“1-2 caffeinated drinks a day.”

It’s the mantra that is told to every pregnant lady, over and over and over and over, filled with guilt and threatening menace should you cross the line.

Of course, I’ve always taken that to mean “1-2 Giant 44 Ounce Caffeine Bombs a day”, so that way I never feel guilty if I “accidentally” have three regular-sized caffeinated drinks a day.

AND restaurant refills TOTALLY don’t count. They just make up for all the ice in the cup.

PLUS, I always assume that they tell you about half as much as is REALLY safe, just to make sure they can never be sued.

PLUS, I figure I have a TON of rollover caffeine from those first 13 weeks where I could hardly drink anything.

Right?

“100-200 milligrams of caffeine a day.”

That’s the other figure you see everywhere. As if THAT means anything – it’s not like “Caffeine” is listed on those FDA required nutrition-per-serving charts or anything. So I just ignore that part.

Until Sunday.

My little brother was randomly reading (out loud) from the back of his coke can (a fun hobby of his)… “34 milligrams of caffeine.”

“Wait… how many??”

“34.”

“34?!?!?! That’s IT??? Lemme see!!!”

I look:

IMG_0498

Sure enough, there it is. Right on the side of the can. Has that always been there??

I immediately start doing the math…34 milligrams into 200….that’s 5.88 cans of coke a day – not 1-2!!! Acceptable and free from guilt!!! And that’s BEFORE I add in the free refills and double it for don’t-sue-me-doctor-figures!!!

THEY’VE BEEN LYING TO US ALL!!!!

So now, my caffeine rollover bank is refilled and ready to enjoy my Fountain Coke with a Side of Starbucks and a piece of Chocolate Cheesecake…

…just as soon as today’s weigh-in at the doctor is over.

14 thoughts on “Caffeination Liberation

  1. So glad I'm not the only mom that didn't abide by the 'rule' of 1-2 a day. And even more glad that the truth has come out!

  2. Your baby is going to be a nutso caffeine junkie! LOL!Just kidding ;)

    I couldn't live without caffeine. At least it's probably better than crack.

  3. I figure that caffeine is an addiction that must easily work it's way out without and delirium tremors or anything…. Ali had way too much caffeine when she was in my belly, but hasn't had any since she emerged.

    Then again, maybe that's why she was such a fussy baby…

    Hmm…

  4. I used to go get a Sonic during Happy Hour but then leave it in the car until after my appointment so I wouldn't weigh extra, haha. :) I also read an article once that said that caffeine thing is just a myth for pregancy…it said you could have 6 cups of coffee or cans of pop and you would be fine. Which sounds about right according to your calculations. Drink on!

  5. I will never actually publicly reveal how much coke I've ALWAYS drank (whether pregnant or not) but it's always nice to have a little grace for yourself! My poor husband has given up on trying to get me to cut back! My midwife told me recently that if I was concerned about a lack of baby movement, eat something sugary and then count the kicks. So the way I figure it, I'm just keeping tabs on the little guy.

    Glad to know there's other guilt-free coke drinkers out there!

  6. Yeah, the 1-2 refers to cups of coffee and there is way more caffeine in coffee than Coke! Yay, Mama! See…we actually can indulge ourselves AND enjoy our pregnancies without the fear and anxiety that we may in some way hurt our children. In my opinion, that anxiety can be worse for your baby than the extra Coke you drank. Thnks for doing the research!!!

  7. I never gave up my coffee, but I don't know how much caffeine is in it when I make it-you know, dark bitter and strong enough to make hair grow on a woman's chest in a sweater like fashion…but I limit myself to 2 cups a day of that so I can enjoy other things, like Pepsi floats and Cokecicles and chocolate…

  8. This post makes me so super happy!! I HAVE to have a Starbucks DoubleShot Espresso with Cream every morning or I. Can. Not. Function. They have 130 mg per can, so I have been "trying" to limit my coke/dr. pepper intake, but that's not working out so great. I think my blood type might be Dr. Pepper. LOL Poor little baby in my tummy. Oh well, The last one turned out just fine, so I hope this one will too!!

  9. With each pregnancy, I've gotten much more lax on the caffeine intake, but still quite cautious…I totally give up ALL regular coffee, which is really hard for me.

    However, after reading this post, I'm not going to feel guilty if I (gasp) have 2 caffeine drinks a day :)

  10. Ha ha I can't believe you didn't know this. I believe the 1-2 a day is for coffee which has way more caffeine than soda. FYI one thing my dr. told me is that the "sugar" in diet soda drinks can increase the mental retardation in babies with certain genetic disorders which freaked me out enough to stop diet drinks and I buy non-caffeinated … only 3 more weeks until 'complete' liberation :).

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