Caffeine: please be honest

[Arlington77]

Hi ladies,
Should I be totally caffeine-free? (Background, I'm 7 weeks and 2 days pregnant, early scan next week).
Am I the only one who is ashamedly not complete caffeine-free? I basically ditched beloved morning coffee months ago, never drank tea, and am having one or two small decaff coffees (instant) in the morning... but it's a STRUGGLE! And now I've discovered that sipping on one tiny, forbidden, deliciously cold can of Ginger Pepsi Max (ginger, seriously!!) really helps with the nausea - I'm not sick yet but very nauseous every morning. (V funny, I made my husband go and stockpile a few crates from the supermarket in case it was limited edition and they suddenly withdrew Ginger. When he brought back a Cherry version I nearly vomited :)
Please be honest: are you all treating your body like a caffeine-free-temple? I feel so guilty. But I get terrible migraines (ended up almost in hospital last week) which is aggravated by caffeine withdrawal, and I'd prefer one small can of aforementioned ginger soda (total caffeine content around 42mg, so below daily limit of 200mg) to resorting to painkillers.
Agh. The guilt is terrible. So anxious about miscarriage/early preg scan, and the caffeine warnings worry me a lot.
Any thoughts gratefully received xx

I had no coffee or tea in any of my pregnancies but that did not mean no caffeine as I still drank the odd hot chocolate and had the off can of Diet Cola. I was really struggling though as had pregnancy diabetes with all 3 babies which meant having to avoid most of my usual treats. Wouldn't judge anyone for having the odd instant coffee or Cola particularly after the first weeks. Funnily enough the first thing my premature son was given was...tiny doses of caffeine to help him to remember to breathe!

I switched to decaf tea and coffee and (occasionally as I don't drink it much) Diet Coke. So drinks wise I was pretty much caffeine free except for the odd one here and there if I was at someone's house who didn't have decaf for example. But - I did eat a shit ton of chocolate, which contains caffeine so not completely caffeine free!

I just tried to keep it to a minimum.

I heard somewhere that decaf is not caffeine FREE but has just had a lot of the caffeine removed? Correct me if I misunderstood?

www.expertrain.com/blog/health/is-decaf-a-healthy-choice.htm

This link above...it does remove abut 95% of the caffeine but there are some side effects.

Yeah, came on to suggest Expecting Better. It appears that caffeine is correlated with mc, but more because many women are just put off by coffee completely.. so confounds the results. A small cup or two of coffee a day doesn't seem to bad.

I used to love my morning coffee - went down from 7-8 cups a decade ago to just the one cup every day savoured in the morning. I continued with it throughout pregnancy but until week 25 I actually would just make the coffee, sit with it, have a sip, read the news (i.e. MN ;) ) and then go off it. Only last few weeks have I been able to actually enjoy a full cup.

Ha dealing with a toddler and Work and pregnancy and adding caffeine free in there, i’ll Pass!

I did cut down to 1 coffee and 1 tea a day though, I’d be a zombie on any less.

Enjoy your pregnancy, don’t get so hung up on the rules of it!

I still had my ‘proper’ coffee in the morning then stuck to tea the rest of th day

I know loads of people who drank one or two caffeinated drinks a day while pg. I didn't but only because it made me feel sick.

I've never cut out anything completely. I will have the odd coke and I do drink tons of tea on work days (3 days a week) or I'd lose the plot. I even eat Camembert and have the odd shandy.

24 weeks with #2 - I generally have one can of Coke Zero and two cups of tea a day. With a 19 month old tiny terrorist I need something!

"Enjoy your pregnancy, don’t get so hung up on the rules of it!"
You might experience anxiety in early pregnancy too, if you'd been through years of TTC and IVF.
Just saying x

When pregnant I had two cups of coffee per day.

I found it very difficult to stick to just two as I love coffee.

Along with all the other rules, no alcohol, no soft cheese etc I had to have one vice which was caffeine. Mint tea just didn't cut the mustard.

I drink tea, usually one cup, something two. Without it I get massive headaches and I’d rather have the tea than paracetamol every day

Arlington77

I lost my first baby, and my 2nd was premature, so I can totally get where you're coming from there. There can sometimes be a side of MN that is almost competitively laid back about the usual 'safe guidelines' and some people almost seem like they are mocking them for being overzealous. I try and scroll past, but you are totally right, anxiety can really put a spanner in the works for trying to relax

I’ve lost two babies so I certainly wasn’t being ‘competitively laid back’.

I was just trying to reassure op that having an extra cup of coffee isn’t going to do much harm and that if we spent our whole pregnancies stressing about that extra bit of caffeine or piece of salami it’s probably worse for you than actually doing it.

In pregnancy and parenting people will always tell you that you’re doing something wrong and sometimes it’s best to just try to sit back, don’t try to follow all the rules to a T and enjoy it as best you can.

Thanks to everyone, and I didn't mean to sound snarky. I'm not in general a follower of rules (quite the opposite!) but the caffeine one for some reason does seem to be linked to miscarriage. Anyway, have ordered 'Expecting Better' - and probably this is all just massive anxiety about my 8 week scan on Monday!
I keep seeing 'empty sac' and 'no heartbeat' sad stories, I'm so so sorry for those OPs, and I know it could happen to me too...
But again, it's lovely of anyone who takes the time to share views - and most of all, to reassure me :) and I hope your pregnancies are going well too xx

I drank at least one coffee every day of my pregnancy. I couldn't have functioned otherwise. NHS guidelines are always over-cautious - I say if you need a coffee, have a coffee!

I had no caffeine with my first baby, my 2nd pregnancy totally different ball game with a toddler! I had a cup of tea every morning and the odd can odd full fatc coke. I needed it on a morning. Both babies perfect the 2nd one 7oz bigger

@Arlington77 I get where you are coming from. I thought before I was pregnant that I'd be really laid back, I was the opposite. I followed all the food guidelines, had zero alcohol etc. I always just couldn't bear to take a risk with my precious bundle. It's completely understandable.

I do know now, that when the time comes for my second baby I will be more chilled. I still wouldn't drink, but I'd have some pink meat, or an odd bit of pate at Christmas and I really fancied it, that sort of thing. But that's only the benefit of experience. You can't have experience until you've been there and done it!

I couldn't read anything about miscarriage or baby loss when I was expecting. I just couldn't bring myself to think about it, it felt like tempting fate and I'm lucky enough never to have gone through it. Avoid those stories if they bother you for now especially if you feel anxious.

I hope your pregnancy goes well.

I swapped my morning coffee for decaf green tea, but when i'm out an about, i'll order a cappuccino. So i'll have about four/five a week. I also eat the odd bit of chocolate but i've gone off it these last 12 weeks. I'm craving Haribo instead!

To be honest, i worry more about the chemicals they use to remove the caffeine from tea's and coffee's than the actual caffeine itself!