A Dry Spell

As most of you probably now, I (M), am pregnant. So how does one review wines while pregnant? Well it's a tricky thing. When I first found out I was pregnant I stopped drinking all alcohol immediately. That being said, I had consumed more than my fair share over the long weekend before and was enjoying my glass of wine most nights of the week when I was unknowingly pregnant. Do I feel bad about that? Not really. I'm not exactly a binge drinker normally, and having talked to friends and family who have been there before, this is often the case when you're not strictly planning a pregnancy.

So do I drink now? The short answer is no. Some of you might be thinking "of course not! Who drinks when they're pregnant? Does she want a baby with an arm growing out of its head?!". My answers to that would be "lots of people apparently." and "while that might be neat initially, it would be difficult to dress a baby for cold Northern Ontario winters with an extra appendage where a toque goes."

But to address the more important issue, many people do drink while pregnant. I've read tons of online testimonies from women who drink, within reasonable limits, while carrying babies. There's been a recent article in the Wall Street Journal by Emily Oster which advocates drinking "like a European adult" while pregnant (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323514404578652091268307904.html). Now I have problems with that phrase, having seen many a grown person drinking like a fish while in Europe, but the idea is the same. Enjoy a glass of wine in the evening, not a bottle or three and things should be all good. I even went so far as to ask my doctor what he thought about it. His answer was "it's not kosher for a doctor to tell a pregnant lady it's ok to drink, but there are no conclusive studies proving that enjoying a glass of wine every night will harm a baby."

So...permission from an expert? Yes and no. He's right, there are no conclusive studies that show the negative effects of limited alcohol intake on babies because no one is willing to run that kind of trial on pregnant ladies and fetuses, but I'm still the expert on me. I agree with him, a glass of wine probably won't hurt anything, but -- and this is the big one -- BUT if something did happen to my baby, a third arm, somehow under/over developed, whatever, I know who I would blame. Me. It doesn't matter if science proves it's not my fault, I'd feel responsible because that's just who I am. My decision is based on my own self-awareness and I don't judge others who would make a different decision, but that's the way she goes, as they say. I've decided to save my next glass of wine for a moment of celebration -- preferably celebrating the birth of a healthy child. And a glass, or three, I will have, but I can wait. Dreaming about wine (no, for real, I do that) in the meantime will make that moment all the sweeter!