HELP please. pregnancy and severely anemic!

[lurve]

My midwife just called me (on a Sunday morning). She got my blood work and I am SEVERELY anemic. Like crazy anemic and I am only 14 weeks pregnant. So obviously I need more iron plus I need more calories. I have found that the better I eat, the harder it is to get the calories in. So I was hoping you mamas would have some suggestions for me. Thanks! I get re-tested in three weeks and I would like to have some amazing blood!

[mumkimum]

You might want to look at supplements. . . I don't recall anything about them during pregnancy offhand though, maybe someone else does.

Other than that, blackstrap molasses and cooking on cast iron as much as possible can probably help. I believe watermelon is even an unusually high (for a fruit) source of iron too. As well as drinking more orange juice and vit.C to help absorption of whatever you're eating.

[LaffNowCryLater]

I take Floradix and it makes me feel great!

[Ianthe]

Beans, greens, blackstrap molasses and cast iron.. here is a good website with a guide on it: http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.htm

[eepster]

Prunes are high in iron, and they will help with pregnancy constipation too.

[Jadzia]

Another vote for Floradix. I had very low iron during pregnancy also and daily Floradix brought my levels right back to normal!

[Keeta]

Yep, another vote for Floradix. I usually run screaming in the other direction from liquid supplements/medicine, but this really isn't too bad - kind of like liquid raisins. It's spendy, but worth it for your health and peace of mind.

[devon]

I do remember reading something, as well, that if you are pretty anemic during pregnancy, you are going to have to supplement, that your body will only absorb something like 40% of the needed iron through food.

That being said, I've heard wonders about floradix being very readily absorbable.

[GreenVariety]

Just wanted to chime in here. Not sure what your eating style is (vegetarian or vegan of freetarian or whatever!). I myself am a vegan (mostly raw). If you have a good blender the best thing that I have been able to do for myself is green smoothies using raw spinach or kale. The dark leafy greens have a great iron content and they are very absorbable when pulverized to that degree. Check out the book "Green for Life" and there are tons of recipe's and useful information. Being vegan I was told that I would have to supplement a lot and my labs came back beautifully!

Another great thing to consume is seaweeds. You can get kelp flakes at the health food store and just sprinkle them on your salad's or soups. Great source of natural sodium as well as iron and other nutrients. Maine Coast has a very high quality product and you can do kelp, sea vegetables (which is a mix of 3, sea lettuce, dulse and kelp I believe), or dulse. If you are eating mock tuna the dulse is a great additive. You can also consume miso soup with sea weeds in it. Super easy to make!

Good Luck!

[allical1284]

Originally Posted by Keeta

Yep, another vote for Floradix. I usually run screaming in the other direction from liquid supplements/medicine, but this really isn't too bad - kind of like liquid raisins. It's spendy, but worth it for your health and peace of mind.

I agree with the above!
I supplemented with Floradix my entire pregnancy! I would mix it with a little orange juice (since vitamin C enhances iron absorption), and it didn't taste bad at all. Also, Floradix does not cause constipation like some iron supplements.

[somegirl99]

Originally Posted by GreenVariety

Just wanted to chime in here. Not sure what your eating style is (vegetarian or vegan of freetarian or whatever!). I myself am a vegan (mostly raw). If you have a good blender the best thing that I have been able to do for myself is green smoothies using raw spinach or kale. The dark leafy greens have a great iron content and they are very absorbable when pulverized to that degree. Check out the book "Green for Life" and there are tons of recipe's and useful information. Being vegan I was told that I would have to supplement a lot and my labs came back beautifully!

Good advice except I would avoid spinach or chard, they are high in oxalic acid which blocks iron absorption.

Kale and collard greens are excellent iron sources and low in oxalic acid.

Throw some source of vitamin C into your smoothies too.

[GreenVariety]

Hmmm... Time for me to do some more research I guess! I am a 100% intuitive eater and tend to listen to my body. Perhaps that's why spinach hasn't been particularly appealing to me. Chard on the other hand was heavenly for a while around week 15!

Any reason to research! Thanks

[Wildecat]

Originally Posted by LaffNowCryLater

I take Floradix and it makes me feel great!

Yes, Floridix and liquid chlorophyll helped me raise my iron when pregnant!

[Snowflower]

Brewer's Yeast is high in iron.