Coffee?

laujam31 · June 2016

Hi ladies, what have your docs said about coffee? With my first two, my dr said on cup regular one cup decaf a day. Now he's saying "go easy" He wouldn't clarify- just said there's been new research on caffeine. I asked if that meant don't have any and he said "just go easy" I got the feeling he didn't agree with the new research, but felt obligated to tell me. FYI I don't drink any soda so my coffee is my only caffeine intake. TIA

Vivi20 · June 2016

I'm of the philosophy "Better safe than sorry". I don't drink coffee, but I'm a huge tea drinker. I love my English Breakfast tea. The blacker and stronger, the better. With that said, I quit cold turkey all forms of caffeine while pregnant. I abstain from chocolate as well. My midwife told me before that one cup of tea won't hurt the baby; this new doctor I have didn't even bring it up. But I'd rather be cautious and just wait till after the baby is born. That's the first thing I request after birth: a cup of boiling hot, super strong tea. I miss my daily cup, so I'm looking forward to it with great excitement.
I read somewhere, and someone feel free to correct me because I don't know how correct this information is, that caffeine crosses the placenta and goes to the baby, and the baby has no way of digesting or properly processing caffeine in their bodies.

ChaoticWolf · June 2016

My self imposed limit is one soda, tea, or coffee a day. The American Pregnancy Association says limit yourself to 200g caffeine a day, which is about 12 oz of regular coffee, and that's actually quite a conservative thing to do (the APA errs on the side of caution).

TinaBelcher · June 2016

I'm currently not taking in any caffeine because I don't like pop with caffeine anyway and my m/s has given me a coffee aversion. But before m/s whooped my ass I had mixed my regular coffee with decaf so what I brewed was half-caf and I didn't worry so much about my big morning mug!

susykat77 · June 2016

I am also of the philosophy "better safe than sorry". I worked so hard to get here and I am not taking any risks. I met with doctors at Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine and they felt very strongly about avoiding caffeine and had conducted studies linking caffeine usage to higher miscarriage rates (although I don't have the study to post here). I have not have coffee since the cycle I got pregnant. However, at my intake appointment with my OB's office, the nurse said feel free to have a cup a day. There is definitely still debate around this topic.

cjs260 · June 2016

I limit myself to one caffeine drink a day. Also, I have to have met my water intake goal (>100oz) to have caffeine the next morning. For instance, if I don't drink 100oz of water today, no coffee for me in the morning. It's a pretty good motivator.

LastMango · June 2016

I have one cup every day. If the APA and my OB are ok with it, so am I.

TexasGal24 · June 2016

Coffee, the sweet nectar of the gods, I love you....just not right now.

That is one of the things that I have not wanted at all. Pre-preggy I would drink 1-2 cups day and it was definitely part of my morning routine. Since BFP, I've had 1 half lemonade/half black tea (called an Arnold Palmer) and I ran around all day like I was CRAZY so.much.energy. I completely crashed that night and I felt terrible the next day. Needless to say, I won't be having any caffeine at all after realizing how caffeine now effects me differently as a pregnant woman.

ashanne88 · June 2016

MS has me loathing coffee right now. Once it's gone though, I will go back to having half-caf in the morning. I drank half-caf through second and third trimester with DS. I think this falls into the same camp as a glass of wine, sushi, deli meats, etc. Do what feels comfortable to you in moderation.

LoneStar21416 · June 2016

I had a cup, occasionally 2 cups, a day pre-pregnancy. After I got my positive, I cut it out as a daily habit. I'll be 13 weeks on Monday. I've had maybe 4 or 5 cups of coffee total since my positive -- these were half decaf, half regular cups or straight decaf. The times I've had it have been if I've had bowel issues or if I really, really couldn't keep my eyes open at work. Both of those issues seem to have cleared up now, so I still won't be having coffee except for the rare occasion. I don't drink any other caffeine, but that wasn't hard. I haven't had soda in probably a decade, and I've never been a big tea (hot or cold) person. So I would say I err on the side of caution as well, but there's no way I'm giving up chocolate

I think it comes down to what you are comfortable with. I think the 200mg is a reasonable guideline and can be trusted. For me personally, I try to be more careful about what I eat or drink now and determine what value it's bringing to me and baby. Besides pleasure, coffee brings no nutritional value and dehydrates me so I made the personal choice to cut it as a daily habit.

canavara · June 2016

My doctor said up to 2 cups of coffee a day was fine. I usually stick to 4-8oz a day to avoid the caffeine withdrawal headaches. I'm a migraine sufferer and caffeine withdrawal is a huge trigger so I can't bring myself to go cold turkey--especially near the end of first tri/beginning of second tri when headaches start to become a common pregnancy symptom, blegh.

On the other hand, I made the mistake of drinking about 2/3 of a 12oz cup of iced cold brew coffee a few days ago and was feeling so jittery afterwards--it's easy to forget the cold brew is typically stronger--something to keep in mind during the summer!

cjs260 · June 2016

@canavara I want cold brew. so. effing. bad. I haven't had any since the caffeine is higher. (Is it by that much? Maybe I can give in, haha!) Last summer I would make it at home by the gallon, then take it in to work. I miss it.

canavara · June 2016

@cjs260 I think it can be about as much as an energy drink depending on how it's brewed... one of my good friends makes it for a living and supplies it to restaurants around town and said that when it only brews for about a day, it's only slightly more than a cup of coffee (90-110mg) but the kind that sits for 3 days--the really potent stuff--can be as much as 150-220 undiluted. If you break it down with milk, it's not that bad and if you make it at home--and it's super easy to make--you can have a lot of control over the caffeine.

sagoon · June 2016

My doctor said up to 200mg of caffeine per day is fine. I'm not a coffee or soda drinker, but I drink tea all the time. I limit myself to three cups per day (1 cup has about 50mg of caffeine in it). I did the same with my last pregnancy.

colleenkevin · June 2016

I have one cup a day. My OB, the APA, and the ACOG all agree that 200mg or less is okay. Plus, I'm much happier when I start my day with coffee.

Parley · June 2016

I'm going to be the odd one out here, and let me preface this by saying I'm pretty relaxed about the pregnancy "rules" in general- I drink a big cup every morning. Once in a while i'll have an iced tea in the afternoon.

cjs260 · June 2016

So, completely off the topic of coffee.... But what does everyone think about making a weekly random thread for questions like this? These are obviously good questions that are good to discuss and get opinions of others on, but it seems like we're getting a LOT of individual threads recently. I took a look at other BMBs and they have a "random" or "spam" thread for the week where they direct these sorts of questions to keep the board tidy. Of course, I'm not discouraging anyone to not ask such questions, or to not post, or anything like that, but just to create a place where we can better organize random questions that don't fall into another category (symptom, ultrasound, appointments/tests, ask a STM, etc). Thoughts?

sagoon · June 2016

cjs260 said:

So, completely off the topic of coffee.... But what does everyone think about making a weekly random thread for questions like this? These are obviously good questions that are good to discuss and get opinions of others on, but it seems like we're getting a LOT of individual threads recently. I took a look at other BMBs and they have a "random" or "spam" thread for the week where they direct these sorts of questions to keep the board tidy. Of course, I'm not discouraging anyone to not ask such questions, or to not post, or anything like that, but just to create a place where we can better organize random questions that don't fall into another category (symptom, ultrasound, appointments/tests, ask a STM, etc). Thoughts?

I prefer having lots of individual threads. It makes the board seem active and lively. If we start getting tons of repeat threads then I can definitely see a need for condensing some of them but for right now the board is kind of slow so I don't think it's a need we have yet.

Vivi20 · June 2016

I don't really mind lots of individual threads. Like @sagoon said, it shows activity, and sometimes there are just really random things, topics, questions, etc...that someone might want to post, and putting all of those random things into one thread might make it more confusing and difficult to follow the conversation if it's part of a whole bunch of other posts....does that make sense?

TinaBelcher · June 2016

@cjs260 I do like randoms threads a lot because they encourage posting when I wouldn't want to start a whole new thread for something

ChaoticWolf · June 2016

Ugh YES to the condensed thread! @cjs260

LastMango · June 2016

TinaBelcher said:

@cjs260 I do like randoms threads a lot because they encourage posting when I wouldn't want to start a whole new thread for something

Agreed. The board isn't too crazy now but I have already noticed some repeat posts/questions happening. I'd be down to do this now but if not, definitely soon.

Smiley-1980 · June 2016

With my last pregnancy and this pregnancy I have a total aversion to coffee and tea. It lasted my whole pregnancy last time so I won't be surprised if it does this time too. The day after I gave birth I was able to drink it no problem.

cjs260 · June 2016

I get where people like the new threads making the board seem active, but this is still a new board. Looking on page 1 alone, all but 1 "random" thread has been discussed before. Understandable, as no one seems to use the search bar (which is admittedly difficult) or wants to look back past three pages (who does?). So, about every 3 weeks, someone will start a new thread about the same thing we discussed already. It's going to get really old by the time we reach month 5. I guess the question I have is what happens when every active member posts a random question thread? I think the board would quickly go from "lively" to chaotic.

LCartee2016 · June 2016

My obgyn said up to 200 mg a day is fine, but because this is my rainbow baby I restrict myself to one or two cups of decaf every now and then. I'm also in the "better safe than sorry" camp.

Edited to add: during this pregnancy I actually prefer cold rather than hot, so I've been making my own iced coffee with decaf and decaf "coffee ice cubes". It's delicious.

LoneStar21416 · June 2016

@cjs260 how much are you peeing when you drink 100 ounces or more a day? That's my goal, and most days I hit it, but lately I feel like my frequency of urination is even increasing. I had it in my mind that maybe it would decrease as my bladder got more accustomed to the water intake. I have to go for another urine culture next week since I did have bacteria in my urine earlier in this pregnancy that was treated with medicine. With my last culture, the doctor said there was some bacteria, but it was low enough that they didn't want to treat it and would monitor it. Unless of course I have symptoms. Then they'll treat me.

I'm having trouble identifying if this frequent urination is a symptom. I have no pain, burning, etc. And everytime I feel like I have to go, I do in fact, pee a lot. And 100 ounces of water is a lot! What's been your experience?

cjs260 · June 2016

@LoneStar21416 Frequent urination is totally a symptom. That plus our increased water intake doubles it, haha. I go about once an hour or two during the day, and I'll wake up at least once during the night. I wouldn't worry unless I had other symptoms.

LoneStar21416 · June 2016

Thank you @cjs260! I feel fine otherwise, so we'll see what next week reveals. I'm glad they're monitoring it; it's just stressing me out I guess. And I feel like anxiety makes me pee more too, so there's that lol I do have a 100% cranberry juice (not cocktail, it's very tart) that I mix in with my water sometimes for whatever that is worth :P

sweetyjenj · June 2016

As to the coffee thing: I went from 1-3 16oz cups a day to 1 8oz cup a day of bold coffee (p.s., there's more caffeine in lighter roasts!), but I add 4oz hot water, so I'm drinking 12oz of liquid, and it tastes great since I'm using a bold roast. Since I'm now using k-cups, 8-12oz of most kcups are between 75-120mg caffeine I read. If I REALLY need it later in the day I'll have a cup of tea with 1 tea bag. I couldn't imagine NOT having coffee at all. I'll drink a decaf later in the day if I just want something hot to drink to relax.

As to the posts, I actually prefer specific posts to specific things..like this. If I'm looking through posts, I'm much more likely to open posts that sound interesting or that I'd have something to add or that I'd be curious what others have to say. Also, more people respond to specific posts, whereas questions get lost or missed in random posts, and they're MUCH harder to go back and look for an answer you once saw a month ago. I don't mind clutter on boards, and to be honest, it's easier to organize if people are specific with their titles.

Lastly, like @cjs260 I drink well over 100oz water a day. I'm always thirsty, and this isn't a pregnancy thing..I've always been one to drink a TON all day. I always have a water bottle with me, and if I tend to get thirsty, I get reallllly thirsty and get really annoyed until I can get water. @LoneStar21416 I pee frequently, like every 1 or 2 hours (sometimes within 30-45min if it's after drinking a full glass and coffee), but something for you to think about: if your body isn't used to getting that much water you WILL probably have to urinate very frequently at first, because your body is releasing water that it held on to. If you're not giving your body enough water regularily, it stores water so it has it just in case. Once you start drinking often your body figures out it doesn't need to store it any more. After that, your body will balance itself out and you won't have to urinate as frequently. Also (as I discovered at my US), you can train yourself to not feel the urge to have to pee until it's fuller than usual. I realized that I actually hold a LOT before I end up needing to really go. I'm also at a job where it's not always possible for me to just get up and go when I feel like it, so I make sure to pee between seeing clients, and if I'm in the middle of a session, I just need to hold it, so my brain has learned how to adapt to this (cool!!) Thing ended up really long...sorry.

litzi-2 · June 2016

i totally gave up coffee. i drank about 2 cups per day. i have daily headaches and i felt the caffeine wasn't helping. coffee doesn't sound appealing still. i'll drink a morning cup as soon as i feel better again, not worried about the caffeine. the only clear studies i know of are eq to like 10 cups a day. i don't think a cup will make any difference. i think cutting it out didn't help my awful constipation, hopefully that helps when added back in.

poetryandoceans · June 2016

Hey y'all - I have talked about Expecting Better by Emily Oster before, and I wanted to bring up the comments she made about the caffeine/miscarriage connection.

She pointed out that all the studies that show a connection between caffeine and miscarriage don't do an effective job of teasing out morning sickness as a confounding variable. The commonly accepted wisdom is that stronger morning sickness = stronger pregnancy. So when studying caffeine intake and pregnancies that end in miscarriage, it's really hard to tease out the aversion to coffee and other caffeinated liquids that would come along with morning sickness. So for the women who consumed more caffeine and then miscarried, it's very possible their pregnancies were not viable to begin with, so their morning sickness was weaker, so they were more able to consume more caffeine, NOT that the caffeine consumed actually contributed to the miscarriage itself. The bent of the discussion was that women who miscarry spend a lot of time worrying about what they may have done to cause it, and she was pointing out that, based on current data, there is no strong causal link between caffeine and miscarriage once you consider the confounding variable of morning sickness.

All that being said, it was an academic consideration for me, because I've had stomach issues for a long time that caffeine makes worse. But I felt like it was an interesting point to be tossed into this discussion. I do think the point a lot of people are making about moderation is a really good one, because caffeine is passed to the fetus, and mom's caffeine tolerance isn't. And I think it's super easy to forget how caffeine impacts a body that's not used to it!! Since I had to cut it out 5 years ago, I know if someone slips me a regular instead of a decaf, I am bouncing off the walls... wouldn't want that happening inside my uterus. Especially when they get big enough that we can feel 'em

BAJDesigns · June 2016

I (used to) love coffee but the MS has made me gag at the smell of it! DH has moved the coffee maker into the garage. Having sad that, I have had a caffeinated Pepsi on particularly long days at work lately. The caffine/ sugar boost plus the carbonation setting my stomach is what has gotten me through the day several times this week. My OB says, don't be excessive, but that anything I can keep down right now is fair game!

laujam31 · June 2016

So interesting to read all the responses!!!! Thanks ladies! This is my 3rd pregnancy. Coffee made me sick the first trimester of my previous pregnancies. This pregnancy I WANT it. I go to sleep at night excited to wake up in the am just to have a cup. But I haven't had more than one cup so far. I'm been craving juice too.

Mylitta · June 2016

I've always heard that 200mg was fine. I would absolutely be drinking coffee... if it currently had any appeal. I love coffee, but not right now. Every time I drink it hot I gag, and cold doesn't do anything for me. Soda on the other hand is amazing! Normally I enjoy it, but not love. Now I'm so excited for carbonation!

I'm not being super strict on caffeine, but I'm not going crazy either.

Eta: I'd really like a set randoms thread. I think you miss out of you don't read other people's things. It might be something you'd love to know, but never find out. Also I sometimes have to scroll to the 2nd page if I miss most of a day. There are times I think about not looking at all or even continuing to interact if it's going to be this much. Having it in one thread would let me look at a bit, but not overwhelm me when I'm already exhausted at the end of the day.

spano41 · June 2016

Before I got pregnant I was drinking 4 cups of coffee a day. It's always been my greatest vice and the hardest thing to give up during pregnancy. I don't trust myself to only have one or two cups, so it's if limits and I put the coffee maker away not to tempt myself. I drink tea (mostly iced at the moment) and water it down so I can kind of drink as much as I want. I definitely still crave coffee and will go smell our canister of coffee beans occasionally because it's one of the only smells that doesn't make me sick.

I'm also on team individual thread. I don't read daily threads because I don't have time to sort through a bunch of things I'm not interested in. I open threads that have clear subjects that I want to learn about or have something to say about. Honestly this board seems kind of slow and I would rather have repeat threads than nothing. If a topic is repeated too much, just ignore the thread and it will fall off the first page. If people are commenting on the repeat thread, there is still obviously a desire to rehash the topic and it's fine, let them and don't participate if it doesn't interest you.

sarahmsoda · June 2016

I used to drink at least a cup a day but never relied on it and could go without pretty easy. When we were TTC in the beginning I cut back to half caf but after a year and a half of TTC I got kinda of impatient and just went back to reg coffee or espresso drinks. The day I found out I was pregnant I stopped though, not because I don't enjoy it but because I knew I could easily quit and it would likely be of benefit to the pregnancy.

Most people in my life quit coffee when they were pregnant or at least went down to half caf, however I think its fine to the follow the 1 cup rule if you feel you still need some. I have read that detoxing or quitting things that our bodies have become adjusted to isn't great for baby either so I think it's okay to keep habits like coffee but just cut back.

I also don't mind individual threads, but once they start to get super repetitive I can get quite annoyed.

itsmeraffyv · June 2016

Before I was pregnant I drank 1-2 20oz cups every day during the work week. When I found out that I was pregnant, I completely cut it out cold turkey and was miserable. The lack of caffeine plus normal pregnancy fatigue had me falling asleep at my desk by lunch time lol! When I spoke to my dr about it she said that coffee was fine in small amounts especially for someone like me who drinks it on the regular. Now I have an 8oz cup per day and I feel much better. I can actually make it through the day without feeling too tired.

hjmorgan-2 · June 2016

Before getting pregnant, I drank about two cups of coffee a day. My OB told me one cup a day would be fine, but to try and slowly wean myself off. So I cut down to half a cup a day. Although now even the thought of coffee nearly makes me gag. I haven't had a sip in weeks. My husband literally has to drink his coffee in another room because I can't stand the smell.

julianna88-2 · June 2016

Surprisingly, this pregnancy so far. I haven't had the urge to want coffee. With my last three I had coffee every day not all day like I'm use too but two cups a day will work for me.

Ali Grindell · June 2016

I completely cut out coffee in my 1st trimester but now that I'm moving to my 2nd, I'll have a cup or two a week just as a treat. I didn't ask my doctor about it. I'm a believer that anything in small moderation is fine. I'm not going to worry over the things I can/can't have during the pregnancy and stress myself out. This is in no way slamming anyone else who is being more disciplined. I'm not one to judge how someone else lives their life. It's just how I choose to be with mine.

elvinnoe · June 2016

I'm definitely in the loose discipline camp. I'm like eh, everything in moderation. I drink coffee when I feel like it. I don't always feel like it, but if my church has free coffee in the lobby, by all means I'm drinking a cup! Or two.

The one thing I have a hard time keeping in moderation during pregnancy is my sugar intake. It's pretty bad. I'm determined to keep it under control this time.

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