Alcohol Consumption and Fertility

There's been a few discussions in the TTC threads in regards to TTC and alcohol consumption. I stumbled across this on FF and thought I'd share it.


Can I drink alcohol while trying to conceive?


Heavy drinking has been associated with impaired fertility and is definitely not recommended when pregnant so should be avoided when trying to conceive. Studies on fertility and moderate alcohol consumption are not conclusive, with some showing adverse affects and others showing little or no impact. Our recommendation when trying to conceive is to treat your body as if you were pregnant, since you could be pregnant at any time.

Hope that clears up some questions some of you had.

Celsie. xoxox

I agree...I dont touch a drop in my tww and very little if at all in my first 2 weeks of my cycle :)

I feel guilty!!

I don't get rolling drunk or anything since TTC, but I do have 1 or 2 wines on the weekend. I mostly drive so I don't have anymore than that. I may have a glass of Bundy and coke 1 or 2 nights a week with dinner also. But I try not to during the 2ww and usually don't.

But its hard people say different things. A lot of girls I know how have been pregnant have been really drunk and they didn't even know they were pregnant!

But its good to be good to your body during this process.

Thanks Celsie!!

I always make sure I don't drink between ovulation and AF, even though we're not trying yet, 'just in case'.

I try to be good, but it's hard sometimes after 10 months of TTC... It's such a long time to act like you're pregnant - it's gets you down, and then I feel more like a drink!

As I said, I try, but I'm not always good. I have so many friends who changed NONE of their behaviour (drinking, smoking, etc) and fell pregnant straight away. Then there's me who's been trying to avoid all that bad stuff and have no luck. My DH has such bad MI that I don't think it would matter what I did - we won't fall pregnant!

LOL... I reckon I got pretty hammered a couple of times in the really, really early days of Gabby's pregnancy. I specifically remember the week before... I'd had a few bourbons but got really tired and over-it quickly. I stopped drinking (which was very unlike me!). My body was telling me something!

I dunno... for the first 4-5 months of TTC #1 I was pretty good... tried not to go overboard. But, as time wore on, I felt like I was missing out on all the fun for no good reason (kept getting BFN's so my abstainence seemed like a waste of time).

You've gotta be sensible (getting parra isn't exactly advised!) but, yeah, listen to your body and if it doesn't feel right, don't do it.

And don't forget too that these days it has been discovered that a glass or two of wine is actually therapeutic.

I really believe that as with dieting, the mantra for ttc should be "everything in moderation".

And anyway, if you have serious character flaws like I do, when you "deprive" yourself of the goodies, you tend to go overboard when you DO have them!! ;)

Lisa

Lisa, I agree. Moderation is the key to everything.

LOL Deb! I did the same thing. Got absolutely sloshed the night we conceived and then again a couple of times in the next couple of weeks before finding out!
I felt so awful when I found out I was pregnant, already felt like a bad mum!

Nic

I hear you, Samrus! With #1 I gave up alcohol and caffeine 2 months before TTC - but then I got pg by the 2nd cycle. This time I have been TTC since Jan - it is hard to deprive yourself for no apparrent reason. I may never actually manange to be pg again....so I happily drink a few wines with dinner until I O - but I go cold turkey from 2DPO till AF arrives - Dr advice is nothing much will hurt any potential bub till after implantation, so I feel as though I've got it covered.

As an assisted conception veteran, so I am very challenged in the fertility arena (even though I have a miracle baby on board :D ) here are my experiences. During IVF I always abstained from alcohol and had a great diet and excercise regime. I fell pg over the festive season, naturally and I can assure you that I drank heaps, ate cr*p and sat around........

Overall I think there are so many variables to getting a BFP that it is very difficult to "pin" down any one thing that will work. But you've got to do what will get you through the TTC maze and haze.

Best of luck

That's great advice Magic!!!

Celsie. xoxox

This 2WW is going to be hard for me cause we have things in between that usually involves drinking.....2 x friends birthdays and Father's Day. I really don't want to, but really I think 1 or 2 glasses can't hurt!! Will see how it pans out anyway....but I diffently won't be getting sloshed LOL!!