In case I am... is this terrible

I`m not exactly 110% on this but, I doubt it will do too much. Atleast, I`m in the same shoes. Before I knew, I drank, ALOT. I mean, I was so drunk I was puking, and had a bad hangover, 3 days of drinking like that.
Although I know ALOT of people who didn`t know they were pregnant and were drinking to find out a few days later and they were like "oh shit!" but had completely fine healthy babies.
I doubt you`ll have much to worry about.

Hey, not to but in or anything...
but even if you drink EARLY your child will still
have SOME problems. Just be aware of it. Your child
may be 100 percent healthy and fine, but don't be
surprised if your child has behaviour problems or even
a bit of learning problems. I'm not saying your baby is
gonna have really huge problems, but just try to be aware
and if they are a bit slower than the other children at learning
then that probobally why. ITs not a HUGE deal, but NO drinking
is safe... it may affect your baby and- if you drink too much, kill
your fetus.
I'm happy you stopped when you found out and I'm very glad your
baby is healthy, but be aware.
And please,
SraKristina
Stick to your plan and DONT DRINK until your for sure on it
okay. I know first hand what drinking can do to a baby, (due to
the fact that MY mother drank a bit, but I'm okay just a few problems
when I was younger, but my sister is 3 YEARS delayed cause her mom drank.) So be careful... :wink: thanks!

J-While there is no proof that any amount of alcohol is safe during pregnancy, it is not uncommon for people to drink before finding out they are pregnant. Most of the children resulting from this turn out fine. It is NOT okay to say "if you drink, your child WILL have problems" because that is not true. Choose your words carefully, there is no need to make people feel guilty for something that has already happened.

ok. Sorry

I didn't mean it like that. Drinking COULD cause problems when
your child is older. Im not trying to make anyone feel bad...
Im really sorry. Sometimes I do that, I just don't choose my words carefully... I'm sorry.
I shouldn't post so much anyways... lol.
IM REALLY SORRY IF I OFFENDED ANYONE... :(

No one really knows how much you can have before you have problems, but we know that a lot can certainly be harmful. So I would say, don't worry about what has already happened, and stop drinking once you know you're pregnant.

Before I found out I was pregnant, I also drank. But I drank ALOT. Like pretty much every night. And it wasn't just a few. I actually was hungover the day I found out I was preggo. My daughter is 16 months old now and she hasn't had any health or learning problems so far. So try not to feel guilty. But I wouldn't drink any more until you know for sure. I'm glad you decided to quit drinking if you are preg. Good for you!

i drank a lot when before i found out i was pregnant and my daughter is fine. obviously i wouldn't recommend it, but she is fine now.

Hey,

Back during world war 1 and 2, ive heard that german women were advised to drink beer, because it was high in iron, and other stuff...

These children born with Fetal Alcohol syndrome are born to alcoholic mothers-mothers who didnt feel it necessary to quit for their babies... Alcohol in moderation, I beleive should be fine, but to be on the safe side women are advised to stay away from it. You should be fine!

Okay, people, there is no amount of alcohol that is proven to be safe. It is not proven that FAS comes from only heavy drinking. Please do not say things that are not true when it comes to things like this, it is damaging for people to believe it.

I also don't think it's necessary to say things like "mothers who didn't believe it was necessary to quit for their babies"...it just isn't that simple sometimes. There is no need to make other moms feel like shit for things they cannot change.

i could come on here and say, hey i drank, my babies fine... but that is just my own personal case, and everyone is different, and every baby is different. i would try really really hard not to worry about it right now beucase the past is the past and you cant change what has already happened. if you are pregnant, make sure you try your hardest to stay healthy and get proper prenatal care.

good luck hon

This is true. It`s kind of like smoking. (My example anyways) It`s better for me to quit smoking. And I`m trying oh so fucking hard, but I can`t do it right now.And I don`t have an excuse as to why I CAN`T do it. I`m trying though, and I`ve cut down, but on some days, I smoke just as much as I did before pregnancy(almost a pack a day) . I could EASILY blame it on the stress going on in my daily life. But I know it`s not that. Quitting smoking/drinking/drugs whatever, is a HARD thing to do. I quit drinking when I found out, but deep inside of me, when shit`s going bad, i CRAVE those drinks, even though I KNOW it`s best that I don`t do it. (And luckily I don`t). I feel the necessity inside of me to quit smoking, but, it`s a habit I have. An addictive habit.
All I can really say is, we can`t change it if we CAN`T quit after so many tries. I`m STILL trying to quit, and will probably still be trying throughout my whole pregnancy. Some people say mothers who smoked during pregnancy will have low-birth weight babies, some will be born prematurely, etc.. Not that I don`t believe it, I believe it, and would feel totally bad and mad at myself if I had a premature or low birth weight baby, but I can`t change the fact that I`m going to keep on trying.
Amen Erika.

cobain... you are right, and thank you for being so honest.. i too had a really hard time quiting smoking, among other things, and really unless you are there in that persons shoes, dont judge them. i had the best interest at all times for my baby once i knew i was pregnat, but it was still hard for me to quit.

for anyone out there tyring to kick what ever habits you are trying to quit, let us know, use pm's. it is not easy but having someone else to talk to makes it easier

Cobainbabe85,

Actually, i have heard that doctors suggest to women who smoke, and are heavy addicted to smoking, not to give up smoking. You have to conisder what is worse for the baby...and the stress of withdrawl that you go through, can be just as bad or even worse. I know a girl who smoked through-out her pregnancy, and just gave birth the a normal sized healthy girl. (and she was ALSO advised not to completely kick the habit) Not to mention i was, my boyfriend was....soo many people i know had smoking parents.

And sorry if I offended anyone with that drinking comment, but babies born with FAS are the saddest things in the world.....and it never goes away for the rest of their lives....and its hard not to get emotional about that stuff, because it is 100% preventable. Im really sorry if i offended anyone.

secondly, all i was saying was, chances are that the origanl poster had very little to worry about, because chances are she dosnt. Women have been moderatly drinking, and giving birth to healthy babies for years....the problem is, everyone is different for how much is too much...soo its advisable not to drink anything *it works that way with people, i can get tipsy off of a beer, but my friend can drink like 6-7 and be absolutly fine*..and obviously getting absolutly wasted can be bad, because in order to get wasted, you are poisoning your blood.

I`ve heard of that too, but for MYSELF, I think it would be best to quit, although, hey if I can`t, I can`t. And if I do, that`s great. I`ve been thinking of quitting for a little while anyways. But I mean, I`m happy with myself for not being a pack-a-day smoker anymore. (I feel a little bit better physically then I have in a long long while)
And I too and most people I know mother`s smoked while pregnant, and everyone`s ok. I`m just a worry wart...lol

Don't dwell on what you have already done, you can't go back and change it now. IT IS said the worse time in your pregnancy to drink is during the first trimester, and most problems can arise from there, BUT, for the first 1/3 of a pregnancy very very few people know they are pregnant. I am not much of a drinker myself, have NO problem kicking THAT habit, but it seems like the only time I ever drink is before a ++ pregnancy test after conception. I KNOW I am not the only one. My boys can be pains in the bum sometimes lol, but nothing was wrong with them :)

Focus on what you can change and don't dwell on the past, your baby should be fine

Erm..

In my human development classes they've pretty much said that alcohol and smoking during pregnancy is Russian Roulette. The child may be perfectly fine, the child may be messed up. There are certain critical periods during development when parts are forming and can be easily affected, sometimes severely. Basically, one person may have one drink and get off scot free, another person can have a damaged baby. Its just not safe to drink, period. But if you have before you knew, don't beat yourself up. I drank a bit before I found out, and my baby is fine. But I quit smoking (a pack a day) and drinking the second that line turned pink.

As for smoking, from my understanding the "stress" reason for not quitting is bunk. Go look up the list of toxins (including arsenic, cadmium, strychnine, etc) that are found in cigarette smoke. Then there's the issue of carbon monoxide blocking oxygen absorption in the fetus' blood. Its essentially oxygen deprivation, like being stuck in a plastic bag. Once more, some kids are fine, some are really messed up. Birth weight is not the only issue. I know of one child who's mother decided she didn't want to quit, and he was a large baby. Unfortunately, he's also a very very delayed kid, with tons and tons of allergy problems and other medical issues, who doesn't sleep more than 20 minutes at a stretch (he's over a year old now, too. Its been a hard year). While its not provable that its related, its suspicious.

I guess my point is to do your best, and avoid toxins wherever you can. When it comes to your child's health, take no chances.

Damiana-I agree, while none of it is SAFE and it's best not to do any of those things, there is no reason to be oneself up about something that's already happened.

I`m glad you were able to quit smoking a pack a day the second that line turned pink.
I although, am not able to quit "cold turkey". For tow reasons, mainly, I have a VERY addictive personality. And I associate stress with smoking. When I am stressed, there`s nothing else in the world I can do to not be stressed. Even taking a bath doesn`t relieve my stress. But I am trying my damndest to quit smoking at this point. I am still smoking. It`s a good thing it mostly makes me feel like puking or I probably would be smoking alot more then what I am.

Here most (not my doc though, smoking in general, even if not preggo is the cause of everything, from a broken foot to pink eye) doc recommend not quitting cold turkey IN FIRST TRIMESTER, but sad safe any time after that

I wouldn't stress too much, just keep to your plan until you test again.

I didn't find out i was pg w/ my first till i was like 9 wks along...and i had drank pretty heavy a few nights. Actually the night before i found out i had drank close to a fifth of tequila and passed out....i thought i was seriously hungover the next day but those pains were actually pg pains (kind of like what you were describing). I stressed quite a bit but realized that what's done is done and there's no use stressing as that could just aid to those cramps (in my case anyways).

I did say not to beat oneself up...my husband and I were doing Sambuca shots while dueling on a fighting game the week before we got our positive test. I of all people can't tell someone that they should feel guilty for stuff done before knowing they had another person to consider.

I'm just amazed, as a student of human development, that docs say not to quit in the first trimester. That's when all the big developmental stuff is going on, that's when parts are forming and are at their most vulnerable to teratogens. Maybe if the person was going through serious withdrawal symptoms....dunno, just doesn't compute to me. But that's me.

I actually have an extremely addictive personality. Whatever I do, I have a tendency to do it to excess. Had some problems with taking pain medication several years back. I can't even keep Tylenol 2 around, I'll start taking it like candy, then I'm onto the cough syrup.... So I just don't let them in the house, and manly man has to hide them if he gets them. I drink very rarely, as I tend to get completely smashed when I do.

What really helped me was creating an aversive association to smoking. I used to keep a butt jar rather than an ash tray, to keep the stink in. When I found out I was preggers, I had my last smoke from a disgusting butt at the bottom of the jar. (So I guess it wasn't the SECOND I found out) It was horrendous, and made me really sick. Whenever I felt the urge to smoke, I'd remember puking my guts out, and it helped me get past that craving. Changing habits, getting the smoke smell out of everything, all that helps. That said, I'm still addicted, I'd kill someone for a side effect free smoke, and going out through the gauntlet of smokers outside of class every day is torture. But, I just don't do it.

I hope that my natural assertiveness doesn't translate to others as bitchiness/pushiness. I totally understand having an addictive personality, and I would like to share my background on this matter.

In the 8 weeks I didn't realize I was pregnant I drank alot, did alot of ecstacy(which had anything from speed to herion in it), did ketamine a few times, acid twice and mushrooms once. My doctor told me not to worry about it that it was so early in the pregnancy and the chance of it affecting the fetus was not high enough to be too concerened. My dauhter is just fine now, I feel guilty and regret what I did but I quit the second I saw that line.