Considering Caffeine Intake TTC

Our typical Saturday morning involves waking up at about 7, then heading to the local Starbucks around 9 to enjoy some coffee and either catch up on work or a good book. This originally became our weekend routine when I was working on finishing my dissertation last Spring (thankfully, that beast is no longer part of our Saturday routine -- that was stressful to finish!). 

A few friends have mentioned in the past that they don't know how we wake up so early on our day off. Although we do "sleep in" a bit in comparison to our typical weekday, rising at 7 rather than 5:45, we end up getting out of bed significantly earlier than we used to before we had a routine. This took a little time to adjust. But now we prefer this routine -- it mimics the suggestion that it is easier to get out of bed on weekdays when you keep your sleep schedule roughly the same on the weekends. After making this our routine for several months (and I was no longer burning the midnight oil to finish my dissertation) we found it was so much easier to wake up on weekdays. Although we love our sleep, it is much better to get up earlier and enjoy a few more hours of daylight on the weekends. 

It is such a nice thing to look forward to now on our weekends. We plan out what we would like to do --  I recently joined a womens book club, so this is an excellent opportunity to get caught up on the next book I need to read. My husband enjoys catching up on his newest comic book or a podcast. 

One thing I realized was the suggestion to cut down (or completely cut out) caffeine while trying to conceive -- does that mean I have to now opt for herbal tea on our Saturday mornings? Many of the other adjustments, like cutting out alcohol (I don't drink at all, so that was no problem!) or lunch meat (I consume very little lunch meat typically) was easy. Not wanting to completely cut out my morning cup of coffee until we have officially confirmed pregnancy, I explored what this meant for my morning caffeine intake.

How much caffeine while TTC?

Several different sources [The Bump] [American Pregnancy] suggested 200 milligrams of caffeine intake to be a safe upper limit of caffeine intake. Others [Livestrong.com] just have very vague "be as conservative as possible" intake guidelines. Previous research suggests any daily intake above 200 milligrams significantly increases the risk of miscarriage.

Comparing Options at Popular Coffee Chains

We created the following charts for both coffee and non-coffee options at popular coffee chains to provide a guide of the safest and riskiest options at each chain. You will notice across all of the chains, even small sizes of regular brewed coffee are over the 200mg limit (with the exception of Tim Hortons). It is also important to remember that darker/robust roasts tend to have slightly lower caffeine content than lighter/blonde roasts.

Have you cut down your caffeine intake while trying to conceive? Are you surprised to see caffeine levels in similar drinks differ significantly between these chains?

Note: These are recommended levels based on previous research on caffeine level use in women trying to conceive. If you have struggled with miscarriage or pregnancy complications in the past, consult with your physician to determine what caffeine level (if any) is safe during the process of trying to conceive. 

Feeling Surreal

A quick update on my health and progress, since I realized I had not updated since our meeting with the reproductive endocrinologist over a month ago. We actually received the bill for that visit today and figured that was the best reminder to update the blog!

Starting the Cabergoline

I have finally started the cabergoline, the medication to lower my serum prolactin level which should in turn shorten my cycles and ensure I am consistently ovulating each cycle. The prescription was a little delayed because the interpreted results of my MRI were not forwarded to the reproductive endocrinologist prior to the appointment. The MRI office had provided me with a DVD of my scans, but without the interpretation attached he could not give me a definitive diagnosis. We received confirmation of the microprolactinoma a few days later, then it took another few days for my doctor's office to get the prescription forwarded to the pharmacy. I went to Target that night to pick up the prescription, but the pharmacist informed me that they do not regularly stock cabergoline and it would have to be specially ordered in. Also, I only needed 4 pills (I take 1/2 pill each dose, with 2 doses/week) for a month's prescription. The bottles come with a minimum of 8 pills, so I had to purchase a 2-month supply. This was a little disappointing just because it means I will always have to purchase a 2-month supply when requesting a refill, unless my dose increases. Currently, I am taking 0.25mg every Monday and Thursday. Any guess how much this cost me? Luckily, I found a coupon through the website GoodRx.com, but even with that coupon I ended up paying over $100 for the two-month supply. For 8 pills! I strongly recommend using that website to search for coupons and compare prices. The website informed me that the cost varied widely by pharmacy, and that the same dose would have cost $367 (!!!!) at Walgreens without the coupon. The good news is that I have not had any negative side effects from the cabergoline.

Feeling Surreal -- Sharing the TTC Journey

Recently, two close friends asked us about when we thought we would try to conceive. Since we have been married 6 1/2 years now, the question comes up fairly regularly. Although we are not sharing information with most people, we decided to disclose the TTC status to two close friends. They both have children and will be an excellent resource for telling before we reveal a pregnancy to the world. I was actually shocked to see how excited they were to find out that we were trying to conceive. It felt exciting and also somewhat relieving to share that we are officially "Trying." We have only had two cycles so far (technically, we're now on cycle 3), but it still feels nice to have support.

The one thing that may be challenging is those two couples had a relatively easy time conceiving. Hopefully, that will also be the case for us now that I have started the cabergoline! But there is still definitely the possibility of having other underlying issues causing infertility. I have been reading two TTC blogs of two women we coincidentally went to high school with and I can't help but feel frustrated, angry, and sad for them each time they share about another failed cycle. One of them is currently prepping for IVF. I had no appreciation of the time, expense, and the toll of the drugs necessary for IVF actually are until I started reading about infertility issues. If we ever needed to go that route, it would take us awhile to save the $10,000-$15,000 necessary for just one cycle! Sending positive vibes that the upcoming IVF cycle will be successful for that couple.

Also, I'm listening to Pandora and the song "Dream" came on. Fits this post well!

I was a little girl alone in my little world who dreamed of a little home for me.

I played pretend between the trees, and fed my house guests bark and leaves, and laughed in my pretty bed of green.

I had a dream

I could fly from the highest swing.

I had a dream.

Long walks in the dark through woods grown behind the park, 

I asked God who I'm supposed to be.

The stars smiled down on me, God answered in silent reverie.
I said a prayer and fell asleep.