Prenatals?

[TwinMom]

I posted this question in a different thread but haven't got an answer so I'll try here. Are prenatals necessary? I've been taking my Rainbow Light multivitamin; it has 100% folic acid and a ton of B12 (I'm vegan), which are the ones I was concerned about. I couldn't find the Rainbow Light prenatals at Whole Foods so I'm wondering if I can just keep taking my regular multivitamin. What do you guys think? I don't have a midwife to ask yet, we're still interviewing. At this point I think whatever vitamins I can take and doesn't make me sick (yet!) have got to be good. I do eat a healthy diet, so I'm fairly confident that I'm getting a decent array of vitamins and minerals through my diet, so I'm not really relying on the vitamin to provide me with what I need. Does that make sense? What are you taking?

[shannon0218]

I'm now taking a prescription one called Preg-Vit. Before that I was taking Swiss Naturals Maternity One (which I think is only available in Cananda)
My understanding is that folic acid is most important--the one thing is that the daily requirment is higher in pregnancy than just in child bearing years, but as long as it's a gram or more you're fine. Otherwise if you're still able to keep down food, you're likley fine on what you're on.

[TexasSuz]

I could not take them with #1 and am not taking them this time. I just take 2 folic acids a day and 2 B6 and try to eat right. My doctor said that was ok since the vitamins made me soooooooooooo sick!

Good luck!

[jorie]

I just asked about this myself in the symtom thread. I am thinking about ordering Professional Prenatal Formula by Lifetime as suggested in "Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition" by Marilyn Shannon. Has anybody heard anything about this one? She has great stuff to say about taking vitamins to regulate your cycle which really work! I gotta say, B6 is magical stuff. (I forgot to take it for a few days last cycle and my cycle immediately got all wacked out. Three days back on the B6 and everything was normal again!) I have upped my intake since I got the from 100mg to 200mg in the hopes of staying morning sickness. Which is hint to all of you: taking 300mg B6 daily in 50mg increments-at least one hour between pills (your liver can't process anymore than this at a time, so anything over 50mg just gets flushed according to "The Encylopedia of Natural Medicine") is suppose to prevent/cure morning sickness.

[TexasSuz]

WOW Marjorie. I was only taking 100mg of B6. I guess I should take more. I am feeling fine but it hit me last time at 8 weeks and I am at week 6 now. I really don't want to get sick again. Any other advice from that book?

[jorie]

Suz,

Ginger was the other major suggestion to help morning sickness. If you don't like ginger tea or just eating ginger, try ginger beer or ginger cookies (the kind at the health food store, not Pepperridge Farms). Real ginger cookies should have a sufficent quantity to do the trick. Both books emphasize eating well. Marilyn Shannon actually says that eating poorly can cause morning sickness which then starts a vicious cycle-you eat bad, you get sick, because your sick, you don't eat, which makes you even more sick! You should check if your library has either book they are both awesome!

[Ellie'sMom]

I'm taking the Rainbow Lite Prenatal 1. Next time I am at Whole Foods I will do a comparison between the Prenatal and the regular multivit. The prenatal has ginger and red raspberry leaf, but other than that I am guessing it is not much difference.

I took 2 chewable children's vitamins per day when I was pregnant with dd, because I just couldn't deal with the regular prenatals. My mw said that was fine.