Expet advice appreciated - Alcohol during 3rd week of pregnancy

Hi there again,


A couple of months ago I posted a message regarding my alcohol
consumption before I realized I was pregnant.
I had 3 drinks on gestation (post-conception) day 14, 4 drinks on
gestation day 17, and 4 drinks on gestation day 18. I'm about to give
birth to my baby in a month. Thoe more I get closer to this moment, the

more I get concerned about my consuming this amount of alcohol so early

in my pregnany. Of particular concern to me is how the embryo is
nourished during the 3rd week of gestation, and if alcohol does pass to

the fetus despite the fact there is no placenta yet. By the way, all my

tests have come very good and the baby seems to be in good shape, but
I'm still concerned about any "unseen" disorders that might arise later

on when the baby grows. Anyway, I have made some extensive research,
and this is what I came up with:


http://www.inchem.org/documents/ehc/ehc/ehc30.htm


"During and immediately after implantation, before the placenta
has developed, the embryo depends on histiotrophic nutrition,
consisting of digested endometrial cells mixed with a secretion of
the endometrial glands. The histiotrophic material resorbed by the
trophoblast reaches the embryonal anlage by diffusion. Another source

of early embryonal nutrition is the content of the yolk sac. In
mammals, the significance of the yolk sac varies considerably. It
usually functions as a non-selective structure allowing transfer to the

fetus of most chemicals resorbed by the trophoblast from the chorion
and chorionic cavity until allantoic (embryochorionic, feto-placental)
circulation is established. The yolk sac cavity, enclosed by endodermal

cells and visceral mesoderm, is of nutritional importance for the
embryo for up to 9 1/2 days in the hamster (Boyer, 1953), up to 10 days

in the rat, and for approximately one month in man (Langman, 1969).
Though its role becomes less significant with the progress of
pregnancy, the yolk sac in the rabbit and rodent species continues to
function in the maternal-fetal transfer of chemicals until later in
pregnancy (Lambson, 1966; Seibel, 1974), when the yolk sac is separated

from the gut.
The embryonal yolk sac mesoderm is the source of the first
haematopoietic tissues supplying the blood cells of the embryo-
chorionic circulation. During implantation, as the trophoblast
penetrates into the endometrium, maternal capillaries come into
contact with the trophoblastic shell, and consequently open into
the trophoblastic lacunae. As the trophoblastic shell changes into the

villous chorion, maternal blood begins to circulate within the
intervillous space.


The chorion is vascularized by allantoic vessels. As reported
by Jirasek (1980), the human embryochorionic circulation begins
about day 28-30, there being a gap of about 14 days between the
time when the maternochorionic (maternal) circulation and the
embryochorionic (fetal) circulation are established."


Now, excuse my ignorance, but what do you make out of this? Is it that
a liitle blood only passes to the fetus, is this what this
"histiotrophic nutrition" is about? Because my understanding is that
maternal blood might reach both endometrial cells and the yolk sac,
though perhaps in slight amounts (I also read that the whole process of

organogenesis takes place in a low oxygen environment.) I would
appreciate it if you could provide me with your valuable advice.

.

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