I'll take a cranberry soda. Argh.

It looked fun, I was still awake. So we figured "why not?"

Since I got pregnant I've slowed down my extra curricular activities (to a crawl). But earlier this week, after dinner my husband and I decided to join friends for a drink at a busy downtown bar.

There were women dancing on tables (I swear this was a trendy Wellington St. W, vodka bar, not a skleazy strip joint), men in stuffy suits swinging their tushies. And everyone seemed drunk.

Except me.

"Give me five, no, seven months," I told my friend, "And I'll be up there on that table."

(For some reason, at that moment, it seemed like the right thing to say).

The waitress sidled up to where we were sitting. Everyone else ordered and then she trained her eyes on me.

"I'll have a cranberry soda," I said.. The waitress narrowed her eyes and her lips curled into a disappointed frown  - it was as if she could sense the amount of her tip dwindling with those five words. She quickly turned away.

Despite numerous and various warnings to the contrary (not to mention the judging eyes of friends and family), lots of people have the odd slurp, or even glass of wine or pint of beer when they're expecting.

But I just can't bring myself to do it.

I've never been one to scare easily, but the warnings do make me really nervous. And it's also the thought of a poor drunk fetus squirming around in my tummy.

When I eat Timbits, or some other sugar laden fatty food, the Lentil goes mental - kicking, twisting.

I couldn't imagine what it would do if I got it drunk (if it's anything like it's mother, it might twist an ankle in high heels, drunken dial, or start making out with the placenta - not a good scene).

Not to mention the guilt I would feel afterwards. There are so many challenges it will face in this world, that I want to make sure it is born with all its faculties in tact.

So, even though I felt the waitress started a sneer campaign against me and my cranberry soda that night, I held my drink high as I sipped it! And stuck out my stomach, so she could tell I was passing on the alcohol for a good reason!

Comments

[happydoula]

I was a 2 beer a week girl pre-pregnancy. When I got pregnant I drank cranberry juice instead, but with sparkling water and in a fancy glass. Made me feel indulgent and less like I was missing out.