Would You Drink for Two?

ARE YOU KIDDING????? It's 9 months of being healthy for Mommy followed by a LIFETIME of being healthy for the child! Quit whining (and wine-ing) and take care of your baby!

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While my mother was pregnant no one knew that alcohol might be bad.I turned out fine. No learning disabilities, no fetal alcohol syndrome.

There is so much hysteria in regards to all health issues today and everything is so all or nothing at all. Moderation in all might be a better approach.

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Yikes, all you people going off the deep end about an occasional drink!! Get real. Fetal alcohol syndrome requires a heck of alot of drinking during pregnancy. And learning disabilities? Where were all the learning disabled and hyper kids born in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, when a glass of wine was suggested for pregnant women as a way to relax? Even smoking was promoted as relaxing. The baby boomers had way less health problems, less learning problems, less childhood obesity, less diabetes, hyperactivity, digestion problems, autism, etc. etc. No, I'm NOT saying go drink and smoke. I think a heck of alot of problems for fetuses are caused by the pollution we breathe, drink, and eat - not a cocktail or cup of coffee occasionally while pregnant.

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These pregnant women who drink even a little and then try to justify it are the same exact ones who will freak out if their kid eats a sugary snack after a sporting event. If a woman can't NOT drink for the 9 months she is pregnant, then she has a drinking problem. It's just NOT that hard to sacrifice alcohol while pregnant and, yes, I abstained during both of my pregnancies, completely.

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One or two sips of a mixed drink, or one glass of wine on a special occasion that occurs during a pregnancy is unlikely to cause problems, esp if you are in the third trimester. In fact, I've had an ob tell me one wine is ok in the third trimester. Keep it to ONLY special occasions, not every week or month, just maybe once the entire pregnancy. In my opinion, the alcohol rule is the most important to follow. We know what it does, and that it will always effect the body, not just on the odd chance that it might have Listeria, e coli, etc. Drinking it will introduce ethanol, then acetaldehyde byproduct every time you consume it. Now the other rules, such as no sushi, no lunchmeats, no rare beef are more difficult to follow because 99% of the time or more, there's no problem at all with them. In fact, the salmon in sushi has brain-building components. My first pregnancy, I abstained from everything and it was hard to find foods I wanted to eat at times. My other two, I ate sushi and rare beef on occasion, knowing I've never gotten sick from such foods, and they are actually good for one in moderation, and it is extremely rare to get sick from them. Still, it is probably best not to take chances, however small, depending. Alcohol, though, best to leave that alone; it is different in that every drink does create the dangerous products in the bloodstream.

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A small amount of alcohol is not bad for your liver, it is the alcoholics that drink ALL the time that end up with liver sclerosis. Red wine has been proven to HELP your body in many ways.

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some of you people need to lighten up an occasional glass of wine is not going to hurt the baby after i hit my 5 month mark for both my pregnancies my obgyn said if i want to have an occasional glass of wine it was ok doesnt mean i have a freakin drinking problem and i took my vitamins took care of myself but every now and then had a glass of wine and had 2 beautiful healthy smart active and athletic children and they have no learning disabilities so ligten up people

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Are you out of your minds?? Have you ever seen a child born
with fetal alcohol syndrome..eyes spread wide across there face.
It's heartbreaking ya go have a belt ya bitch

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Drinking is a really stupid thing to do - and to do so while pregnant is even worse.

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If you really are that addicted that you cannot stop for your pregnancy that is pretty sad. Before you have that necessary drink, go to a special education school and see the children whose lives have been destroyed by parental alcohol use. Speak to a group of parents who struggle to raise these children. Listen to the heartbreak as they tell of the nightmare of fetal alcohol. This is 100% preventable but only if you are not too selfish to abstain from drinking for 9 months.

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If these products produced a bad outcome every time a pregnant woman used them, the world would be full of people screwed up by maternal indescretions. Most of us were conceived to moms who were inebrieted at the time. And I'm sure many of you could confess you wouldn't pass a sobriety test when you conceived.

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How extreme some of the comments are! Seriously, a few drinks during pregnancy will NOT cause fetal alcohol syndrome. I did not drink at all during my first pregnancy. However, my physician assured me that a few drinks during pregnancy is fine. Consequently, I had a total of 2 glasses of wine during my (entire) second pregnancy. In spite of my so-called "drinking", my child walked at 9-1/2 months; talked in complete sentences at 11 months; is an outstanding athlete; and has excelled at many endeavors. (And, no, I am not suggesting 2 glasses of wine aided my daughter's advancements). Infrequent drinking during pregnancy is the "dirty little secret" people are afraid to speak about - for fear of being demonized by extreme, yet inaccurate, accusations.

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It depends WHEN you drink those one or two cocktails or glasses of wine. The first trimester is when the brain and other organs are developing, and as little as one drink MAY do damage. The damage could be extremely mild and not even detected, or maybe the toddler has mild learning disabilities or even trouble balancing, or maybe you lucked out and NO damage occurred. Honestly, why take the chance. If you can not live without alcohol for 9 months, YOU have a problem.

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I agree with mike. My mother raised 3 kids while she had a drink once in awhile and we all turned out just fine with good jobs. I had 2 kids and smoked and drank once in awhile. I quit smoking with my first for the first 3 months and that child is worse than the second, but they are both very smart, with very hi intellegence and very good jobs. This was before all the warnings about smoking and drinking.

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All these years (33 ago) I beat myself up for drinking a margarita towards the end of my pregnancy. Maybe I needn't now.

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NO...NO...NO...a thousand NO's to drinking while pregnant. As a mother of an adopted child with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome who has permanent brain damage I can tell you that any alcohol can have an effect on your unborn child. My daughter has learning disabilities, lacks social skills and comprehension abilitiles as well as ADHD....she will live with this for the rest of her life. As I once told a psychologist as I was complaining how unfair our situation was....she said....you are right, it is not fair to you since you did not know of her problems when you adopted her. My response was....I was not talking about me....I was talking about her. She didn't ask to be born like this...she didn't have a say as to whether or not the birth mother drank....that's what's unfair. So....pleaseeeeeeeee...for your child's sake....do not drink, period. On the day she is born you will hold her and look at her and know what you did for her and that it was the right thing.

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Another taboo is for a pregnant woman to go to an indoor tanning salon. My wife did it while pregnant during the non summer months, but only for 5 to 7 minutes. (and our children are very healthy.) It's enough to get over 10,000 IUs of vitamin D. High maternal vitamin D levels are critical for mom and child.
You will have a decreased risk of miscarriages, birth defects, low birth weight, pretermies, gestational diabetes, adult diabetes and asthma. The list goes on and on. It should be considered child abuse if a pregnant woman is vitamin D deficient as it will negatively affect their child's health for their entire life.
Any of those benefits far outweigh the 0.02% risk of dying from skin cancer.

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I have always drank while my wife was pregnant. Never had a problem!

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