Caffeine during that unsure time

[Stephanie0523]

Hey guys. DH and I are trying to get pregnant with our third child, and I was wondering what your thoughts were on caffeine consumption during this time of trying to conceive? Of course, I will give it up (as I did before) if we are blessed with another pregnancy, but the thought of giving it up indefinitely kind of freaks me out a bit. (Love my coffee.) I wasn't worried about it until I heard about the recent study that said too much caffeine can cause a much higher risk of miscarriage. Your thoughts?

 

[pippa]

Well, as someone who has had three m/c and one second trimester fetal death, I'll give you my thoughts.

The first thing I thought when I read this new study(which I just did a moment ago) was how do they know the caffeine is causing this? And, of course, there are OB-GYN's saying the same thing.

Two of my m/c's were caused by genetic abnormalities(the third happened VERY early so there was no testing.) This study says NOTHING as to whether caffeine causes genetic abnormalities. In fact, they did no testing on any of the m/c fetuses.

The large majority of early miscarriages are the same as mine: genetic abnormalities. Whether you drink caffeine and smoke crack or eat only fruits and vegetables and never have any caffeine, you can't control genetic abnormalities. You can be the healthiest person in the world and you can still have a m/c due to a genetic abnormality. My last RE siad to think of genetics as a crap shoot. There is no rhyme or reason and you can't control the outcome.

Having said that, I do think that if there is the possibility that you are pregnant you should try to scale back on the caffeine. Can you limit yourself to one cup a day? I don't think that it can hurt to err on the side of caution. JMO

Sorry for the book, but I would hate for anyone to feel like they *caused* there own miscarriage through their choices when, in reality, in 60-80% of cases you have no control over this.

Good Luck to you!

 

[Stephanie0523]

Hey Pippa, Thanks for responding. You're right. I thought after I posted this, "Why even think twice about it? Is coffee THAT important?" So, I've scaled down to 1/2 cup of half-caff spiked with lots of hot milk. That will ween me off of my coffee "addiction". And I'll gradually move to just steamed milk.

I'm really sorry for what you've had to go through. I cannot imagine how hard it's been for you. You must be one strong gal. I admire your strength.


Steph.

 

[morris]

hi steph

just thought i'd add in a thought. when i was ttc with my 2nd, i had to see a specialist b/c i am "hormonally challenged." they gave me all kinds of info on optimizing our chances on getting pregnant. in addition to all the other doet and fitness stuff, they did say to eliminate caffine as it decreased fertility. not sure how hard you are ttc, but, i needed all the help i could get. everyone is different for sure, and there are all kinds of stories of women with one ovary on the pill, etc who get pregnant. others of us have a harder time. just wanted to share. good luck!

 

[melanalyus]

As a Mountain Dew addict, I only cut down when I ABSOLUTELY have too. I'm determined to quit all together if I'm lucky enough to conceive again,...but only when I know for sure.

~Melanie~

Jadon born 11/23/05
Justin born 1/17/04
Jory born 4/9/94

 

[FitNurseRN]

My motto was everything in moderation. As long as your not "over doing" it I am sure that it is fine. Is 1 cup a day going to hurt anything? I doubt it. Maybe switch to 1/2 decaf and regular.

Melissa

 

[melimcn]

To echo the other posters, DH and I were only "not preventing" pregnancy anymore when I got pregnant. I had not adjusting life in any way, meaning beer (I'm a complete fancy beer snob!) was a regular habit, and we spent some time in Amsterdam partaking in the "local fare"...

I still drink caffeine, I just try not to drink more than 2-3 cups of soda, tea, coffee, etc../day. So far, everything is perfectly healthy. (Fingers crossed that I haven't jinxed myself!)

I agree with the other poster that said "everything in moderation"!
Women have been having healthy babies for thousands of years...before there was any medical testing to warn against. If it worked then, my philosophy is being overly cautious can just drive you nuts more than anything.

To each their own, of course. Just wanted to share my views!

 

[pippa]

I thought I would just post one other thought on this. I just watched CNN's report on 'coffee' studies and they raised an intersting point.

Not all coffee, tea and soda contain the same amount of caffeine. For example, a TALL Starbucks(which is their 'small'...12 oz. of coffee) contains a whopping 260 mg of caffeine. On the other hand 12 oz. of Coke *only* contains 34 mg.

If you are interested in following the guidelines presented in this new pregnancy study(>200 mg of caffeine a day) that would mean you can't even drink one small cup of Starbucks coffee.

Just thought that I would pass this along. I know it is easy to think that just having one cup probably won't be that bad(at least that is what I would have thought before watching the report)but it is important to find out how much caffeine is in whatever you choose to drink/eat or you could be greatly ingesting more caffeine than you realize.

 

[Fit_mommy]

Hi.

I am an avid coffee drinker. I normally drink anywhere from 3-6 cups per day pretty much every day! That being said, I did not adjust my intake at all while trying to get pregnant. Once I was pregnant I cut it back to 2 cups of caffeinated per day and then if I was craving more I switched it to decaf. I had no problems what-so-ever!!!

HTH!

 

[kristan]

While TTC, I didn't adjust my caffeine intake. Once pregnant, I worried I'd have a hard time giving it up, but I found that coffee grossed me out in the 1st trimester. My coffee intake now is 1 grande starbucks 1/2 caf per day.

 

[FitNurseRN]

when i was pregnant i also had a distaste for coffee. sometimes i could drink a small cup in the am but not all the time. my first trimester i couldnt drink any at all. I did have a lattes from starbucks with 1/2 decaf while i was preggo : ) and everything was fine. however i didnt drink them everday,

melissa