Coffee while starting IVF

[Anonymous]

I did my baseline appointment today. I am really excited. I have been taking prenatal and eating healthy but I still drink a cup of coffee a day. Should I stop?

[Anonymous]

Honestly, you will drive yourself bonkers trying to micromanage every detail when doing IVF. I did accupuncture, drank wheatgrass juice, herbal medicine from the accupuncturist, cut back on my hardcore exercise in favor of yoga and walking, bedrest after transfer etc. Ultimately, you don't actually have as much control as you think. One cup of coffee isn't going to make or break your cycles. What you need to manage is your expectations. If it doesn't work, will you be beating yourself up over one cup of coffee.

[Anonymous]

Who knows. And I don't say that flippantly. My first cycle was a failure. So I cut out all caffeine and alcohol, started acupuncture and taking supplements such as royal jelly. The second cycle was successful, but honestly it was probably because I changed clinic and did a different IVF protocol.

[Anonymous]

Try. If its too much of a struggle, have a cup. I loved carbs but switched to more protein duty pregnancy and developed a life long healthy habit.

[Anonymous]

PP here. I just want to add that it won’t hurt to cut coffee

[Anonymous]

Most importantly, don't take stress, take trying as a fun sport. Its not like your life depends on it, its just for an addition.

[Anonymous]

OP don't make this harder on yourself than it already is. Still do the things that bring you joy or help you feel like a person. I did cut out caffeine after my embryo transfer because that that point I could be pregnant. I drank caffeine and alcohol as normal during the stims and prior to retrieval and transfer.

Ask your RE if it makes you feel better. They usually cut straight to the chase.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, one cup of coffee probably isn't going to make a difference (but everyone is different). When I was going through my fresh cycles a number of years ago, I had to do 2. The first one I followed everything to the letter, including completely cutting out caffeine, and got a negative. I was so miserable for the first round that with the second I was a bit more relaxed about the recommendations and drank one cup a day, and ended up pregnant with my daughter. Maybe taking the stress off of myself a bit helped?

I did FETs more recently and took a pretty relaxed approach - I definitely couldn't cut out caffeine completely as I work full-time and had another kid to care for. 1 chemical, 1 ectopic, and finally the last one took and resulted in my now 4 month old son. I don't think my caffeine consumption affected any of that.

Unfortunately there is no one thing that will ensure that your cycle will be a success. I think that managing stress and trying to stay relaxed is probably a bigger factor, so if one cup of coffee per day helps you do that, then do what you need to.

[Anonymous]

Don't sweat it. Drink the coffee, it's not an issue.

[Anonymous]

One cup of coffee is completely fine. As others have said, the most important thing is managing your stress and expectations. Maybe your cycle will go fabulously, or maybe it will be a lot harder than you anticipate. Self care is key for your mental health.

[Anonymous]

Agree that one cup of coffee is not a big deal. I tended to cut back to half-caf/half-decaf during my cycle to make it easier to move to decaf after a transfer. I got pregnant through IVF (but had many cycles that didn’t work), and I don’t think it was the coffee that mattered for the success or failure. Good luck!