Water

I am so over water.

I used to hate drinking water.  Give me milk, juice, diet soda, diet iced tea, flavored water, but had trouble choking down plain water.  It wasn't until my mid 20's that I got in the habit of buying water bottles and forcing myself to drink them.  Over time I got in the habit of 4 bottles of water a day.

Wanting to do better by Mother Earth, I transitioned from bottled water to tap water and have done well drinking water in my 30s.  Now in addition to water I also drink at least one diet soda a day, alcohol, and other drinks flavored with artificial sweeteners.    Though this summer I have slowly but surely given up everything except water.  Be it tap, be it sparkling, water is the only thing I have allowed myself to drink during the month of July.

My doctor did not make this recommendation, rather I came to this conclusion myself through research.  We may only have one shot at IVF so I am doing everything I can to make it count (except controlling my sugar and carb intake apparently, but more on that later).

I used to be team "drink 'til it's pink", but after reading these studies I started abstaining from alcohol at the start of my last "real" cycle at the beginning of June.  Alcohol consumption research:  Here and here.  Clearly it'snot a huge body of research, but it's enough for me to have become a teetotaler this summer.

The next think I gave up was caffeine.  I was not a huge caffeine consumer (1-3 caffeinated diet sodas per day), but after seeing these studies I knew caffeine also needed to go.  Caffeine consumption research:  Here, here, and here.  Once again, research is limited and my consumption is minor compared to many, but why risk it?  This led to my giving up caffeine once I started my BCP cycle at the end of June.

I was all ready to go through the rest of summer with my Diet Sprite and Minute Maid Light Lemonade, until I started to get wind that artificial sweeteners could also pose a problem.  Artificial sweetener research:  Here and here,  This research has even less backbone than the last two topics, but again I am trying to do everything I can to help ensure successful implantation and residence for 9 months (even if it means water, water, and more water!).

Just noticed my glass was empty.  Time for more water!