caffeine

[Anonymous]

I've been really good about not having any coffee or sodas thus far (though there is some daily small amount of chocolate I'll admit). Anyway, I've been craving Coke for the past week, having aout 8 - 10 ounces on most days. I know you can have 200-300 mg/day (depending on where you read up on it!), without "risks" but I can't get over the guilt. Do you drink coffee? tea? soda? Believe the no-caffeine hype? I'm pretty laid back on the "restrictions" and listen to my doctor without getting crazed and live in a bubble, but can't get over the caffeine one. thoughts?

[Anonymous]

You are making yourself crazy for nothing - you aren't consuming over the guidelines, so give yourself a break. I have also tried to stay away from caffeine, but have been having a soda once a week or so. I actually have had two already this week - one on Sunday and one yesterday! The findings on caffeine are not terribly conclusive, so this isn't one I'd wrack myself with guilt over. Cut yourself some slack!

[Anonymous]

I've had a Starbucks tall latte (75mg of caffeine) almost every day of my pregnancy. Drs. Sanders and Schaffel assured me that 1-2 cups of caffeine/day was fine, and I trust them. There are so many forbidden things during pregnancy and I find pregnancy so miserable as a general matter (lots of MS etc.) that I was not about to give up one of my favorite daily pleasures unnecessarily. That being said - I'm sure others will skewer me for this.

[Anonymous]

This was the first thing that I asked my OB about when I got pregnant. He just laughed and said yes, Diet Coke (my caffeine fix of choice) is just fine. Basically what I decided to do is cut out all caffeine in my home and allow myself Diet Coke as a treat when I go out. For the first two trimesters, this basically meant getting fountain Diet Cokes when I was at the mall or the movies or at a restaurant, maybe once or twice a week. Now I'm 35 weeks and I have stopped limiting myself. I still don't have any caffeine in the house so plenty of days go by when I don't have any, but if I'm out and I want an enormous fountain Diet Coke, I let myself have it (along with a refill if I can get one!). Because I don't drink coffee, I don't really worry about the actual milligrams of caffeine -- you can have almost a six-pack of soda for the caffeine equivalent of 2 cups of coffee a day, which are allowed. Plus, the latest study talks about miscarriage risks, so my caffeine fears/guilt subsided a lot after the first trimester.

[Anonymous]

Agree w/ PPs. Don't sweat it & enjoy!

[Anonymous]

I just came from my 20-week appointment yesterday, am in the process of working through all the doctors at Reiter & Hill. At my 8-week appointment, one doctor told me that one or two 12-oz. diet Cokes per day would be fine (non-pregnant I usually have four or five, never any coffee, though). The doctor yesterday asked me if I could cut down from two to one. So even within one practice there's no agreement. If you're really wavering between cutting everything out (which I did for a couple weeks at the beginning and was MISERABLE, plus morning sickness) and having a couple sodas per week, I would obviously lean toward the latter.

[Anonymous]

I've drank a cup or two of coffee every morning since the beginning of my 2nd trimester. I was to sick in the 1st trimester to drink coffee. It's the only thing that gives me enough energy to run around after my 2-year-old all day.

[Anonymous]

My theory is that caffeine is the perfect drug -- it makes me happy and despite lots of trying, doctors just can't really find anything wrong with it. I think they hate that though; how could something so good not be bad for you? Enjoy your Coke.

[Anonymous]

I drank a large coffee every day of both of my pregnancies. Babies both turned out fine, and the doctor didn't tell me not to drink it.

Enjoy your small pleasures....

[Anonymous]

I drank 1-2 cups of coffee every day during 2 pregnancies and both my kids are fine.

[Anonymous]

I have the equivalent of a can of soda 3 - 5 times a week, I'd say.

It really helped my morning sickness, for some reason.

Have the coke!

[Anonymous]

There was recently a large study published linking first trimester miscarriages to pretty moderate daily caffeine consumption. I don't have time to find the link now, but I think it came out in February and was highly publicized. A quick google search will find it. So I'd say if you're out of the first trimester, you're probably fine. If you're still in the first trimester, you might want to look into it.

[Anonymous]

Diet Coke?
I'd be more worried about the aspartame than the caffeine.

[Anonymous]

Funny how Coke (very cold and very bubbly) was the only thing that managed to beat my morning sickness into submission...so I had no guilt drinking one or two every day.

[Anonymous]

I'm the Diet Coke drinker and I'm not worried about the aspartame. If my doctor, the FDA, or another reputable organization had real concerns about it or warned against it, I would pay attention, but until then... I will be happily drinking away.