Caffeine

Hmm, so I managed to leave off one of the controversial foods in my prior post. With my first pregnancy, when I went to my GP to have the pregnancy confirmed she assured me that a couple of cups of coffee a day would be fine and that chocolate was always okay (my husband was trying to keep it all from me). That same day the story broke that more than 300mg of caffeine a day could double your chance of a miscarriage. I had already decided to forgo coffee and caffinated teas, so this just reinforced my decision. I think I can count on one hand how many times I had decaf coffee during my first pregnancy, even (and one was after a red-eye flight cross-country).

But that was before I had to deal with a teething (ie: not sleeping) toddler besides my own pregnancy-induced exhaustion. So, my slight compromise: I've been drinking some decaf tea and I just bought a bag of decaf coffee. Why bother? I get a psychological boost from drinking the fake stuff and there is a teeny, tiny bit of caffeine in them. Although studies show that I should be fine, here is another example of why risk it? I'm less worried about the risk of a miscarriage than I am about the affects of caffeine on Baby Blob's heart. If some caffeine raises my pulse, what is it doing to the already super-fast beating baby heart? Even if it's not causing permanent damage, I just can't believe that it's good for the baby.

At the very least it's another reason for my husband to help more around the house, because I'm just too tired to deal with it all!