THE CAFFEINE DEBATE
Before I got pregnant, I always thought certain things were big NO's when it came to pregnancy. No alcohol, no sushi, no fish, no caffeine. Most of those things ARE huge must-stay-away-from's, but I was pleasantly surprised (slash excited) when my doctor said that a) cooked fish with low mercury was ok and b) limited caffeine is perfectly fine. If you google "caffeine during pregnancy,'' a lot of differing opinions are out there. Some say none at all, some say only after 1st trimester, but most say a certain amount a day is just fine. And they all revert to the same thing-- go with what your doctor says. My doctor's guidelines are no more than about 200 mg a day-- which to give you perspective: a tall vanilla latte from Starbucks is 75 mg and a can of Diet Coke is 46 mg. So you could technically get a Grande Latte from Starbucks (150 mg) every day or drink 4 Diet Cokes and still be under the limit- according to my doctor.
Now since I was so worried about like everything in the first trimester (hence why it took us so long to announce on FB), I completely stayed away from caffeine altogether. It was just the best for my peace of mind. Then after that and talking to other friends who had recently gone through pregnancy and drank caffeine, I started having iced tea (lowest amount of caf) and decaf Starbucks lattes. I know pointless right-- but they satisfied my craving. THEN I found out about half-calf (thank you Kellie!) and my life was changed after that. If I go to Starbucks and get a half-calf skinny vanilla latte, that's only 37 mg which is way under my doctor's limit!! And I don't do this every day, just when I really feel like I need/want to treat myself. And during football season, Brett & I would go watch the games at a bar/restaurant each week and since I couldn't have my drank of choice (BEEEER), I'd get a Coke instead. It's the little things.
So now I just am really conscious about it. We have a Keurig and some mornings I'll have a cup of half-calf coffee, but then I know I'll drink water the rest of the day, and so on. They even have all the Coke products in caffeine free now and they taste the exact same-- if you choose to stay away altogether.
I'm curious though- what does your doctor say? Did y'all stay away completely or drink some every now and then? Give me your thoughts! PS. special thanks to Courtney for inspiring this discussion :)
xoxo,
ryann
Ryann, my post won't answer your question about what my doctor said when I was pregnant. Back then we could have all the caffeine we wanted. However, after I gave birth to Kim in 1971, I started experiencing chest pains. It scared me A LOT. I went to the doctor and everything with my heart was fine! What a relief. He took me off caffeine and aspirin to see if any changes would occur. Sure enough, the pains went away. To this day, if I have caffeine (sometimes even chocolate), I get chest pains. Apparently the hormonal changes effected a lasting change in my own body. Back then caffeine-free colas were scarce, as well as caffeine-free tea. Now, it's much easier to deal with and I discovered I really like the taste of water!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI was like you - I completely stayed away during my first trimester but then relaxed and let myself have a half cup here or there and a soda a time or two. For me, I realized a lot of what I craved about coffee was the routine and taste of it, so I did have decaf lattes almost daily towards the end of my pregnancy - but the first thing I had after labor was a grande latte from Starbucks!
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