Chug a Lug, Pooh Bear

One of the important tasks I have assigned myself is to drink the recommended daily amount of water for humans. So, 64 oz (or 8, 8oz glasses) a day. For pregnant women, it is recommend (by "them") that we drink upwards of 12 glasses a day for optimum health of mom and baby. That is 96 oz or 3 full liters for those of you who are as math challenged as I am.

I think that is a lot of water, but people who have gone before me in childbirth and baby rearing say that's nothing compared to the amount of fluid one has to consume when breastfeeding. I tend to imagine a water buffalo when I think about the amount of water I will be attempting to drink in a few months. Although I'm not exactly sure what a water buffalo is, other than Chevy Chase made reference to one in a scene from every guy's top 10 movie, Fletch.

So, as part of my aforementioned commitment to guzzling water, I made a pledge to my Nalgene bottle that we would become better acquainted since I really needed to step up my intake from a paltry 32-40 oz. I have had my Nalgene bottle for more than 4 years and have used it heavily as a source of fluid intake. It has been a great thing, you see, because it holds a full liter of water in its pretty blue vessel. And that is something that a lazy water drinker needs: a whole lotta water staring you in the face with no excuse not to drink. Not only that, but the Nalgene bottle is a fabulous thing for the environment: I am not contributing 5 single-use bottles to the recycling bin (and possibly trash heaps) every day. The amount of waste these single-use bottles create and the negative impact they have on our planet is too disturbing for me to think about.

I have been doing so well with my water drinking mission, consuming 3 Nalgene bottles full of water a day (and I won't go into the details of what goes in, must come out...). All until yesterday when I was watching the Today show while eating my breakfast and they did a segment about how horrible it is for people, especially women of child bearing age, especially women who are already pregnant, to drink from these bottles. What?!

Apparently, consuming things from plastics that have a 7 in the triangle can leach harmful toxins into your system which can cause brain damage in unborn babies. Especially if the bottles are old, and you regularly run them through he dishwasher, because the high heat of the dishwasher does some very bad thing to the chemical composition. Well, hello, I drink from the dang vessel every day. I would hope that I am washing it in the dishwasher regularly.

Now, I'm no scientist and I admit to not doing a ton of research into the actual amount one would have to consume from said tainted Nalgene bottle, but I do know that I am 6 months pregnant and am heavily into mother hen nesting mode and even the remote possibility that I could be causing harm to my precious baby (when I'm trying to do the right thing by my precious baby, mind you) is just too unthinkable for this irrational mother to be.

I have immediately ceased my water drinking ways from my trusty old blue vessel and have had to resort to plain ol' glass from which to drink water. Not a bad thing, but it only holds 12oz of water. That equals 8 trips to the Brita every day, and I've already told you I'm a lazy water drinker. So I have come up with a brilliant solution, which is set to arrive at my doorstep in approximately 10 days:


Do you hear the angels singing? Hallelujah for Sigg! Not only will I continue to do right by Mother Earth but also by my baby's developing brain! And the best part is that it is still blue and still holds a full liter of water. Hooray for me!