Prenatals and other supplements

[mysticmomma]

What is everyone taking?
I take a EFA supplement, a mother and baby prenatal from whole foods and drink a mother to be tea in the morning.
Then in the evening, I take a b complex vitamin with extra C, and drink a RRLT

How about everyone else?

What will you take as pg moves on?

[celestialdreamer]

I have been taking prenatals for almost 2 years now! LOL! I was taking New Chapter's "Perfect Prenatal" which is a whole food vitamin so I have to take 4 pills a day. When I went to the midwives' office about a week and half ago they gave me some samples of some good ones. So I'm taking those ones until they are all used up because they have 1000mg of folic acid rather than just 600mg like my ones from the health food store. Also I only have to take one of those a day which makes me gag less :LOL

I will probably take RRL and EPO in the end of the third trimester if my midwife approves.

[celesterra]

i'm taking a prenatal (for a year already) that i get by prescription, called precare. whatever. before that, i was on one of the whole foods brands, but like celestial, i found i had to take too many! yuck!

i'm also on meotformin 1500 mg for PCOS, baby aspirin, calcium supps, and a b complex! i was also THRILLED OUT OF MY RIGHT MIND today to pick up my pregnancy tea at whole foods! i've been dreaming of that tea for way too long!

i still haven't reviewed what's ok to take, so i'm sticking to this so far.

[Mommay]

I've been taking prenatals for close to 3 years straight! I've been nursing ds this whole time, so I wanted to have a gentle vitamin. I take the rainbow lite prenatals (the one a day kind). I also take a wild salmon oil supplement, and I also take a spurilina tablet at lunch, though I'm not sure I'll be taking that anymore. I've been into the purity of sea vegetables lately. I try to buy only sea veggies from environmentally protected waters, and the supplement I have isn't.

[bhdavison]

I have been taking a prenatal for close to 5 years now! Started taking them when I got pregnant (unexpectedly) with our first and have never stopped, as I have not been not nursing or not pregnant since then! And I also take a Cal/Mag supplement at night. And some days I take a B complex.

The third trimester I will take a few more supplements, yet I can not remember them off the top of my head!

[2+twins]

I've been warned off of taking prenatals (or any other mega vitamin during pregnancy) by my older dd's neurologist. He's been doing a study which shows that too much folic acid, in particular, during pregnancy can cause damage to the brain (my daughter doesn't have as much myelin in her brain as she should for her age). He said that taking prenatals can cause problems like this. Plus I've read a lot online that suggests that too much of ANY vitamin isn't good. Mega/Prenatal vitamins give you waaaaaay more than the RDA considering that you also get vitamins from what you eat - especially folic acid which all grains in the U.S. are now fortified with. And that is proven to be the best source of getting and metabolizing vitamins - getting them from the food you eat. If you're deficient in something in particular and can't get it from diet then that totally is a good reason to take THAT type of vitamin. But I'd steer clear of prenatals. Of course, I'm always the rebel.

[kyle98sean02]

I am taking a whole food vitamin. I am supposed to take 2 vitamins 3 times a day, but I get in maybe 4. I think I am going to drop it to 3 of them a day since I eat pretty healthy and am quite constipated already. I also take progesterone and will be for at least the 1st rimester.

[wencit]

My OB told me I didn't have to take prenatals until about the 20th week. She said it would be fine if I stuck to a regular multivitamin, plus a folic acid supplement, which I've been doing. I was a tad worried, so I tried a Target prenatal, but that made me soooo nauseous that I switched back to the multivitamin. I'm still pretty nauseous as it is, but I'm afraid I'll start puking if I take a prenatal, which would be even worse for the baby, as it wouldn't get ANY nutrients!

[norasmom]

I'm taking Natures Plus prenatals, but would love to hear if anyone has experience with the Rainbow light one a day prenatals. I also have B Complex for when my mood swings get unbearable.

[2+twins]

Originally Posted by norasmom

I also have B Complex for when my mood swings get unbearable.

I'd love to know more about B vitamins & how they can help with mood swings - seriously. I'm having a rough time over here.

[norasmom]

love_homebirthing- My midwife, who also happens to be my good friend, reccomended it if I felt that I needed it. Here is a link to an article I found just now by googling. PG hormones can be brutal on everyone, so I thought it was worth a shot!

http://users.wfu.edu/tilgdc2/nutrition/bvitamins.html

[Titus2fam]

I'm a die hard Shaklee fan, but $$$ is tight. I'm taking the regular GNC vitamin for women and making a tea my midwife says supplies all of your nutrients: alfalfa, oatstraw, nettles, and re raspberry. VERY grassy tasting! I cut it with a little cranberry juice to keep from adding sugar. (((((HUGS))))) sandi

[Mommy To Baby Roni]

I just purchased a couple of books that talk about herbs that are not safe for pg. As soon as I get back home from my trip, I'll post the names of the books for everyone.

I really like the GNC prenatals with iron. They have a good (but not too high) amount of other vitamins, while many prenatals (esp. the prescription ones) really only have good amounts of folic acid and not much of anything else. I take a B100 complex, but I advise against taking anything higher and would probably stick to the B50 complex. I also take an omega supplement, which is very important, along with a calcium supplement.

One reason NOT to take a regular multivitamin is that many contain herbs that are considered NOT SAFE for pg. Also make sure your intake of vitamin A is not too high, which is the case in many regular multis.

I just got a bfp, so I'm looking forward to picking up some tea.

[AdinaL]

I am taking the Maternal Symmetry prenatal...I have been taking that for a while. It was the only one I could find that was a capsule..not a tablet. I have gagging problems when I am NOT pregnant, and tablets are bad juju. I only take one of them a day - even though they recommend that you take 2 three times a day. I find my system freaks out if I take that much. I also take a folic acid supplement...as I don't eat a lot of bread products, so I want to make sure. I also take a flax seed oil capsule and a vit c capsule. Vit C is cause I am prone to UTIs and with the extra moistness...i wanted to stave those off. :LOL Since, I am PCOS, I am also taking 1500mg/day of Metformin and since it was IVF, I am taking baby aspirin as well.

Plus a shot of progesterone in sesame oil in my behind every morning. :LOL

Beyond this...no clue what the heck to take...never been pregnant before.

[KKmama]

I've also been taking prenatals for the last 5 years, approx. (Since before I got pg with #1, then nursing, through #2, still nursing, and my current oops )

Adina, I take Twin Labs. They are capsules (2/day). I have always liked them.

I also do a little fish oil and flax oil in my oatmeal in the morning. I have some leftover Floradix (herbal iron) that I've started taking to bolster my iron--it always gets low during pg, and I wanted to try to pump it up a bit before I get too barfy and have to discontinue the Floradix.

[KKmama]

Oh yeah, I'll drink RRL tea iced at the end, but no way am I starting now. I get sick of the stuff.

[BethSLP]

I take the Rainbow Light Prenatal vitamins. They come highly recommended all over MDC as well as by most midwives. They are whole food vitamins so they are better absorbed, and they have ginger in them to help soothe nausea which is a nice addition. I like them a lot. I also use their Protein Energizer powder in a protein shake in the morning. It is SO tasty compared to every other brand. Has this light sweetness to it so it doesnt need added sweetner. I just mix 1 c. soy or rice milk, 1 scoop of the powder, frozen fruit and a tablespoon of flax seed in my vitamix blender and thats my breakfast. It keeps me full (usually). Now that I'm pregnant I need a mid morning snack.

XOXO
B

[Trixy]

My whole foods store recommended the New Chapter prenatals. What a huge mistake! I had explosive poopies....sorry TMI!!! They were good about taking them back and I bought Rainbow Light instead. They have been much kinder!!

I also take Omega Mom, synthroid .112mg (hypothyroid), Glucophage XR 1000mg for PCOS, Progesterone 50 mg suppositories twice a day, and 1 extra folic acid. I've never heard that about folic acid. That is kinda scary!!

[BerniceH]

I'm taking Natures Valley.. I'm new to all of this so.. I'm going to post whats in it.. and hopefully you guys can tell me if its ok or if I need to throw all of them away (I bought enough to last me up until the end)

btw, I've never felt better - mind you this is when the m/s isn't acting up.

Vitamin A 4000 I.U., 50%, 100% as Beta Carotene
Vitamin C 120 mg, 200%
Vitamin D 400 I.U., 100%
Vitamin E 30 I.U., 100%
Thiamin (Vitamin B1) 1.8 mg, 106%
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) 1.7 mg, 85%
Niacin 20 mg, 100%
Vitamin B6 2.6 mg, 104%
Folic Acid 800 mcg, 100%
Vitamin B12 8 mcg, 100%
Calcium 200 mg, 15%
Iron 28 mg, 156%
Zinc 25 mg, 167%