Conference moira::parenting

    I recently read a small article somewhere that seems to refer to this
    document. I too am relieved and will continue to have the occasional
    cup of coffee or can of cola.
    Enjoy that iced tea (that sounds like a great idea...maybe I will
    go downstairs and make me some....)
    
    
    Monica 
    (If they can use an alarm clock on baby during an ultrasound, surely
    I can have a little caffeine when I don't feel it move much!)
    

    I like to drink herb teas sometimes instead of coffee.    Somebody
    once told me that pregnant women should avoid Chamomile.  I'm not sure
    what the reason was, but is there any truth to that??
    
    Lila 
    

They didn't get more specific than that.  Basically, the book said something
like you don't know what all the ingredients are, and there have been no
studies to determine their safety during pregnancy.  

I think this was from the "What to Expect When You're Expecting", but can't
guarantee it as the source...

    Thanks for the reply.   I drank herb teas during my first pregnancy 
    with no problems.  But, the book is probably right - why take any
    chances with the health of your baby!!   Guess I'll stick to water
    next time around - though even that is questionable anymore!!  Lila
    

Some herbs can be used to help with menstruation, or to bring it on, which
is of course what you *don't* want when you are happily pregnant.  Others herbs
are fine for pregnant women.  There is even a tea called "Pregnancy Tea"
that you can get at health food stores (like "Mountain Mama's" by Uintah and
19th in West Colo Spgs).

    Carol

    And there is also a tea called "Mother's milk" that is supposed to
    enhance lactation, one of my sister's (who is nursing a 10 month old)
    swears by it.

    				Wendy

    In the hospitals here, all new mothers are encouraged to drink fennil
    tea.  I think this must be the one referred to as increasing lactation
    because that is what we are told it does.
    
    ccb

    Yes Cheryl, but it's been my experience that most europeans I
    know are crazy about using fennil tea anyway. My mom uses it for
    everything. 
    
    I am trying to remember when I have, of late, come across the 
    particular teas a pregnant woman should avoid. Drat, I cannot 
    remember. Was one of them Sassafrass? I just don't remember now.
    
    Monica

    Monica,
    
    Teas that Pregnant women should definitely avoid are:
    
    	Pennyroyal, juniper berry, false unicorn root, tansy, or mugwort.
    These have been used in the past as effective abortifacients.
    
    	Teas that have been used as emmenogogues (Ie to bring on delayed
    mentruation) are chamomile, basil, ginger and a host of others, but I
    don't have an herbal on hand.  If you use these in early pregnancy, use
    them in moderation.  later pregnancy (After the first trimester)
    shouldn't be a problem.  Your milage may vary, I have freinds who swear
    by chamomile tea for morning sickness, and gingerale was one of the few
    things I could drink that settled my stomach.
    
    	Hops, red raspberry leaf tea, alfalfa, and red clover have all been
    used in early pregnancy by many people, and are often found in the
    store-brand pregnancy teas.
    
    Meg 

<posted for anonymous author by moderator>
    
Hi,

I'm thinking about getting pregnant.  My question is related to vitamins.
I'm curious as to how many of you took them *BEFORE* you became pregnant.
I've read articles that say you should take them, while others caution
about overdosing.  I called by OB/GYN and he said it was alright to take
an "over-the-counter" vitamin, but he wouldn't give me a prescription for
prenatal vitamins until pregnancy was confirmed.

My question is, what if you cannot tolerate vitamins.  I've tried taking
them, but they really bother my stomach.  Do you think it would be harmful
to *NOT* take them before conception and what about during pregnancy.  
Has anyone *NOT* taken them during pregnancy also? 

Thanks in advance for your help!

    
    I think *NOT* taking them before becoming pregnant is fine, as long as
    you eat a balanced diet. I never took vitamins before I got pregnant or
    once I was done nursing. Now once you are pregnant you will definitely 
    need to take the pre-natal vitamins more for yourself than your baby.
    Whatever nutrients/vitamins/minerals are in your system go to the
    baby first and you get the leftovers. Without taking the vitamins you
    wouldn't have much if anything left over. I've always tended to be on
    the low side when it comes to iron (occasional bouts with anemia). Even
    while taking pre-natal vitamins while pregnant I ended up very anemic
    and ended up taking a double dose of iron along with the pre-natals and
    continued to take them until my 6-week check up.
    
    Patty

    
    I take a multi-vitamin with iron, plus a B vitamin pill (with 100% RDA of
    Folic Acid) every day. I've taken the multi-vitamin for years and added
    the B pill when I thought about getting pregnant. I went on taking
    these pills (over the counter brand and with my doctors approval) during 
    my pregnancy. As I am still nursing, I need them just as much these days. 
    My iron count remained high throughout my pregnancy and post-delivery care. 
    
    Studies in the UK have shown that women with low folic acid in take are 
    more likely to have babies with spina bifida. Women who have already had 
    a child with this condition are given folic acid supplements before trying 
    to get pregnant again and for the first 6 months of the pregnancy.
    
    As I don't eat meat, I'm very careful about taking B vitamins.
    
    Pre-natal vitamins are not prescribed in the UK unless your doctor
    feels that you are not having a good enough diet or you need extra iron
    for anemia. 
                                   
            Celia
    
     

I didn't take any vitamins at all and didn't seem to need them.  I did take 
flouride supplements.  If vitamins bother your stomach and your doctor says
you don't need them, then I would pay special attention to diet.  You may 
want to have some blood tests done to see if you body is low in any essential
vitamins and then ask for a supplement for that item only (like the folic
acid case mentioned in .-1). 

During pregnancy, again this is a decision between you and your doctor. If the
pre-natal vitamins are needed but too discomforting to take, they can 
probably find alternative ways of supplementing to provide what you and the
baby need.

Here, if we have special needs like this, our doctor usually sends us to a 
dietician and we get put on a VERY strict diet :-)

Cheryl

	You might try using vitamins from Natural sources if you need to take
them.  I take something called "Dessicated Baby Beef Liver" [sounds awfull]
in pill form [I don't like liver] for iron, folic acid, B Vitamins etc. and
Ostogen [from veal bone] for Calcium, Phosporous, minerals etc.  They may
be easier on your system and the natural iron doesn't cause constipation.
I've had good luck with them.

				..................Karen

    I have never paid much attention to my diet and have NO idea how to
    eat nutritiously! During my first pregnancy I gained 50 pounds!!! And
    have only lost 25 of it.  Needless to say, since we are trying for 
    another baby now, I decided this would be a good time to TRY to eat
    better.  I have come across a book that is EXCELLENT for people like
    me!  It's called "Eating Expectantly" written by Bridget Swinney.
    In addition to the normal nutrition information about the food
    categories and how many servings from each you should have, this book
    has menus and recipes!!  Each recipe shows the nutrient analysis and
    key nutrients per serving.  I think this is wonderful because it takes
    so much of the guesswork out of "what should I eat that's good and
    good for me"!!!  Also, there's a section on convenience foods and
    also the most nutrituous fast foods.   I haven;t yet tried any of the
    recipes, but they all sound really good.  Oh, and there's also a
    section that shows you what to keep stocked in your pantry/freezer/
    frig and another section for vegetarian diets.  I think it's a
    great book and thought I'd let you all know about it!
    
    The author is a registered dietitian with a Master of Science degree
    in Nutrition and extensive experience counseling pregnant women. She
    is also a Mom.   
    
    Lila
    

    My doctor handed me this yesterday, there is no date but he said it was
    a recent article. 

    (reprinted without permission from American Health Consultants)

    Note- any typos are mine, not theirs
    
    Women's Health Update 
    Contraceptive Technology Update's Patient Education Supplement

    Taking Vitamin B before pregnancy may prevent birth defects
    ___________________________________________________________

    Taking folic acid, a B vitamin, at least one month before you become
    pregnant could cut your chances in half of having a child with a brain
    defect, report officials at the nation's leading disease prevention
    agency, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
    Atlanta.

    Neural tube defects (NTD), which occur in the earliest stages of
    pregnancy and are the leading cause of infant death, include spina
    bifida and anencephaly, the most common birth defects in this country.  

    All infants born with anencephaly - a disease characterized by the
    absence of the brain - die shortly after birth, while the majority of
    infants born with spina bifida, or "open spine," grow up with varying
    degrees of disabilities, says William L. Roper, MD, MPH, director of
    the CDC.

    NO HISTORY OF BIRTH DEFECTS

    Because 95% of all cases of NTDs occur during pregnancies of women with
    no history of birth defects, the CDC now recommends all women of
    childbearing age - not just those who are pregnant, take 0.4 mg of
    folic acid every day, Roper says.

    Experts believe NTDs already exist in an embryo one month after the
    child in conceived, so taking folic acid after one month of pregnancy
    will not help to prevent birth defects.  

    If women follow the recommendation of taking folic acid at lease one
    month before becoming pregnant, 50% of all NTDs could be reduced, Roper
    says.

    It also is important to remember that an excess of folic acid could mask
    a vitamin B-12 deficiency, which can cause irreversible nerve damage if
    not treated.  Therefore, not more than 1 mg per day of folic acid should
    be taken without the supervision of a physician, Roper says.  

    While vitamin supplements are the quickest and least expensive way to
    get the right amount of folic acid into your system, there are certain
    foods high in this essential vitamin, says Godfrey P. Oakley Jr., MD,
    MSPH, of the birth defects branch of the National Center for
    Environmental Health at the CDC in Atlanta.  Good examples of foods
    that provide folic acid are liver, beets, broccoli, green leafy
    vegetables, and orange juice, says Oakley.  However, eating any raw
    fruits and vegetables also will help to supplement your intake of folic
    acid, he says.

    CAUSE OF NTDs UNKNOWN

    Although the underlying cause of NTDs is not known, there is a possible
    biological explanation, says Oakley.  Folate (folic acid) is essential
    for the creation of deoxyribonucleic acid - better known ad DNA - and
    is considered one of the building blocks to make DNA.  

    In a human cell, DNA is what carries genetic information.  When a baby
    is first developing in the womb, its cells divide quickly, requiring a
    lot of folate and DNA, says Oakley. 

    "When you're an embryo, your cells divide a lot faster than your
    mother's cells do," he says.  "Every time you make a cell, you have to
    make a batch of DNA.  If you don't have enough of the building blocks
    to make DNA, you don't divide your cells as fast as you should.  That
    means you might just miss the neural tube train, and when you miss it,
    you miss it."

    How fast do the cells actually divide during this stage?  In just its
    first month, the embryo grows 7,000 times its original mass.  However,
    most women don't know they are pregnant after only one month.  

    "By the time most people go to see their doctor, they've already missed
    a period or two, and it's too late," Oakley says.

    The CDC's recommendation about folic acid and prevention of NTDs was
    made during a meeting commemorating the 25th anniversary of the
    Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Birth Defects Program (MACDP), the
    oldest continuous birth defects surveillance program in the United
    States.  Data from MACDP showed an association between women who took
    multivitamins and lower rates of babies born with birth defects.

    
                                        

    Has anyone ever found a brand of pre-natal vitamins that are easy
    to swallow?  My pre-natal vitamins are HUGE and are not "coated" the
    way some aspirin are today to make them easy to swallow.  I asked my
    doctor if there were other brands that were smaller (maybe take 2 
    small ones instead of 1 large one) or coated, and he said nothing
    like that existed.  
    
    I see all of the improvements being made in aspirin and Tylenol and
    the like - smaller pills, gel caps, etc.--and wonder why pharmaceutical
    companies don't have the same consideration for pregnant woman.  
    
    I've tried cutting the pre-natal vitamins in half, but that only seems 
    to make them harder to swallow because then they have sharp edges.   
    
    Anyone else have the same problem?  Found a solution?
    
    Jane         

	Mine are large as well but are like large blue capsules.  They
	have that plastic like coating on them.  Before I was pregnant
	I took Centrum and they were the same size but no coating.
	I can't tell the difference.

	My husband has a hard time swallowing pills (and I don't make
	it any easier for him when I attempt to stroak his throat to
	assist).  Anyhow, I suggested a trick that seemed to make it
	easier.  Just put the pill on your tongue, fill your mouth
	up with alot of water (large gulp) and just swallow.  Forget
	that you have the pill in your mouth and pretend your just
	gulping water.  It works for him.... maybe it might work for you.

	Karen

	P.S... I can try to remember to bring in the brand name of
	the vitamins but they are large

    
    Maybe you don't HAVE To take pre-natal vitamins.  I take a one-a-day
    and then a folic acid supplement and an iron supplement.  They provide
    similar amounts of vitamins as the prenatals, and it's MUCH easier
    to swallow 3 little ones, than 1 horse pills.  The folic acid and
    1-a-day are small.  The iron's kinda big, but not as big as regular
    pre-natals.  Only drawback - they're not covered by insurance - I think
    I paid $10.00 in all for 100-day supply.  Worth it to me.

    I used Materna which I cannot recall being outrageously large
    (as a matter of fact, since I could not drink milk very well, 
    on occasion I was taking it and a calcium suppliment in one
    swallow).
    
    Monica

    I used Materna also, but my sister-in-law took a different type that
    was a capsul, can't seem to remember the name of them.  The Materna's
    for my were easy to swallow, but I never had any problem taking pills
    before.
    
    Liz

    I was never good at swallowing pills, and the maternity vitamins looked
    terrifying.  The good news is that I found a way to take them that's
    easy!  I'd chew up a mouthful of some breakfast food, like Cheerios and
    milk, then -- just before the swallow instinct kicked in -- I'd slip
    the pill into my mouth.  Well, it went down like nobody's business.  I
    didn't even need to wash it down with water.  No choking reflex, no
    mental trauma, no nothing.
    
    Hope this helps;  it really worked for me.

    Another thing that sometimes works for me is putting the vitamin on a
    spoonful of ice cream or jello - something you don't chew - and when
    you swallow the ice cream you swallow the pill too!

    FYI:
    
    To maximize the absorption of vitamins and minerals from prenatal
    vitamins, you should take them with water or fruit/fruit juice.  Milk
    products actually inhibit the absorption.
    
    

    To take advantage of what .24 says, you could use applesauce
    to help get the pill down. I've done this with my son and it
    worked well.
    
    Lucy

    I searched and couldn't find anything on this - not sure if it
    really belongs under this note or not!  Moderators - please feel
    free to move it!!!
    
    I am wondering if anyone knows the effects that food poisoning can
    have on a developing fetus?   I suspect that I had food poisoning
    Thursday - it wasn't the flu, as there was no fever or the usuall
    aches associated with the flu.  I was just "burpy" and nauseous
    throughout the night - and had one episode of vomiting, after 
    which I felt much better but still queasy for most of the day
    Friday.   I am 5 1/2 months pregnant.  I couldn;t find anything
    specific in any of my books about food poisoning.  Should I be
    concerned??   Lila
    

    
    I don't know about the effect on a fetus, buy not having a 
    fever is not a sign of food poisoning.  I had food poisoning last
    year and it gave me a fevor of 104+.  I ended up dehydrated in the
    hospital.
    
    Hope you are feeling better.
    Amy

    
    
    	Last year when Marc and I both had food poisoning (it was his
    lasagna), the Dr. told us you can always tell food poisoning by using
    the following guideline. If you have food poisoning:
    
    	For the first 24 hours you are afraid that you are going to die,
    	and
    	for the next 24 hours you are afraid that you won't die.
    
    	It usually resolves itself after that. :-)
    
    			Wendy

    I've had food poisoning about six times, mostly from bad chicken.  I
    have a real sensitivity to catching saminila (sp?) poisoning.  Four
    out of the six I spent the night in emergency.
    
    I never had a fever with any of the attacks.  
    
    Always had incredible stomach cramping, vomitting to the point of dry
    heaves and diarrhea.
    
    Symptoms are usally gone after 24 hours and you feel like somebody
    ran over you with a semi-truck!
    
    ..Lori

    I am writing this on behalf of my sister.  Ginny is in her 7th month of
    pregnancy.  She has not had a very easy pregnancy.  This is her second.
    
    At the beginning, she had the normal morning sickness and
    uncomfortableness.  Second trimester, she spent a week in the hospital
    with salmonella poisoning and basically has not been well since.
    
    Well this last month she has had a severe ear-infection which is making
    her dizzy and nauseous. She has also started vomiting lately too.
    
    What I am wondering is if anyone else has starting getting sick in
    their last trimester of preganancy and what did you do about it.
    
    I would like to help her in anyway.  I just feel so bad for her.  She
    has been very ill since September.
    
    Thanks for any help you can offer.
    
    Nancy

    I had the inner ear virus she's experiencing, during the later part of
    my second trimester. It wasn't pleasant, and the only way I got through
    it was with half doses of the med they use to address it.
    
    Lots of rest is about the only thing that can really help restore her
    ability to handle the stress of the pregnancy and the stresses of
    illness.
    
    Tough to actually get, though, if there's already one child demanding
    time and energy
    best of luck,