To Peanut or not to Peanut?

36 weeks

Whilst the medical advances and breakthroughs over the last generation is something to be grateful for, you can't help but think that as far as pregnancy goes, it all gets a bit much.

At the beginning of my pregnancy the accepted advice was that alcohol, in small amounts and in moderation, would be unlikely to harm the baby. Phew, says me, I can enjoy that bottle of Corona on a stifling hot day without going to purgatory. Half way through the pregnancy, however, we're told that all alcohol is bad and you shouldn't touch a drop while pregnant. Oh God, says me, what about that night we went out with Kate and Andrew and got royally drunk on Guinness when I didn't even know I was pregnant. Oh, the guilt. Dare I mention it to the midwife or will they get straight onto social services?

Meanwhile, the rise in the number of peanut allergy sufferers had been laid squarely at the feet of mothers who scoffed too many packets of Nobby's Nuts in the run up to giving birth. As a result, the jar of beloved peanut butter in our cupboard was summarily dispensed with never to be seen again. Today I read a story saying that eating peanuts while pregnant can actually AVOID the baby developing a peanut allergy. So now I've to up and hoof it to the local Spa to restock the cupboard with peanut butter and can worry that by NOT eating peanuts I've set my child up for a lifetime of peanut allergy.

The thing is, how are you supposed to keep track? Do people not realise that a pregnant woman's brain shrinks in equal proportions to the expansion of her bump? My conversation these days is punctuated mostly with: "Did I?", "Did we?" "Oh, I can't remember" and "um...." accompanied by a vacant expression.

Remember the butter and margarine debate that rumbled on for years? I can't even remember now which one is currently better for you.

With five weeks to go until due date it seems to me I have one tried-and-tested option left: cross my fingers and hope for the best.