Is a single glass of wine safe in pregnancy?

I came across this blog post which is very interesting on the most harmful time to drink during pregnancy.
Interestingly, this study found that it is those first few weeks after the first trimester. This really surprised me!

http://pregnancy-blog.parentingweekly.com/2012/01/end-of-first-trimester-is-worst-time-to.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+parentingweekly%2FujFj+%28Pregnancy+Blog+-+For+All+Your+Pregnancy+Things+by+PregnancyWeekly%29

Most pregnant women I know are abstaining from alcohol most of the time bit will allow themselves the odd glass of wine here or there. I decided on a maximum of one glass a week, although I don't have one every week - more recently I just forget. If I don't fancy one then I won't bother. However, it was back after the 12 week scan when we had the 'all clear' that I did have the odd glass once a week. I was still really missing wine and hadn't yet changed my lifestyle to match my condition.

The fact that this 13-14 week window was actually the most critical time is really concerning. On a positive note, the sample size is only 900 women and it sounds like the women drank a lot more then one glass a week. It does make you wonder though...

What's in a name?

So with 8 weeks until our due date we are keen to finalise the names for our new arrival incase he/she turns up early. We picked a girl's name and a boy's name months ago. It was easy. Maybe too easy!

Now we are so much closer to the due date we are starting to realise the sheer responsibility of picking a name. Our little one is going to have this name for the rest of their life! We have therefore started to question the names we were originally so sure of.

Thankfully there are a number of things we can agree on:
- We like names that are easy to identify and understand. We both have names ourselves that often require explanation or us to repeat it again and again while the person you are meeting looks confused. We didn't want that for our little one.
- However, we don't want names that are too popular. Back at school there were lots of Claires, Sarahs, Kates, Ollys, Daves and Richards. We both liked being different and are keen to give that feeling to our children if we can.

So in summary it means the top 20 popular names are out, but otherwise the choice is ours! We just won't be taking inspiration from celebrities - Harper Seven, Apple and Blue Ivy are unlikely to be picked.

There are just so many names to choose from. It feels like there is just too much choice!

So after much discussion and deliberation we have come right back to the names we picked back when we were still waiting for the 12 week scan. The middle names are different, but now I feel sure we have the right names. Now we just have to wait and see whether its a girl or boy, and yes the names are staying a secret!

If you are encountering the same indecision, check out these sites for inspiration:

http://www.babynames.co.uk/
http://babynamewizard.com/voyager (has a good interactive popularity graph function)
http://www.babycentre.co.uk/babyname/

What to wear at work?

There are early blog posts on here where I voice my concerns about ever growing a bump. Well as could probably have been anticipated I now have the opposite problem and am the size of a bus! This makes dressing for work pretty tricky.
I work in PR, mainly with international clients, so not being able to fly means I am not going to many client meetings which means I don't need to be in a suit all the time which is good. However when trying to direct my teams, looking like I just got out of bed the whole time, does damage my credibility somewhat! Finding a happy medium on a budget is proving difficult.

Unlike a lot of mums to be, I live in nappy valley so I'm lucky that some shops do actually have a maternity section. So far I have found mothercare in kew, jojo mamam and gap in richmond but even that is about it! I have therefore resulted mainly to newlook online. They have LOTS of options and seem to be reasonably priced. However, nothing I order seems to fit quite right which is really frustrating! The jeans and work trousers are too big round my waist (if you can call the bit below my bump a waist) and the tops don't seem to account for my boobs to be as big as they are. Surely most pregnant women have a pretty big chest size by now?!?
The whole experience is really putting me off buying clothes online!

With only 9 weeks to go I am reluctant to buy any more so for now I will stick to work dresses with leggings and get my sewing kit out to try and make a few more things fit. Maybe this whole experience is designed to make me a domestic goddess before the baby arrives! I think not! ;)

NCT classes have begun!

After lots of recommendations to give them a try, we signed up for a local NCT class. We began our classes last week and so far have had an introductory class and a breastfeeding class. They have been really interesting and more importantly very reassuring. It turns out that all the questions I had which I thought were stupid, other women had too!

Our group is very small with only 4 couples which is a bit of a shame but they all seem like really nice people. Everyone keeps saying you'll make friends doing NCT. I am still to be convinced as it seems so artificial becoming friends with people I have only just met, but everyone seems to be there for the same purpose - to meet people that live near them- so you never know!


Tomorrow I am going for a full day course for the women only. No idea what to expect but quite excited! I'll report back on how it goes...

Shocks mid pregnancy

I like surprises. Mainly the flowers or presents kind, rather than the horror film shockers. However, all the pregnancy books (and common sense) advise avoiding any major surprises to ensure I keep my heart beat at a normal level and the level of adrenaline in check. Don't want to stress this baby out! So it wasn't great when over the last couple of weeks we have been involved in two potentially disastrous car incidents.

The first was on the drive back from the Lake District after Christmas. We made it half way to Penrith on the A66 doing about 60mph in a line of cars all doing about the same. Then out of nowhere there was a sudden BANG and the whole of our back window smashed and flew out. Mr A who only passed his test a few weeks before was driving and was brilliant, safely getting us to the drive up to a farm where we could pull in. After phone calls to the usual emergency list we were told to drive home again where we would be contacted by the local windscreen team. The drive back was fine and then a sterling effort by Mr A and my dad got a tarpaulin over the car as the wind and rain came in. It all got sorted and after an extra night in Keswick and my mum pulling some favours with the local garage and car park next door we were on our way again.

So I wasn't driving and no one was hurt, but about an hour after the incident I was shaking and really having to fight the need to cry. A very surreal experience!

In contrast tonight I was driving, leaving the M25 to join the M4 when we were the 4th car in a seven car pile up. Thankfully we were unscathed but were the only car not to get hit. I am now a firm believer in stopping distances! Trying to pull out afterwards without driving over a motorway covered in bits of car was no small feat. (Everyone was fine in case you were worried).

On reflection tonight should have been a much more scary incident, however I feel fine. This has made me wonder whether being the driver this time and so more in control of the situation made the difference. If so then I am hoping to apply this to labour by taking control and making my own decisions about pain control. Can you ever really take control of labour?

Either way I think sticking to public transport in the meantime might be a good idea to ensure the baby doesn't come out a gibbering wreck!