Lord knows, I am no doctor. But allow me to share my general principle for all those pregnancy “rules” (all the stuff women aren’t supposed to do when carrying).

I’m concerned about anything that evolution hasn’t already taken care of for me. Evolution is so much more powerful than any laws or physician guidelines, it always wins in my mind.

So let’s look at a few things that are probably okay:

• Pretty much anything physical. Jump around, go running, exercise at the gym, I don’t believe that evolution required cave-women to be bedridden instead of out chasing down wooly mammoths.
• Eating fish and cheese. Yes, I know science tells us their are bacteria (and in the case of cheese, we actually put some of it in there on purpose, so maybe that changes my position). And yes, my wife avoided these things when she was pregnant. But I just worry about them less knowing that bacteria have also been around for millennia, and evolution was looking out for our birth rates.
• Heat and Cold. The elements have been beating on pregnant women for a long time. They might make our modern, soft selves uncomfortable, but on balance, I can’t see making a big deal out of this one.

And what are some examples of things that evolution may not have had time to take care of?

• Alcohol - this is the big one, and I do get nervous about it. Alcoholic beverages are man-made, and even by a stretch, we haven’t been making them for more than about 10,000 years. So I can see how this kind of man-introduced change could thwart millions of years of evolution.
• Tanning Beds - same deal, and way less time for evolution to catch up than it had with alcohol
• Drinking Alcohol while in a Tanning Bed - self-explanatory
• Taking medication - some are approved, some aren’t. They all make me nervous.

Again, I’m not a doctor. Ladies, for the baby’s sake, ask your doctor’s advice and make choices in the best interest of the baby’s health and your happiness.