I had my 37 week appointment today where the nurse informed me that my iron levels are a little low and I should start taking iron supplements. So, with the iron added into the equation, here's what I take on a daily basis:
~ a low dose aspirin. This is preventative because I have Factor V Leiden which puts me at risk for blood clots. I'm heterozygous (only one copy of the gene) so it's not a super high risk, but it's still there.
~ 4 mg of folic acid. I don't have a prescription for it, and the highest dose you can get over the counter is 800 mcg so I take 5 of them. This is because I have a homozygous MTHFR mutation. In short, an MTHFR mutation affects they way your body absorbs folic acid, and since folic acid is VERY IMPORTANT during pregnancy, the best way to counteract is to overload your body with folic acid.
~ Prilosec. For heartburn, obviously. My doctor okayed it when I told her that I was taking 6 or 8 tums a day and still having heartburn. Also, it's good that I'm taking it instead of tums since tums have sugar in them.
~ And iron. The nurse told me it will take about 2 weeks to build up and get my iron levels back up. Then she said that would be perfect because it will be up just in time for me to have the baby. And I thought, "GAH. Please don't let it be 2 more weeks before I have this baby!"
Then there's also the Benadryl I take pretty regularly for those awesome pregnancy-enhanced allergies. Also Tylenol, mostly for my legs, which ache pretty constantly. (And wake me up at night- pretty fabulous.) (The Tylenol doesn't really help, but it at least makes me feel like I'm doing something.)
Anyway, I'm looking forward to not having to take a million pills every day when this pregnancy is over.
Maybe you should read and re-read all these blogs posts as you're considering your "house full" of kids. :) In the meantime, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you to go into labor RIGHT NOW.
ReplyDeleteAnd let's hope you go into labor before the iron pills have a chance to constipate you - because then you might have to start taking yet another pill. :) Hang in there!
ReplyDeletePregnancy heartburn is THE WORST! That almost makes me not ever ever want to do the whole pregnancy thing again. Not the stretch marks or 75 pound weight gain... it's the heartburn! Killer.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was pregnant, I for sure had one of those big-ass days of the week pill sorters. I felt 85.
ReplyDeleteWow. Pregnancy just keeps giving and giving. Hoping you get done with it sooner rather than later.
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