Drinking whilst pregnant

[mccaffet]

Hi

I am 43 and have just found out I am pregnant,I think I think i am 5 weeks,I went on holiday end of august for a week and was constantly drinking alcohol not knowing as I had no symptoms whatsoever that I was pregnant.i am now really worried i have damaged the baby in any way.

Tracy

[Hidden]

Hi Tracy, and congratulations!

It's not ideal to have been drinking whilst pregnant, but you're not the first (or the last!) to have been in this situation! I was about six weeks pregnant when I found out, until then I had smoked, drank and taken ibuprofen. I was utterly terrified that I'd caused damage to my child - but I'm pleased to say that I've got a healthy 12 week old It's easier said than done, but try not to worry X

[mamator]

Really, don't worry about this. For the first few weeks the baby isn't actually attached to you and so it really only matters what you do from now on. If you think about it, it wouldn't make any sense if a woman could harm her unborn baby before she knew she was pregnant. Even though, as we were trying for a baby, I'd massively cut down on my intake of caffeine and alcohol before I conceived the first time, I had friend visiting me the just before I missed my period and there was certainly a bit of wine and the some cocktails consumed. Once I knew, I cut it all out and had a perfectly healthy baby. This time was much the same. Just like you I was on holiday the week before I missed my period and I probably had a couple of glasses of wine a day. Now 5.5 months along and everything is totally fine. Sure everything will go wonderfully - congratulations!

[SilkeP]

A friend of mine didn't know she was pregnant until she was about three months gone. Until she found out she was drinking alcohol, on very strong medication (including pain relief) for a medical condition etc. She now has a very happy and healthy 1 year old. I'm not saying continue with the alcohol etc as it doesn't matter, because of course you need to stop all this straight away now, but there are still 35 weeks where you can do all the right things!

[LauraJane86]

i know its easy to worry about this but i dont think there is anything to be concerned about. i was 6 weeks when i found out about my pregnancy and had drank heavily on at least 4 occasions during that time!

my nan always says 'they didnt have all of these do's and dont's back in the day' and shes absolutely right.

[tazmania]

until baby is feeding from your placenta it really won't matter, at that early stage your placenta isn't really formed yet so don't worry!!

[Lillymum]

I was a bit concerned about this as well, I fell pregnant within a couple of days of having my implant out but didn't know I was until about 5 weeks in. I honestly did not think I would have fallen pregnant so quickly as it took me 18 months to conceive my first baby. I had a few nights of heavy drinking in those 5 weeks but every scan I've had everything has been totally fine and healthy.

The advice not to drink at all when pregnant is only a very recent thing, when my mum was pregnant with me and my siblings she drank throughout the pregnancy, not heavily but a probably a few drinks at the weekends and we are all in good health and have no problems. there is forever new advice coming out about what to do and what not to do when pregnant it's no wonder we are all totally stressed!

[Hopeful15]

I believe the drinking thing is more about brain development than anything else...which at 5 weeks isn't an issue. I'd say the main thing is not to worry because that's just a waste of energy (I know, easier said than done), but really, what can you do about it now??? Until they invent a time machine you're just bashing yourself up. Your liver is an excelent filter machine anyway and Doc told me it keeps nearly everything that could be toxic away from baby for you - that's why you can take paracetamol. At 5 weeks baby is a baked bean on a pole, before that it was a little cluster of jelly balls protected by a super shield. I doubt it even knew it was tipsy. Chill and congratulations!!

[stephieceeee]

I didn't find out I was pregnant until I was 25+ weeks - believe it or not! I'm not a heavy drinker, but I had been to 3 social occasions, which would have been early on in the first trimester, where I had gotten myself pretty drunk. I told the doctor straight away when she said I was so far gone. The doctor said to me, try not to worry about it, she said that in France it's advised that women have a few glasses of red wine each week throughout pregnancy (couldn't tell you if that is accurate or not), but she said that they aren't allowed to say explicitly to women but it's only true alcoholism that they have researched in links with fetal alcohol syndrome. In fact, her advise to me (from being in such shock at being SO pregnant unknowingly) was to go home and calm my nerves by having a small glass of wine and a bath. Of course, I didn't, the fear of having cause any damage meant I didn't touch anything you are advised against throughout the remainder of my pregnancy, and we were lucky enough to have a baby girl who was happy and healthy xxx