5 replies to this topic

[mikeinnaples]

So yeah, finally after several years of trying my wife and I seem to be having a baby. I have come to the conclusion after looking at most prenatal vitamins that they are garbage for the most part, just like most multivitamins. My wife is 35 and I am obviously a little concerned about both her age and mine in regards to baby health. Fortunately we both have a good diet and take care of ourselves, so I am guessing this won't be as much of a concern for us. Anyways, my wife doesn't supplement the way I do, but she does take the following:

Zyrtec
Claritin
400 mcg Folate (as L-methylfolate-Metafolin)

The only thing else she takes is the occasional fish oil gel cap, but it isn't daily.


With that said, do you have an suggestions on what she 'should' be supplementing or a decent prenatal that isn't utter garbage? We go organic for at least for the 'dirty' fruits and veggies, as well as opting for grass fed / hormone free beef and hormone free chicken. I think we are fine in regards to diet and quality of food. My wife will continue to go to the gym daily, but she will be dropping her intensity level down to 'maintenance' mode instead of pushing herself the way she normally does. Any suggestions will be great... its been 19 years since I last had a pregnant spouse and a lot has changed. Heh

[mikeinnaples]

I did a quick forum search to find a similar question I posed a few months ago for my brother in law and his wife (who are still trying without success), but it seems like nobody had any real ideas then either. Guessing this is probably not the *best* place for me to pose my questions, but this community really has the best insight that I have found anywhere on supplements and I wouldn't trust anyone else. Any experiences or thoughts would be appreciated.

[Mia K.]

Hi mikeinnaples,

Congratulations to you and your wife! Good on you for looking out for her & the baby's well-being.

Byron Richards @ wellnessresources.com has a prenatal you might consider (link to commercial page, sorry):

http://www.wellnessr...redients_dosage

Supplemental Magnesium I'd recommend. The RDA for pregnant women 31+ is 360 mg.

http://lpi.oregonsta...rals/magnesium/

And vitamin D3/oil-based cholecalciferol (4,000IU daily):

http://www.webmd.com...isk?print=true#

Hope this is of some help. If not, please accept my best wishes anyway!
Mia

[mikeinnaples]

Hey Mia, thanks for the response. That prenatal you listed looks good in regards to the form of some of its ingredients. I am guessing that a full dose would be overkill with her diet, but I could definitely see half or quarter dose a day being a good thing.

[Dorian Grey]

One big difference between Prenatal vitamins and regular vitamins is the ocean of iron they dump into prenatals...

Pregnant women need extra iron in their THIRD trimester as the baby is growing very fast by this point and sucking lots of iron out of the mother.

Unfortunately, supplemental iron often has a lot of side effects like nausea, vomiting and constipation. If your sweetheart is having trouble with morning sickness, gobbling down prenatals loaded with iron may cause her a lot of unnecessary misery during her first trimester, when most morning sickness occurs, but very little iron is actually needed for the very small fetus in her womb.

You can ask her doctor to monitor her iron levels and if she doesn't need iron NOW, she shouldn't have to be taking it. As her pregnancy progresses, she'll start needing more iron, and can add this in as necessary. Better still to get her iron from food rather than supplements if she can.

Some women are borderline anemic due to menstruation when they become pregnant and these women may need iron, even in their first trimester, but if you don't need it, and it's making you sick, it is unfortunate that many think they've "got to take it" or die trying.

Good luck with your new adventure!

[Bonee]

Is there any particular reason why she takes the two antihistamines? is it hay fever ?
the problem is that the baby's blood brain barrier is not developed so
I think the antihistamines might interfere with your child's brain chemistry.

Also i would suggest more than 1,5 grams of calcium intake with or without diet to preserve your wife's teeth and also Vitamin D (sun)

and you also need some magnesium you could provide it with a very little
epsom salt (tip of knife) with a glass of water twice a day so it wont cause GI disturbances

The most important thing also is Iodine intake, you should seriously think about supplementing it,
because I wouldn't recommend seafood because of the mercury content of it, and terrestrial things don't really contain iodine.
I don't know how much salt ( is it iodised ) you use, but the developing brain needs a lot!

and also consider taking a b complex instead of only the folate, they work in synergy (at least b12 and folate) take some choline with it also (eggs?)
and the others wont hurt also in my opinion you can't go wrong with large doses of b complex
big doses of b6 is also supposed to fight morning sickness

these were in my mind now, but its just my 2 cents,
my grandfather was the pioneer of folate's role in neural tube defects and he worked with Bayer on the first prenatal
it contains 800 mcg Folate and 250 mcg iodine (and others ofc) , but these are the most important in my opinion