Caffeine Confrontation

Ok, lets talk caffeine. 

I can't remember a time that I didn't love coffee. There is a home video of my grandma giving me a sip of her coffee when I was probably about 3 and she says, "Do you like it?" and I voraciously shake my head back and forth indicating a strong yes.

I didn't drink it too much as a teenager other than an occasional Super America French Vanilla Cafe Mocha Latte. Coffee in syrup form. But I don't really consider that coffee. I'm talking real, straight up, no cream or sugar, coffee. I probably got "addicted" when I started working night shifts.

When I met Phil, he was a little concerned about my caffeine intake. He ended up giving me a month cushion to continue my bad habit, and then strongly suggested I take a break. It's not like he forced me, but he forced me. I was ok with it though because I knew it was getting a little out of hand.

DH (for those who don't know blog talk: dear husband) knows an insanely weird amount about random Tea facts, so he used that knowledge to wean me off of the high caffeine amounts so my withdrawals wouldn't be as bad. Withdrawals...such a scary sounding word.

I ended up coming off and staying away from my beloved coffee for maybe a few months at the most. Then slowly I started drinking "healthy" amounts here and there.

Well now I'm full blown back to my addiction, and the possibility of a pregnancy in the next year has me rethinking my caffeine priority.

(I had a lot more to say about this than I thought I did. Bear with me)

Naturally, I started looking into caffeine and pregnancy. I knew I would probably just quit coffee altogether once I get pregnant, but surprisingly the majority of Docs will say that it's ok, in moderation.

My problem with not drinking any coffee during the pregnancy wouldn't necessarily be the caffeine separation. It would simply be the fact that I thoroughly enjoy coffee. It's warm (or in my case, burning hot) and tastes so good. Another thing that I feel as though is mainly a woman thing, is the fact that "going out for coffee" is a social thing. We women bond over coffee. It's so much more than just caffeine.

Although most sources say it's ok to drink in moderation, I have always felt like it would be better to just stay on the safe side and just eliminate it altogether. Especially after reading things like:

"Caffeine is a diuretic, meaning it pulls fluids and calcium from both you and baby and will keep you running to the bathroom."

and

"Also, caffeine has no nutritional value and can affect your mood, sleep schedule and iron absorption."

I already have problems with low Iron and I'm sure it'll be even harder to maintain when I've got another little person who will inevitably be stealing some of mine.

So...it's decided. Starting in November I will be using Black Tea (which has the highest concentration of caffeine out of all the teas, but not as much as a cup of coffee) to curve my relapse of coffee addiction.

I'm sure I'll drink decaff to suffice my need for drinking hot beverages. Especially through the cold winter months.