Working whilst Pregnant: Energy without caffeine?

[JR133]

Hey everyone,

I'm in the early stages of pregnancy and already finding a lot of fatigue - without lots of coffee or tea to keep me going I have been drinking decaff, how do you all get the boosts of energy to get through the work day?

How soon did you let your employer know if this began to affect you?

Thanks in advance!

I told my employers both times at 6 weeks. They knew before our parents. I also just drank caffeine.

I drank (and am still drinking) some caffeine- my midwife said it was fine in low/ moderate daily doses and the research I looked at supports this (in fact, when my baby refused to turn into a good position for its 12 week scan, I was ordered to the coffee shop to drink a strong coffee and have a sugary biscuit by my sonographer).Having said that, pre-pregnancy I was a caffeine hound and so I have cut down from my usual consumption and I no longer have an afternoon coffee- I found I adjusted ok!
I also kept nuts and raisins by my desk for good slow release energy.

I had a good first trimester and didn't feel I needed to tell my employer as I felt fine, but I did end up telling my big boss at about 10 weeks as we are friends and it just felt disingenuous not to say something.

I just made sure I only had caffeine when I really needed it the most, which was before setting off for a long drive home after a tiring day.

As for letting the employer know, in my job it's as soon as you know yourself so a risk assessment can be carried out, tiredness would be part of that if there was any possible safety impact.

I'm watching this with interest. I'm in my first trimester and feeling completely exhausted. I've cut down my caffeine intake to within recommended limits.

I'm hoping I'll feel better soon as I can imagine months and months of feeling like this.

*can't imagine

I was much less tired after the first trimester.

I told my manager at about 5 weeks as I've been feeling terrible.
I work in a small office so it's hard hiding it from the rest of them, however I don't want to say anything just in case.

I'm thinking about telling my managers too as it's becoming increasingly difficult to manage work unless I explain it to them. I didn't want to say anything until 12 weeks but I don't think I can hold out that long.

I had 500ml of Coke on work days but after the first trimester. Have you tried eating regularly/more often than usual? Also, do NOTHING when you get home!

I've been told I can't have any fizzy drinks by my doctor. I thought Coke had caffeine in it anyway so counted towards your daily allowance?

I drank caffeine. From what I've read, it's not quite as cut and dried as excess caffeine = increased risk of miscarriage, there seems to be some correlation rather than causation.

I went off coffee though, so I was mostly drinking Coke.

Also. In the first trimester, I suspect you could have an intravenous drip of caffeine and you'd still be exhausted. It's just one of the side effects of growing a whole new person! It does ease up though. Do nothing when you can, get some early nights.

I carried on drinking coffee. But was shattered in the early stages. Came home from work, went to bed!

Fresh orange juice or and other fruit juice. Can be expensive.

Honestly I had a Diet Coke in the afternoons too. Worked a treat

Once you've cut down on caffeine for a little while it does kick in a lot more - I found a coffee around 1130 would keep me going for a while. It's good to get used to decaf as it's good not to have too much caffeine if you breastfeed as it can make the babies jittery. Sugar helps! Screw the diet. Also be careful with chain coffee shops - one of their coffees can be more than your daily recommended allowance

The only thing I could stomach in pregnancy was lucozade. As long as you're not drinking 10L of the stuff I think you'll be fine.

I second fresh orange. Also chocolate mid afternoon. You haven't cut out caffeine altogether have you? It's really not necessary. 200mg a day is OK.