You ladies are all AMAZING! THank you, thank you, thank you for making me feel so much better.

I found out i was pregnant at week 8. I was worried sick about it, because around the time my baby was conceived i had just finished working my old job and spent a few nights celebrating my new job by drinking with friends and my husband, i also decided to have a couple of months in between jobs so i could travel to England to finalise my wedding arrangements and i knew of at least 2 or 3 occasions when i got really stupid drunk while i was there. I stopped drinking alcohol as soon as i found out i was pregnant and my doctor tells me everything is OK with the baby, my son's growth rate and development appears to be normal, i still feel really guilty but i'm making sure i stay away from foods i shouldn't be having and that i take all the vitamins and that my current diet provides him with with all the nutrients he needs for his development. And so far so good

I had to de-lurk to reply to this, because I can clearly remember being in the same position and worrying SO much! When I got pregnant, I was married but we were not TTC, I wanted to wait until I finished grad school-I was actually on the PILL! I got pregnant the month in June, and I was in 2 weddings that month and drank a lot at both of them. When I found out I was pregnant later, the first thing I thought of was how this would affect the baby & I remember talking to my dr. & searching the internet trying to find out if I had done any harm. The rest of the pregnancy, I was totally healthy, did everything right, not even coffee, and I had a perfectly healthy baby girl. She is 10 now and has done everything early-talking, walking, reading, and now is in a gifted/talented program. I wish at the time I could have known that it would turn out fine, I really stressed myself out, so my advice to you is to relax, stress & worry is not good for the baby and take good care of yourself from here on out!!

qtiekiki is correct. You aren't sharing a blood-supply with your baby at this early stage; s/he is feeding from the yolk sack. Once the placenta starts to develop and you are all on one 'closed loop', it's a different story. I've always thought of this as nature's way of helping mom's not do anything toxic to our babes before we know we have to be extra careful! And...keep in mind, lots of cultures think that we're nuts in the US for not having any alcohol during pregnancy. My SIL traveled for work to France and Italy during one of her pregnancies and each trip she was met with "what do you mean you won't have one glass of wine with dinner! It's good for your relaxation and good for the baby!" She didn't drink, though, and nor did I....but....there's alot of variety out there for what is considered safe and normal...

Originally Posted by alanalovechanel

Honestly, you are still very early on, the brain and major organs haven't started to really develop yet, so there's no way that it could affect any of its brain functions, I wouldn't worry about it. I went to my doctor around 26 weeks and had a blood test and it came back positive for THC (bad I know) my doctor even then told me that my unborn child wouldn't be effected by it, that the amount of anything that you intake, your child receives about 5% of it. She told me it wouldn't do anything, that I would have to smoke 6gms a day for it to affect my child, and that the only reason she wanted me to stop is because when my child is born if there is THC in its system, Social Services COULD get involved, so I quit quite some time ago. So for better lack of judgment, you're fine!! Your baby will be healthy!

Alana,

When eating something, your child may only get 5 percent of it. But when smoking something - that crosses the placenta and deprives your baby of oxygen. If you didn't know you were pregnant and it was your first trimester - chances are, the baby won't be too affected. But you were 26 weeks pregnant. At that point, the baby's organs are developing and smoking marijuana can cause problems. It can cause developmental delays, behavioral and learning problems. Essentially, the baby is getting high with you. You are burning your brain cells and your baby's. I can't imagine any doctor actually saying, "it wouldn't do anything."

I really hope that you have stopped at this point. You are right about social services getting involved. If your baby has problems right after birth, they will test him. If he has thc or any other illegal drug (or drug that wasn't prescribed to you) in his system, he will most likely get taken away. Don't turn what is suppose to be the happiest day of your life into a nightmare.

I say this out of love Alana. I am not trying to attack you. I just don't want you or any other pregnant person to believe that smoking marijuana while pregnant is safe for the baby.

I feel very very ashamed to share this, but I have an extremely healthy 5 month old now and wanted to offer some reassurance. Last new years eve I had no clue there was even a chance that I was pregnant. I went out with some friends to watch my boyfriend (now husband) and his band play. I got drunk as a skunk plus some. It was THE worst night of my life. I'm not a partier/drinker and pretty much only drink a margarita once every other week (hey, I'm a Texan!) normally, so this event was the first thing that popped into my head when I found out I was pregnant a few weeks later. I was devestated thinking I could have harmed my baby's development, but when I told my obgyn she said everything was most likely fine and as long as it was an isolated incident, the chances of any residual problems from that incident were extremely slim. Sure enough, I had a healthy baby girl who's the joy of my life

i have a healthy 2 1/2 year old girl and a healthy 5 month old boy. i regularly have wine with dinner and i stopped drinking completely once i found out i was pregnant... but like you there was that time lag. i remember researching this point because i was so worried (the doctor was not worried) and basically after fertilization and before implantation there is a period where you are not connected. even after implantation it takes a few days before the system through which nutrients pass to the baby is set up... it's like someone said above - it is nature's way of protecting the baby between the time you get pregnant and the moment mom knows for sure... i think not taking folic acid is a bigger worry... just take your vitamins and good luck with the pregnancy!

Originally Posted by alanalovechanel

Honestly, you are still very early on, the brain and major organs haven't started to really develop yet, so there's no way that it could affect any of its brain functions, I wouldn't worry about it. I went to my doctor around 26 weeks and had a blood test and it came back positive for THC (bad I know) my doctor even then told me that my unborn child wouldn't be effected by it, that the amount of anything that you intake, your child receives about 5% of it. She told me it wouldn't do anything, that I would have to smoke 6gms a day for it to affect my child, and that the only reason she wanted me to stop is because when my child is born if there is THC in its system, Social Services COULD get involved, so I quit quite some time ago. So for better lack of judgment, you're fine!! Your baby will be healthy!

That's not what my doctor told me. Specially when it comes to alcohol!
I was told that once your baby starts sharing your blood supply whatever alcohol you drink and whatever your blood alcohol level, your baby will have exactly the same blood alcohol content as you do, the only difference is that the alcohol will remain in the baby's blood longer than it will in yours.

...actually, I never thought I could get pregnant because I wasn't on birth control (married already for 7 years) but I missed my period. So I took the test and sat outside on my back porch smoking a cigarette waiting for the results and it came back positive. I had my last glass of wine that night and my son turned out fine! He's actually getting an award today at school for academics.

Yes, I too, had the same concern. I researched high and low for this topic when I was pregnant. The day my period was due (10/1/05) was also the day of my cousin's wedding. As expected I downed a couple of shots. After four days, something wasn't right. When I found out I was pregnant, I spoke to my doctor she told me that I shouldn't worry about this. I didn't know I was pregnant at the time and it was too early in the pregnancy. My daughter is now 19 months and is very healthy.

Originally Posted by elle-mo

...actually, I never thought I could get pregnant because I wasn't on birth control (married already for 7 years) but I missed my period. So I took the test and sat outside on my back porch smoking a cigarette waiting for the results and it came back positive. I had my last glass of wine that night and my son turned out fine! He's actually getting an award today at school for academics.

LOL, sounds like me- having a smoke while waiting for the test
I didn't drink after I found out, I also got the whole a glass of wine would be great for you crap, from my sil who is a nurse and who also was drinking irish wiskey in her coffee the morning she told us she was pregnant. Some people.
I didn't fully quit smoking when I was pregnant and I hate to admit that,but it's the truth. I wouldn't advise people to smoke and drink when they are expecting, I got lucky I popped out a couple of 9 pounders,and healthy as horses.

^^My mom didn't quit smoking when she had me, and I'm okay. I mean obviously you should quit, I'm not advocating not quitting! But, yeah. She quit for a month and when she went to the doctor her blood pressure was off and she was a neurotic mess and bordering on depression and he asked her what she'd changed, and she said she'd quit smoking, and he said "well unquit because you're going to give yourself a heart attack." I'm NOT advocating this. I'm just saying that since I came out fine, obviously a few drinks or cigarettes before you even know you're pregnant, shouldn't hurt...

A friend of mine drank a lot before she knew. Like a month's worth of time. We went out to a bar to celebrate a birthday then we partied watching a football game then the next night was New Year's and she drank heavily all those times. Then she found out and she quit. The baby is now 4 months old and perfectly healthy.

i drank SO much on Cinco de Mayo to a point where I mightve almost had alcohol poisoning..found out i was pregnant 2 days later.. My baby is 100% fine!!! hes 1 now

I drank before I found out and both my kids are fine.