The Coffee Hunter

Jun 16, '08 11:52 PM
for everyone

While having breakfast this morning, our Admin Assistant started brewing coffee and the pantry was filled with the aroma I have been trying to escape from for days now. I feel hunted from its absence.

Imagine this, I am not a morning person. 'Tis somewhat a tremendous effort to open my eyes each time the alarm interrupts my rest, rendering me useless. Seems the impending long gasps of my Husband's words whispering "we'll be late" for the nth time cracks me slowly towards reality - I need to get up.

What more now that I'm pregnant, I must have been pulling a fight each morning with Paolo. Him, diligently waking me up and perhaps on the verge of leaving me pathetically alone to just sleep the day. Then wait for my memo from my Boss the next day.

Sadly, I still am sleepy the entire day. And here's the crappiest part: I thought the answer to this problem is coffee. Guess what, coffee is forbidden most especially for the first trimester. How cruel is that?

The mere idea of coffee abstinence is causing a mild depression. Honeslty, no coffee for 9 months? I'm going nuts. I'll go nuts.

I did my extensive research. All recent research studies on the effects of coffee on pregnancy only showed effects when you drink more than 7 cups a day. And they said 1-3 cups are ok or at least, 300mg of caffeine is allowed a day.

Hey, I stopped drinking colas and not even fond of chocolates. So the only caffeine I could possibly ingest would perhaps come from coffee.

Excerpt from talkabout.coffee.com:

This latest study suggests that women who take in less than 300 mgs of caffeine per day are not endangering their babies. That’s widely been reported as ‘about the same amount of caffeine as three cups of coffee’ - and that’s where things get sticky. Is that a cup of home brewed drip coffee? An espresso at your favorite coffee bar? A sixteen ounce latte? A cup of instant? Each of those has a different amount of caffeine - and it’s not always easy to guess which coffee drinks are the most loaded with caffeine.

Another study in Denmark back in 2003 found that women who drank more than eight daily cups of coffee during pregnancy increased their risk of miscarriage or stillbirth by as much as 300%. The researchers suspected that the reason may be that caffeine constricts the blood vessels, meaning that less blood gets through the placenta to the developing baby. They also suggested that the caffeine in coffee may directly affect the baby, whose developing system is far more sensitive to caffeine than the mother’s. Other studies suggest that up to five daily cups of coffee during pregnancy is safe for your baby.

I could avoid all the forbidden food to eat when pregnant, but coffee is just one thing that my tastebuds and nostrils keep craving for.

Arrgh. I am writing this in moments of my distress especially when I see my Husband sipping his first cup of the day. (Goes to him and sipped five times. Couldn't help it, my hands were shaking for a taste).

This coffee withdrawal syndrome is kicking-in again. Sigh.

Tags: coffee, pregnancy

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16 CommentsChronological Reverse Threaded

pmelendres wrote on Jun 17

joyeee said

Arrgh. I am writing this in moments of my distress especially when I see my Husband sipping his first cup of the day.

mmmmm ... yummy

denshow wrote on Jun 17

di pwede pa-amoy-amoy na lang muna?

joyeee wrote on Jun 17

denshow said

di pwede pa-amoy-amoy na lang muna?

waaaaaah! mas lalo ko gusto uminom pag naamoy ko. :(

darkdaga wrote on Jun 17

pati si pao pagbawalan ng magcoffee.. para malayo ka sa temptation:> peace pao :>

pmelendres wrote on Jun 17

darkdaga said

pati si pao pagbawalan ng magcoffee.. para malayo ka sa temptation:> peace pao :>

hehehe sinisimangutan nga ako pag nagtitimpla ako ng kape

joyeee wrote on Jun 17

darkdaga said

pati si pao pagbawalan ng magcoffee.. para malayo ka sa temptation:> peace pao :>

kung pwede lang, to be fair di ba?

rian wrote on Jun 17

hmm.. coffee addiction.. ha ha.. try reading this
some points from the article.. he he..
- Know that coffee is a drug. Coffee has caffeine. Its chemical formula is C8H10N4O2.
- Know that caffeine is addictive.

mykookie wrote on Jun 17

Hey Joy! Congratulations and good luck with your pregnancy :) It's vary hard on the first trimester so maraming kailangang tiisin... Its a good thing you still like the taste and smell of coffee - sometimes it can go the other way.
I, too, am a coffee addict. I will confess -- I still drank coffee during both pregnancies. Not as much though but once in a while, I'd indulge. The doctor of my friend allowed EVERYTHING in moderation (he's like the chief OB in Medical City) - wine, sashimi (as long as you trust the source), etc. So I quoted him when I wanted to "cheat". Sometimes I'd have decaf but a cousin who worked in Starbucks Australia said that decaf can sometimes have more chemicals that the regular ones (they use chemicals to speed up the decaffeinating process) so I suppose regular brewed would be better? Hehehe..
Of course, to be safe, just drink your vitamins and it would be best to abstain caffeine.... but a little sniff and taste here shouldn't be bad at all :)

joyeee wrote on Jun 17

rian said

i know. it has its good and bad effects if not done in moderation. trust me, ive been reading a lot about it in the past.

i have learned to actually just settle for 2-3 cups a day. freshly brewed. now, imagine hanggang amoy na lang ako.

but i cheated yesterday.i had five sips.

joyeee wrote on Jun 17

mykookie said

Sometimes I'd have decaf but a cousin who worked in Starbucks Australia said that decaf can sometimes have more chemicals that the regular ones (they use chemicals to speed up the decaffeinating process) so I suppose regular brewed would be better? Hehehe..

Yes, it's true. Decaf could pose more harm and there are not much studies done on the effects of decaf on pregnancy.

Ah...abstain. I am doing my best. I'm even looking for alternatives...and guess what...not all teas are also allowed. The safest I could drink is peppermint tea. :(

Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner.

nadjacanseco wrote on Jun 17

sabi ko super kinakatakutan ko din yan! heheheh!
of all the things that I need to prepare for... I think ito ang kailangan ko paghandaan talaga! The no coffee policy. I witnessed the first sip of decaffeinated coffee ng ate ni Chuck grabe gusto niya maiyak! Haha!

joyeee wrote on Jun 17

nadjacanseco said

eheheehehehe...naku, kahapon....when i sipped sa cup ni pao...naiyak ako. as in naluha ako. i missed it. hay.