Here is a confession that is not likely to make me win awards in many mothering circles: I drank while pregnant with both Grayson and Lu. Maybe it is ironic that I drank during my pregnancies, given my background in public health. But I think my maternal health background is what gave me the confidence to know that my babies were going to be okay. I had read so much research about the effects of alcohol and knew the politics behind the Surgeon General's warning. Maybe I was cocky to think that my wine with dinner would not cause a problem, or maybe I was exactly right. My pregnancy drinking was never extreme, just a couple of glasses of wine a week after the first trimester. Sometimes I went as far as to drink wine in public. We actually had a special bottle of wine that we opened when I was in labor. Since my labor was vague and herky-jerky, we ended up buying replacement wine for the first bottle of the labor wine.
I have wanted to market Labor Wine. Labor is such a fun and exciting time. It makes it all the more memorable to have a special bottle of wine to go with it. Can you tell that I have already devised a marketing scheme for this wine? Unfortunately, I don't think my Labor Wine would ever take off in the States. I would have some groups coming after me, and all the other folks would likely be too scared to buy the wine. Maybe
this research would help my business.
What do you think? Is alcohol during pregnancy okay, or too much of a risk?
