MSE Pregnancy Club 26

becca0417

Claire my dr rang after my 28 week bloods & said they showed anaemia, prescribed me iron tablets but then when I saw my mw she said during pregnancy my levels wouldn't be counted as anaemic due to increased blood flow. Confusing!

claire16c

Birdie85 wrote: »

Thanks Claire!

As for the iron, try Spatone sachets instead of tablets. They're not very cheap but they don't give you any digestive trouble (I've been on them for a few months and had no problems. )

Thanks my friend mentioned those too.

becca0417 wrote: »

Claire my dr rang after my 28 week bloods & said they showed anaemia, prescribed me iron tablets but then when I saw my mw she said during pregnancy my levels wouldn't be counted as anaemic due to increased blood flow. Confusing!

Yeah I read your levels are expected to drop during pregnancy! Hmm I've got my appt on the 30th with midwife so might wait til then to take any tablets as really don't wanna get bunged up with all that Christmas food :eek:

I will go to boots tomorrow & buy some spatone stuff in the mean time.

Kynthia

Claire, I'm on the iron tablets and it does cause a bit of trouble. I just do 2 a day instead of 3. The thing is that I was feeling dreadful, like being hit with a wave of tiredness so I felt the effects if being anaemic and therefore benefited from the iron. How do you feel? Yes dropping in iron levels is normal in pregnancy due to the extra blood and fluid 'diluting' the red blood cells, but it still results in anaemia that needs treating if it goes below a certain point (how it was explained to me).

mincepiemonster

I was put on iron tablets too... my levels were 10.4 (cut off is 10.5 in our trust) but she bloomin' well whacked me on 3 x 210mg tablets a day! I just take one or two plus 1 Spatone sachet per day, but make sure I take the tablets with orange juice for absorption. Lots of fortified cereals, dates and pumpkin seeds too!

They like your iron levels to be healthy in case you lose a lot of blood in delivery - which I guess makes sense. The Spatone sachets are about 30p per sachet in Amazon but they do not contain anywhere near as much iron as the tablets. The manufacturers say this is because the iron is more bio-available but even based on these tables here, if you are on the 210mg tablets you need to take 3 and a bit sachets to absorb the equivalent you'd absorb from 1 tablet :eek: http://www.nelsonsnaturalworld.com/en-gb/uk/our-brands/spatone/iron-essentials/how-does-spatone-compare-to-iron-tablets/

welshgirl78

Jumping in but just wanted to say keep your iron levels as high as you can, Spatone is ace for not bunging you up. I ended up with a retained placenta after a normal delivery and would definitely ended up with a transfusion if my levels hadn't been as high as they were, it was touch and go as it was :~

claire16c

I don't feel anymore tired than usual. I've been waking up wide awake & hungry at around 6am which can make me sleepy later on but I don't feel more tired otherwise.

The only thing is the past few days I've noticed I occasionally feel a bit breathless.

What are the iron tablets like? Are they huge or small? Because I can't swallow big tablets anyway so if they are Ill have to have lots of spa tone and iron rich foods - depending if the midwife also thinks I need it I guess? I'll have to ask her what my level is next week.

I definitely don't want anymore stomach ache problems.

I read about the orange juice thing too but orange juice makes me feel really ill. So vitamin c tablets it is!

sjlou

Birdie85 wrote: »

I keep wondering that SmlSave, I feel so big and uncomfortable now, can't imagine what it's going to be like by the time I get to full term!

Hope you're feeling better TL, just no fun to be poorly so close to Christmas.

Very awkward hospital visit Squirrel!

Borrowed an excerise ball from a colleague... got it home and realised that I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing with it! Do I just sit and balance or have a little bounce?

We use an exercise ball in yoga. We sit on it and do a figure of eight with our hips (good for getting baby in a good position). Ermmm....cant think of anything else off the top of my head!!
Also use it to sit on if you cant get comfy, its good for your posture.

TeamLowe

The midwife who did our parentcraft classes said to sit on the birthing ball of an evening to help get baby in the right position as sitting on a couch hinders that due to the position your hips would be in. She explained it properly and it made sense at the time but it's hard to explain without visuals lol so I don't think you have to necessarily do anything on the ball, it's just a better posture to get baby facing the right way and head fully down on your cervix to make for an easier birth

faith2009uk

Hi ladies,

Sorry I haven't posted since joining you all. It's mad here at the moment with Xmas only a couple of days away!

I had my 25 week appointment today and everything seemed fine, although bump was measuring at 24cm instead of 25 (I'm 24 +6 today), the MW said this was fine. Did anyone else have this? Also got a prescription for Gaviscon as the HB is getting so bad now I'm finding it hard to sleep.

Next step is the GTT test in a couple of weeks. Not looking forward to this at all.

Hope everyone's okay and hopefully I can get on here again before Xmas

Kynthia

claire16c wrote: »

I don't feel anymore tired than usual. I've been waking up wide awake & hungry at around 6am which can make me sleepy later on but I don't feel more tired otherwise.

The only thing is the past few days I've noticed I occasionally feel a bit breathless.

What are the iron tablets like? Are they huge or small? Because I can't swallow big tablets anyway so if they are Ill have to have lots of spa tone and iron rich foods - depending if the midwife also thinks I need it I guess? I'll have to ask her what my level is next week.

I definitely don't want anymore stomach ache problems.

I read about the orange juice thing too but orange juice makes me feel really ill. So vitamin c tablets it is!

It's good that you aren't experiencing a terrible level of tiredness so perhaps ask what your reading was or get a second opinion on your result. I felt so tired I could cry and I'm normally tired from not sleeping enough but it was noticeably worse. However that was only for the week before I got tested whereas I must of had dropping iron levels before that. The tablets are tiny and just because it helps to have vitamin C at the same time doesn't necessarily mean drink orange juice with every tablet. Eat a kiwi fruit occasionally or maybe drink a hot water water with lemon or apple juice sometimes near when taking the tablet. Then try to up your fibre and water intake to keep things moving.

The breathlessness thing is possibly related but it's also a common pregnancy symptom could be because your body is working harder, walking wears you out quicker as it's more effort, there's extra blood to oxygenate or because the baby is taking up room near your lungs.