinking during pregnancy. I don't drink much when not pregnant, so it's not hard at all for me to give up. However, I do believe a drink here or there will not harm anything. When my MIL was pregnant with DH, she said her doctor told her to drink a glass of wine before bed to help her sleep. DH is fine. I think the recommendation of no alcohol is just because they can't be sure how much alcohol is needed in order to becomes dangerous to a baby, so they rather just play it safe and say no alcohol.
However, I would occasionally drink while breastfeeding and not think twice. I followed the "if you're too drunk to drive, you're to drunk to breastfeed" rule. I would mostly drink after DS was in bed so I knew I wouldn't be nursing him for awhile.
This completely- I think that OB's in the U.S. have realized that with how litigious our society is its better to just make a hard and fast rule of no drinking rather than hoping that moms have appropriate discretion as far as what a true serving size is of 1 drink, that they will have self-control and only drink in moderation, etc. I didn't drink at all with my 1st pregnancy but I had lots of complications I was super worried about doing everything I could (which has taught me that there are so many things out of my control- my son has health issues aside from the fact that I did everything "right"). With my 2nd pregnancy I definitely enjoyed some drinks- I would usually aim to not drink more than maybe 2 drinks a week (on separate occasions). I see nothing wrong with 1 full serving of wine or beer. I stay away from the hard stuff just b/c I like my mixed drinks strong and didn't want to waste my 1 drink on a weak capt n coke haha My thought process is that 1 or 2 drinks is barely getting anything to my baby- between the placenta filtering and protecting, the small amount of alcohol that is in a beer and my physical body size...very little alcohol is being passed if any. I definitely am a proponent of drinking while in labor too- sometimes a glass of wine is just what you need to help relax and help things progress :-)
ETA: I definitely drink when BF'ing too- I just plan it around my nursing schedule (drink while nursing or as quickly after the nursing session so there is some time to metabolize before the next feeding). I go by the "if I feel buzzed and wouldn't drive then baby gets frozen milk" There were only a few occasions that I actually pumped and dumped and those were usually planned evenings where I *really* needed a fun girls night out and had a supply for the baby so it didn't matter that I was dumping.
Same here! I just feel like there are so many things that can happen during pregnancy or to baby that we have no control of, so I absolutely don't want to do anything that I could abstain from for baby. I've also worked with children affected by fetal alcohol syndrome, and while I don't think that was caused by an occasional glass of wine, I'm just not willing to risk it at all.
Dido
Hello! I come from an ethnically-diverse family - Irish (50%), Mexican (25%) and Polish (25%). My grandparents are from Ireland and my other grandma is from Mexico. My grandpa is first-generation Polish. Given this background, a lot of things are "acceptable" in my family. I don't necessarily think the ocassional drink - like just a couple times during the third trimester, is guaranteed to harm baby. However, as a nurse, I know the studies show that no amount of alcohol is safe during pregnancy. I wouldn't judge someone for enjoying a glass of champagne at a wedding or on New Years Eve, but it is something I chose not to do. Also, my husband feels very strongly against me not having any alcohol while pregnant.
As for drinking while breastfeeding, my understanding is that if you have one drink, you should wait a 3-4 hour window before breastfeeding. I am not objectionable to indulging during the time I breastfeed, but I will definitely be limiting how much I drink, and will not be feeding the baby immediately after drinking.
I think the final thing to consider is that alcohol brings toxins into your body. Your body is already working overtime carrying a baby, and then later breastfeeding the baby. The human body IS amazing, but it does have its limits. Of course, some forms of alcohol, such as wine, bring huge positives in terms of relaxation and other health benefits. Its all a risk v. benefit I think.
Thank for the post! Its been interesting to read everyone's thoughts.
I'm not comfortable drinking at all during pregnancy. I stopped cold turkey as soon as I found out. Heaven forbid if something was wrong with my LO, I'd always wonder if it was because I had some drinks (even if that didn't cause it - you would never know for sure). Plus for me its just easier to avoid it altogether.
A PP mentioned she realized that she just liked being out with her friends in that setting - I do too, I just have the bartender mix me up a tasty mocktail and it feels just like old times.