For those who want an honest and realistic picture of pregnancy, birth and raising three kids, then take a look at my #pregnancydiary and feel free get in touch with any comments, questions or suggestions.
Sugar Shock!
A couple of weeks ago I had a glucose tolerance test at the hospital. This is a test that the NHS advise your to have if you are at high risk of getting diabetes. Since I'm Asian and half my family have type 2 diabetes that makes me very high risk of developing gestational diabetes. My sister had this with her second baby and ended up having to inject herself with insulin several times a day towards the end of her pregnancy.
So off I went to the test, which takes a few hours. I wasn't allowed to eat anything from 8pm the night before. When I got to the hospital they first took a blood sample then made me drink a gigantic glass of lucozade then sit around for a couple of hours before taking more blood to see how my body responded to the sugars. I never drink fizzy sugary drinks so I'm surprised I didn't go into sugar shock!
Low iron
Anyway my blood test came back normal, I don't have diabetes (yay!). But my iron was low so I was prescribed iron tablets. I'm hoping they make me feel more alive as I'm starting to feel more tired than usual. I had thought that since I was taking Pregnacare tablets and eating healthy, I would be covered for all vitamins and minerals. Turns I'm not and the midwife advised me to take the iron tablets with my Pregnacare tablet as the vitamin C in there would help to release the iron into my system.
I think it's important to note that taking Pregnacare is not the be all and end all of nutrition in pregnancy. I know women who have eaten total crap during their pregnancy and had the odd cigarette but assured me it was fine because "I'm taking Pregnacare Max".
Waste of money
It was recently reported in the news that pregnancy multivitamins are "a waste of money". Apparently mums to be should be taking folic acid and vitamin D supplements and get the rest of their nutrients from a varied healthy diet. Despite the fact that I've been given iron tablets, some midwives prefer women to get their iron from the food they eat as its absorbed more effectively by the body. Foods containing good amounts of iron are red meats, eggs, spinach and watercress, raisins and dried apricots, and fortified cereals.
There really is no substitute for a healthy diet.
