But is it safe for the baby?

Drinking an occasional glass of wine during pregnancy has been a controversial topic. Obviously, frequent or heavy drinking is dangerous for your baby, but a glass of wine here and there is where opinions differ. Some maintain that the effects of alcohol on a fetus are still unknown and it’s better to avoid alcoholic beverages altogether. Others (like most Europeans!) believe that there’s nothing wrong with an occasional drink and indulge themselves without giving it a second thought.

Regardless of where you stand on the issue, one glass of wine toward the end of your pregnancy probably doesn’t pose any hazard to your baby’s health. And if it stops the Braxton Hicks and puts your mind at ease, it’s an added bonus! L’Chayim!

Drink some water too…

Being dehydrated can bring on false labor pains as well. So in addition to your glass of wine, be sure to drink plenty of water, which may help ease Braxton Hicks as well!

Here’s some “food for thought:” consider these guidelines before indulging in every pregnancy craving:

Raw or Undercooked Animal Products

These foods may contain an array of bacteria, viruses, and parasites.  When cooking meat, chicken, and fish, it’s recommended to test the doneness with a food thermometer, cook eggs until they are no longer runny, and don’t eat raw dough. Here are some other things to watch out for:

• rare meat
• raw oysters
• clams
• sushi
• unpasteurized eggs
• raw cookie or cake dough
• homemade eggnog

Hot Dogs, Cold Cuts, & Unpasteurized Dairy Foods

These foods are prone to Listeria monocytogenes, a bacteria that causes listeriosis, which may result in miscarriage, stillbirth, or other serious health problems. These include food such as:

• hot dogs and
• luncheon meats (deli ham or turkey, bologna, salami, etc)
• refrigerated pates or meat spreads
• refrigerated smoked seafood (such as salmon, trout, whitefish, cod, tuna, or mackerel)– may be labeled “nova-style,” “lox,” “kippered,” “smoked,” or “jerky.”
• raw milk and unpasteurized dairy products such as Brie, feta, Camembert, Roquefort, blue-veined, queso blanco, queso fresco, and queso Panela.

It’s safe to eat smoked seafood, lunch meants, and franks, when it’s part of a cooked dish (like in a casserole) or if you reheat them until they are steaming hot. Always wash your hands, utensils, and cooking surfaces after handling raw meats, deli meats, etc.

Certain Seafood and Fish

Some large fish harbor high concentrations of mercury, a byproduct of coal-burning plants that interferes with the normal development of a child’s brain and nervous system.

• Fish to avoid: swordfish, shark, tilefish, and king mackerel
• Fish to eat in moderation (up to 12 ounces weekly, according to the FDA):  salmon (farmed and wild), shrimp, canned light tuna, pollock, sardines, tilapia, and catfish.
• albacore (white) tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna. Limit to 6 ounces a week.
• Fish caught for sport in rivers, lakes, ponds, and streams may also contain industrial pollutants that play havoc with a developing nervous system. Check the safety with your local health departments.

Raw Vegetable Sprouts

The FDA advises pregnant women not to eat raw sprouts — including alfalfa, clover, radish, and mung bean sprouts.   Bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella can get into sprout seeds, posing a danger for a weaker immune system. Cooked sprouts are perfectly fine.

Drinks to Limit or Avoid

• Alcohol (beer, wine, or spirits) robs developing cells of oxygen and nutrients, preventing normal fetal development. The effects of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome on intellectual abilities and physical growth are permanent. While some assume the motto “Everything in moderation,” there is no known “safe level” of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

• Unpasteurized juices, such as cider from neighborhood farms. These products may contain germs including E. coli.

• Lead in tap water is linked to low birth weight, preterm delivery, and developmental delays in children. If you have an older home with lead pipes, it can leach into your tap water, and home filtration systems may not prevent it from reaching you.

• Caffeine from coffee, tea, soft drinks, energy beverages, and other sources may increase the risk of miscarriage, reduced birth weight, and stillbirth, but the research is conflicting. The March of Dimes recommends limiting caffeine consumption to 200 milligrams a day. That’s about the amount found in 12 ounces of coffee.

Bisphenol A (BPA)

BPA is an industrial chemical used to make many hard plastics and the liners of many canned foods. It’s an endocrine disruptor that could disturb normal fetal development.

The FDA has not yet recommended that pregnant women avoid BPA, but they did express concern about “the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland of fetuses, infants, and children.”

If you wish to be safe, a wide range of BPA-free plastics and glass containers are available.

Herbal Teas, Vitamins, & Supplements

There are herbs and other supplements that can be used safely to support a healthy pregnancy, but always talk to your doctor or midwife about any supplement use during pregnancy.  Herbal teas are caffeine-free, but there are definite studies on the safety of herbal preparations during pregnancy.

Duffy MacKay, ND, is the vice president of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, suggests the following guidelines during pregnancy:

• Herbs that contain stimulants or caffeine-containing supplements, especially those that are intended to promote weight loss: guarana, kola nut, betel (Piper betle), Citrum aurantium, yohimbe, theobromine (cocoa extract), Garcinai cambogia.

• Other botanicals to avoid include golden seal, Cascara sagrada, black walnut, wormwood, tansy, pennyroyal, senna, saw palmetto, pao d’arco.

• Do not exceed 10,000 or more IU per day of vitamin A because of the risk of birth defects.  MacKay adds that “many newer and specialty nutrients have not been proven safe for use during pregnancy and should be avoided.”

Foods That May Cause Food Allergy

Your baby is more lifely to develop food allergies if you, your child’s father, or one of your other children has allergies.  The American Academy of Pediatrics  says that avoiding certain food allergens (such as peanuts) during pregnancy and nursing may reduce allergy in susceptible children.

If you don’t have any family history of allergies, there is little, if any, benefit to avoiding allergens during pregnancy and breastfeeding.  Before changing your diet, talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian who is knowledgeable about food allergies.

Excess Calories

Eating for two does not mean that you need twice the calories! Gaining too much weight is not just bad for your health, it may actually increase the risk of your future child being overweight.

It is important to chose healthy foods that will provide good nutrition for you and your developing baby. If you are overweight at conception or if your physical activity level declines, you may not need as many extra calories.

• First trimester: no need to add extra calories yet.
• Second trimester: add 340 calories a day to your pre-pregnancy calorie needs.
• Third trimester: add 450 calories a day to your pre-pregnancy calorie needs.

It’s usually not that important to count calories, as long as you are eating a balanced diet and feel energized. If you are unsure about how many calories to consume, ask your doctor or dietitian.

Source: Web MD

feature image: mom logic

I can tell you, that drink is pretty nasty. It makes some pregnant women feel downright nauseous. Some women add ice or lemon juice, so it’s more of a lemonade-type beverage. I just gulp it down as fast as I can, and try not to think about it!

What is the Test For?

This is a routine test that is done to check for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM).  This is different than regular diabetes. In GDM, the hormones secreted by the placenta alter how insulin is used in the pregnant body. If untreated, a pregnant woman with GDM may experience problems with ecclampsia, blood pressure, urinary tract infections and an increased risk of Type II Diabetes later in life. The newborn may experience problems of the heart and kidney, and respiratory distress syndrome.

When is the Test Done?

The test is usually offered to most women around 28 weeks gestation. However, if you have a family history of diabetes or had gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy they may test you earlier.  There are no risks involved, although some women are concerned about the effects that this blast of glucose has on a baby who is not used to receiving it is such quantities.

If you “fail” the one hour test, there’s another 3-hours glucose test. (It is important to note that only about a third of women who test positive on the first test are found to have diabetes upon further diagnosis.) You will be asked to drink or eat something with sugar and will be tested at 30 minutes, one hour, two hours, and three hours. You must pass in three of these tests to “pass” the entire test.

Treating Gestational Diabetes

If you are found to have Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM), you will more than likely be sent to a nutritionist to learn ways that you can control your glucose levels through diet. You will also have a plan for monitoring blood sugar levels to assess your progress. Glucose intolerance during pregnancy affects about 100,000 women every year. The condition usually ends with the pregnancy. However, a small number of women will continue to be diabetic after delivery, so you’ll have to take another glucose test six weeks postpartum.

Do You Need to be Tested for GDM?

A friend of mine was just complaining that her doctor wants her to “redo the whole stinkin’ test.” Somehow they lost her lab results, and she’s tempted to just skip the whole thing, rather than drink the nasty glucose and take another blood test. “Is that crazy??” she wants to know (this is actually her 3rd pregnancy, and she’s never had a glucose problem in the past).

Well, no. It seems she wouldn’t be all that crazy, considering her current situation.

Although GTT  is routine in many places, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) has actually stated that many women are tested unnecessarily. You may not need laboratory testing to screen for GDM if you meet all of the following criteria:

• Less than 25 years old
• Not a member of a racial or ethnic group with a high prevalence of diabetes (eg, Hispanic, African, Native American, South or East Asian, or Pacific Islands ancestry)
• A body mass index (BMI) 25
• No history of abnormal glucose tolerance
• No previous history of adverse pregnancy outcomes usually associated with GDM
• No known diabetes in first-degree relative

Women who are at a higher risk for GDM usually have one of the following risk factors:

• age
• ethnicity
• obesity
• family history of diabetes
• past obstetric history

It can’t hurt to take the test, but if you can talk to your doctor about whether or not it is really  necessary for you.

The Jelly Bean Alternative

I thought it was interesting to note that several years ago some studies were done showing that eating 18 Brach’s® jelly beans worked just as well as the glucola. This definitely sounds a lot more pleasant, and supposedly has few stomach side effects than the glucola. Some women are just told to eat certain sugary foods before the test, which also seems to make sense.

feature image from the mommy diary

This comes a little late for the holidays (sorry!), but here’s a good book to know about in case you have a party coming up (or just feel like mixing a fun drink to enjoy with your husband or a friend)! Haute Mama published the following two recipes from a new book called “Preggatinis: Mixology for the Mom-To-Be,” by Natalie Bovis-Nelsen (the Liquid Muse).

Here are two sample drinks to try out…

Chanukah Bubbly Bubbala
Celebrate the Festival of Lights while sipping Bubbly Bubbala and impress your Mommy-to-be guests with a perfectly palette pleasing combination to tantalize those taste sensitive tongues.

• Champagne flute
• Sparkling concord grape juice
• ½ ounce lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 lemon wheel
• Pour sugar and lemon juice into a champagne flute. Fill with sparkling concord grape juice.
Garnish with lemon wheel.

Christmas Spice of the Season Mulled Wine
Simmering spiced wine on the stove makes the whole house smell like Christmas. With this alcohol-removed version, you don’t have to miss out on that special sense-memory.

• Wine goblet, or other heat resistant glass
• 1 bottle Fre® merlot alcohol-removed wine
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cinnamon sticks (If desired, buy additional cinnamon sticks and garnish each cup with one).
• 3 whole cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• Pour wine into a double boiler pot, over medium heat. Add other ingredients, and stir until honey has dissolved. Reduce heat, cover and gently simmer, stirring occasionally. Serve…

…serve what? Serve warm? Not sure, it was cut off But in any case, if you are expecting a little one but don’t want to miss out on any of the fun, this is a good book for you!

If you decide to try out any of the recipes, let us know how they turned out! Happy celebrating!