*coffee and alcohol*

[vkj73]

sorry, had editing issues...

 

[vkj73]

Awesome, thank you very much for the information very interesting! I agree that cutting down on bad stuff is important. Although it is much easier when you are TTC for a few months, when months turn into years it becomes more difficult as it seems like your entire life is on hold and you cant even enjoy some of your favourite things. I do not drink cola ever so was not hard to cut it out, alcohol is slightly more tricky as I am required to attend numerous corporate social functions where you are expected to mingle with a glass of something - still possible. Coffee - was so hard for me! I think I achieved a good balance by just having it on weekends. Although every single weekday (particularly morning) I find it so hard to think of anything else but a nice cup of coffee. It's been 1.5 months now and it's not getting easier to live without coffee

well said. thank you again ladies for replying.

just remember that much of this will have to be eliminated or greatly reduced in your diet once pregnant anyway. if you plan on breastfeeding, much of that will continue.

indeed. as i mentioned earlier, i have greatly reduced my caffeine and alcohol intake. when it is the tww, i have a trace amount of caffeine and zero alcohol. with my last pregnancy (and i would again) completely cut out all.

 

[Gingersnaps]

I drink less overall and only have wine on occasion, though sometimes a glass or two more than I shouldbut in the tww none at all.

Caffeine, I used to be a two cup a day coffee drinker, now have coffee about once a week otherwise, I drink tea. In the tww, I switch to white tea, one or two cups max a day. I read, white tea is lower in caffeine than black or green.

 

[Rose38]

Thanks for posting! Great thread.

 

[vkj73]

i just posted this on another thread, but thought it was worth sharing again.
my acupuncturist said that the caffeine in green/white tea is better than
decaf. she mentioned that the composition of coffee, even decaf, is not good for ttc. i also have insomnia issues, so this was suggested for that as well.

she said overall, if you think you should avoid it, you probably should.

 

[moondust7]

Vkj - Hi I saw your thread a while back. The first 2 months of TTC I had my usual amount of coffee/tea (1 coffee a week... and 2-3 cups of tea a day), and 1-2 glasses of wine a week for the first 2 weeks of the cycle, and then during the TWW I would only have ~1 cup of tea a day (so minimal caffeine). The 3rd month TTC, I had coffee/tea/wine the first two weeks and none during the TWW. I'm on my 4th month actively TTC (5 months total, but we skipped trying last month). This month I had coffee/tea/wine during the first two weeks, and then none during the TWW. I'm in my TWW now. I agree that coffee is probably not good at all for TTC - it's so dehydrating!! (but delicious, sadly... but it's still worth the effort to skip it!) Good luck and baby dust to you!

 

[vkj73]

thanks for your reply moondust7.
i'm in the tww as well (i think...not completely sure i've ov though).

even though the acupuncturist said all coffee (decaf or reg) is not good for ttc, i may have some decaf here and there. to me, it seems like a decaf latte is better than tea. that's what i did with our first. only decaf.

there are so many theories out there. but one that keeps coming up is that
caffeine is not good for ttc. again, that's why a decaf latte seems better than a tea.

btw, i love your avitar.

good luck to you as well!!!

 

[2blue lines]

Ok I have to post here. It took me about 18 months at least to conceive my daughter. & one thing I did do was cut down dramatically my drinking.

I also had my husband cut way back too.

I think it would be good to cut back a lot for 3 months maybe have a glass here & there for 2months cut back for 3 months.... Something live able but also significant

 

[moondust7]

Oh ya, I'm sure decaf is just fine. I have been thinking I need to get some decaf. I think the main thing is just to make sure we have less than 300mg (I think that's the number), but I try to skip most of the caffeine during the TWW (and definitely no alcohol). Hope the next 2 weeks go well for you... I know - timing is so hard to figure out!!

 

[vkj73]

thanks again moondust7.

and i agree 2bluelines. it's all about balance.
i like what you said, "something livable, but significant."

i definitely cut everything out during the tww, and try to go easy the week
or so following up.

when af arrives tho, i do partake in a latte and/or extra glass of wine.

 

[phrumkidost]

I tried stopping coffee and alcohol altogether for a few months but it was driving me crazy, and didn't seem to make any difference. As I enter my second year in ttc I'm back to things in moderation: one cup of coffee most days (sometimes tea instead, sometimes more than one cup), a drink or two a week.

 

[Juniperjules]

I'm in my 4th month of TTC now. And ive decided to just cut out caffeine altogether. And I'll probably try to maintain that long term I think regardless of TTC or not. I've found a new decaf coffee from Papua New Guinea which I really like so I'll stick with that. So generally I'll have 1 in the AM, and maybe 1 decaf tea later in the day if I feel like it. I no longer drink cola of any type or brand, & have pretty much cut out all carbonated drinks apart from the occasional lemonade.

As far as alcohol is concerned I'm having maybe 1-2 drinks the week that AF arrives, then no more after that. And only if I really feel like having a drink with family or friends.

Healthwise I'll keep things this way bcos physically I feel good. And hopefully it will help with TTC. Having said that, a girl at my work just fell pregnant accidentally.. She's 37 (my age), overweight, and ALWAYS munching on huge bags of potato chips & downing 1.25 litres of Pepsi max!!! Shes lovely so I'm not trying to be nasty.. But it does make me wonder.. Clearly for some people it doesn't matter how badly they treat their body- they still get pregnant regardless!!

 

[vkj73]

btw juniperjules,
i had my first when i was 37