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Day 167 of 280 · 23 weeks + 6 days

The tea swap

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 8 sources · Plain-text version

Twenty-three weeks and six days. How much caffeine is in your usual cups, where the 200 mg line sits, and one cup that becomes fruit tea.

Size this week
about the size of a large mango
Length this week
around 28.9 cm from head to heel
An East Asian woman in a loose cardigan with a clear 23-week bump at a kitchen counter, pouring hot water over sliced orange in a glass teapot, soft morning light.

Twenty-three weeks and six days, the last day of week 23. Today is small and practical: you count the caffeine in an ordinary day, and one cup changes.

Your baby

One large ripe mango on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around now your baby is around 28.9cm long from head to heel, about the size of a large mango (NHS). Your baby is practising breathing and developing sleep and wake patterns (NHS).

Your body

The NHS's suggestion for this week is to swap some of your tea and coffee for alternatives like smoothies and fruit teas, and to check how much caffeine you're having (NHS). The US line is a moderate intake under 200 mg a day, about the amount in 12 ounces of coffee, and to ask your doctor (OWH).

The numbers per cup vary more than people expect. MedlinePlus gives 75 to 100 mg in a 6-ounce cup of coffee, 40 mg in a 1-ounce espresso, 60 to 100 mg in a 16-ounce cup of black or green tea, about 45 mg in a 12-ounce cola, and 10 mg in an ounce of dark chocolate (MedlinePlus). It also says 1 or 2 small cups of caffeinated coffee or tea a day is fine in pregnancy, keeping the total under 200 mg (MedlinePlus). A big café mug is not a small cup.

There's a sleep angle too: MedlinePlus lists cutting back on caffeinated drinks among the things that help with sleep in pregnancy (MedlinePlus).

Try today

  1. The tea swap

    Time: 5 minutes, then one cup a day

    1. Write down every caffeinated drink you had yesterday, with the cup size, and put a rough number next to each from the MedlinePlus list above (MedlinePlus).

    2. Pick the cup you'd miss least. For most people it's the afternoon one, the one that's still in you at bedtime.

    3. Swap that one for a fruit tea or a smoothie, the NHS's two suggestions (NHS).

    4. Keep the swap for a week, then decide whether it stays.

    Make it work:

    Herbal products are a different question from fruit tea. If a blend is sold for a health purpose, tell your doctor about it; the AAP asks that your doctor knows about any herbal remedies you take (AAP).

Watch for

  • Normal

    tiredness and broken sleep, both on the NHS's symptom list for these weeks (NHS).

    Call 911

    for chest pain or a fast-beating heart; the CDC lists it as an urgent maternal warning sign (CDC).

  • Normal

    more trips to the toilet, as the baby presses on your bladder (MedlinePlus).

    Call your provider

    for pain when you pass urine, or a change in its smell or color, which may signal a bladder infection (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    infections are on the NHS's list for these weeks, because they're common (NHS).

    Call your provider

    for discharge with a foul smell or a greenish color, or itching or pain; vaginal infections matter in pregnancy because they may cause preterm labor (MedlinePlus).

For you

This is not about the morning cup. Keep it if you love it; the line is a total, not a ban (OWH). The swap is just one cup, the one doing the least for you.

The Institute of Medicine figure for fluids is about 10 cups a day (OWH), so the fruit tea counts toward something too.

If you're the partner: make the swap with her for the week. It's easier to skip the 3 p.m. coffee when nobody else in the kitchen is having one.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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