caffeine while pregnant?

This morning I was in line at Starbucks getting a cup of coffee and some man had thought it was his duty to tell me that I shouldn’t be drinking coffee. His exact words were “you really shouldn’t be giving your baby such an addictive and powerful drug like coffee.” Everyone in line, including me, just stared at him. I have gotten looks a million and one times for drinking coffee or eating something people thought I shouldn’t but I never had anyone especially a stranger say something to my face about it. If something was proven to hurt my baby I would never ever do it, I love my baby why in the world why I do something to harm him? It actually hurt my feelings that a stranger assumed that I would be more concerned with my needs over my baby’s needs. Plus I don’t think he would have gone three months (the first trimester) without drinking coffee, let alone nine months. The cashier had heard this man’s comment so I ended up with a free coffee. She said “don’t worry you are doing great.”

In the first trimester apparently caffeine is a no go because it goes through the placenta. Then in the second trimester you can have caffeine in moderation (about 2 cups of coffee). There have been links saying caffeine might be a cause of ADD or ADHD but those are just links not concrete evidence. Where as alcohol has been proven to have bad effects on babies and cause fetal alcohol syndrome yet pretty much every person I talk to says “ohh it’s ok you can have a glass or two of wine especially in your third trimester.” Some people have told me they drank beer too. In What to Expect When you are Expecting it says if you feel buzzed or tipsy the baby passes out in the womb until it is out of both of our systems but yeah sure go ahead have some wine make your baby involuntarily pass out.. I’m sure there are no side effects to that.

But the minute I pick up a coffee people look at me life I am Satan for having caffeine when I am pregnant. Why is that? There is nothing proven, that I am aware of, that is bad about giving your baby caffeine. If there was I obviously wouldn’t do it.

Most of the people I have talked to will say their craziest and most active kid was their first. They also will say they tried to not have any caffeine during that pregnancy and then gave up trying to not have caffeine during their following pregnancies. All the caffeinated babies seemed to be quieter. Maybe it’s just a coincidence I have no idea, but maybe it’s not. I’ll let you know in 6 months 😉 I’ve also heard from a few mothers that they have had the opposite happen to them where their wild child was the one they had caffeine with.

My best friend just had her baby not long ago, she drank caffeine. That baby is a complete dream. The nurses at the hospital even offered her soda and coffee the day after she delivered even though she was breastfeeding. They said “in order to take care of your baby you need to take care of yourself first” and “we would never give you anything that would harm the baby.”

So far since there is nothing proven I am going to sip on my coffee and enjoy my pregnancy. When/if caffeine is proven to hurt or harm my baby in any way I would/will completely hate myself for having it. Until then keep your judgement to yourself because I know what is ok or not for my own baby even though I’m only 22.

XOXO Jax’s mama

The day I realized I was REALLY becoming Jax’s Mama..

On the morning of Friday September 11th 2015 I woke up later than I usually did because I had gotten home later than usual the night before. I laid in bed for 20 extra minutes because it was finally cold enough in my room that I was so comfy I felt like I couldn’t move. Jax was pretty comfortable as he was also because he hadn’t woken up and started kicking me like he usually does in the morning.

When I finally got up I got ready like any other day. When I walked outside it was cooler than it usually is, it actually started to feel like fall. I got coffee on the way to work like it was any other day. The whole morning I contemplated if I was going to be too tired to go to Carter’s with my best friend after work. I kept telling myself this is my last chance to hang out with her just me and her for awhile because she is due on Tuesday.

At 11:10 am she texted me saying “They’re inducing me now!!!” At first I didn’t believe her, I thought she was trying to freak me out because I told her to let me know how her doctors appointment went then she said that. She sent me a picture to prove that she was hooked up in the hospital. I was in shock. Was this really what happens one day casually your whole life is just changed forever without any warning?! I don’t remember signing up for this..

Our joke was she was going to be late and I was going to be early. We also both assumed she was having a girl but we are both having boys. Shows how much we know.

I took lunch early at work but I didn’t eat anything. I just sat there like a zombie for thirty minutes. I knew once she went into labor or had her baby my pregnancy was going to become real to me. It definitely did even though she hasn’t even started having contractions yet. My best friend and I since 6th grade are both bringing real human babies into the world this year.. it’s still blowing my mind. Before it was real that we were pregnant but now us becoming moms is real. These little cute humans we have been bonding with for the past 7-9 months were not just going to be in our bellies forever one of them was coming into the world in next couple of hours and the next one in less than 70 days. We are going to be responsible for these lives for the rest of ours, it was finally all hitting me.

After work I went straight to the hospital to see my friend. When I got there I went in to see her and she totally didn’t look herself, you could tell she was in so much pain. After she got her epidural she seemed so much better she was talking through the majority of her contractions like they weren’t even happening. Seeing her be so strong made me realize I could do this too and if she could be brave through it so could I.

Around midnight it was time for her to start pushing. I was exhausted and knew I needed to go to sleep but I couldn’t go home. I had to meet baby k as soon as he was here and I didn’t want to leave her even though there were so many people there supporting her. At 2:04 am on September 12th my best friend brought my little godson into this world. He was the most perfect thing I’ve ever seen. I was so amazed that my two friends created this beautiful little miracle. It made me that much more excited to bring Jax into this world. I thought watching her go through this would scare me but its actually made me impatient. All I want to do is meet my baby.

You should have seen the look on her face when she looked at that baby I’ve never seen her so in love. The first thing the dad said when we walked in was “look guys I made this” with a huge grin on his face. I want that, I can’t wait for that.

I held Killie that night but I was in such shock I don’t think it hit me till the next day when I went to see them all again. I was sitting there holding him, he was sorta resting on my belly. Jax could feel it and was kicking the poor baby right in the back. Killie didn’t seem to mind he didn’t cry or anything but he was making faces so you could tell he felt it. That was their first unofficial meeting I can’t wait until they actually meet.

September 12th was the day my best friend became a mom & I realized I wasn’t just pregnant but I was actually about to be a mom in the next few months.

XOXO Jax’s Mama