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I was advised by my OB to not drink and so I went with that. She was not strict with dietary stuff but that was one thing that she did mention. I was of the better safe than sorry mentality. It's not like I needed to have it anyway. But honestly I think a glass of wine here and there would have been fine.

I didn't "follow the rules" which is really odd for me, because I am a rule follower at heart. I was pregnant while living in Europe and the only thing my doctor advised me to avoid was a certain type of local lettuce.

I can count on one hand the number of alcoholic drinks I have consumed in the last 5 years, 2 of them where while I was pregnant. For me, the key is looking at the entire picture of my life, not just the 9 months I was pregnant, if that makes sense.

I enjoyed the small glass of wine on occasion (after the first trimester) with both pregnancies and was totally fine with my decision. I will do so again this time as well once I get out of the first trimester. I've done my research, I have yet to see any evidence that a small glass of wine on occasion is harmful, and to be perfectly honest, I'd be more concerned about all the chemicals and additives in things like diet soda than I would be about the odd glass of wine.

My midwives and doctors have always been fine with it and most said they did the same during their pregnancies. I think the blanket statement of no alcohol comes in because you just can't trust that people would adhere to strict guidelines and one person's idea of 'light drinking' may in fact qualify as 'moderate to heavy drinking', so therefore, a 0% threshold is easiest and takes away the liability for medical professionals in our highly litigious society.

This is one of those situations where I say to each their own....

I personally don't feel comfortable doing it (and honestly had no desire to when I was pregnant which is weird because I LOVE WINE) but I pass no judgement on people who have an occasional glass. It's none of my business!

I've read a lot about this issue and I felt comfortable having a half glass of wine every two or three weeks or so while pregnant along with sips of beer as well.

I didn't drink while (well, after I found out I was ) pregnant. I just didn't feel like drinking. Every once in a while I would get the craving but never anything like I have when not pregnant. I don't judge those who do, though!

I'm amazed how many people drink while preggers!

Rationally, I think very light consumption is probably fine, but I just didn't feel comfortable. I am, at baseline, an infrequent drinker and total lightweight, so that probably contributed!

I personally would rather trust a medical academy rather than a single economist who isn't medically trained. I did have a few drinks before I knew I was pregnant, and maybe a quarter glass of wine or beer once or twice. But overall the thought of alcohol made me feel nauseous.

I do think it's interesting that the AAP pointed out the risk of FAS actually increases with drinking later in pregnancy. It seems like conventional wisdom is you can loosen up in your third tri, but that doesn't seem like it holds true for alcohol: https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/AAP-Says-No-Amount-of-Alcohol-Should-be-Considered-Safe-During-Pregnancy.aspx

I did. I read the new AAP report, but if you read closely, it says you're not supposed to drink at all if there's even any chance you could be pregnant. To me, this says, all women could at all times be two weeks away from a positive, unless you're too young, too old, or already pregnant, so just avoid it. And yeah, that's a little extreme. There's a balance, and I worked hard to find it for me. A glass of wine on special occasions, or when I needed to sleep? Sure. But generally, I don't drink much to begin with, so there's also that.

As to the risk vs. Reward, I'm a big fan of women trying to lead their lives as normally as possible while pregnant. If half a glass of wine makes you feel more like a person than just a baby carrying machine, then I say go for it.

I used to have an alcohol problem, so I don't drink at all, pregnant or not. And if I were to reach a point where I felt safe having the occasional glass, I wouldn't risk it while pregnant because I know I am much more likely than the average person to overdo it.

Because my experiences/relationship with alcohol is so unhealthy, it's hard for me to say what I'd do if I were able to drink regularly. But based on how I handled other restrictions in pregnancy, my guess is I'd risk it once or twice, but get really worried after and decide it wasn't worth it. In theory I think it's not worth the risk, but I don't resist temptation well.

I read a lot of research and decided that I was fine with an occasional small drink, drank slowly with a full meal in the second and third tri. So that's what I did. I was always a little nervous ordering a beer or glass of wine out at a restaurant, but I'm happy to say thatnobody eve so much as batted an eye.

@leighleigh: Obviously to each their own and you do what you're comfortable with, but I just wanted to point out that that the AAP release wasn't based on a new study or any new research, that was just them reiterating their position.

@meredithNYC: @PrincessBaby: yeah, the explanation about how we're a binge culture and the CDC doesn't trust us to do it very infrequently and actually stop at a small amount *finally* explains how so many OB's will be a little murky about the "one, 4-oz glass of wine on a special occasion" thing. I still think even that CNN article points to much heavier drinking (1 in 33 are binge drinking? are you f*cking kidding me?) than we're talking about here. If experts tell everyone to go cold turkey, and everyone does, than that 33rd drunk, pregnant woman is not going to be harming her fetus.

A half glass of beer or wine a few times each pregnancy. Wine gave me heartburn with both so it wasn't worth it