Anemic

Beets
Lentils
If you take the suppliment (I had to) I also increased my calcium/magnesium (commonly found suppliment) and that helped with the constipation.

I know this sounds crazy, but I was told that I was anemic when I was pregnant and my mother-in-law bought us a cast iron frying pan and told us to cook in that. It worked! Apparently some of the iron from the pan got into the food? BUT, having said that, I ate a lot of meat also (I couldn't do anything leafy like spinach because it made me sick)...

Drinking orange juice or taking a vitamin C supplement with your high iron meal will help your body to absorb the iron you are consuming. Otherwise our bodies absorb very little of the iron we take in. I think one of the easiest ways to get iron in your diet is from an iron fortified cereal. I think Total has a good amount of iron but you would have to check the nutritional information.

One friend who was anemic cooked as much as she could in a cast-iron skillet. I guess it's supposed to add a bit more iron to your food. I know I was able to get my daughter's levels back up with just greens (back when she would actually eat them!), so hopefully you can make a difference with food. I'm pretty sure that dark raisins also have iron.

I carried twin boys which tends to deplete your iron sources. My doctor had me take slow FE (cheap brand from Walgreens) and I didn't have a problem with constipation which I usually tend to.

Raisins and leafy green veggies, like spinach are good sources of iron. Hope this helps!

Lots & lots of dark green vegetasbles. Also red meat is a great source of iron. Keep up the good work & congrats on baby ;0)!!!

H. -
Here are some great iron rich foods that should help you out:
Prune Juice is #1 at 10.5 mg (1 cup).
Liver of any kind is great in iron if you can stand it.
Roasted turkey is great in iron, baked ham, hamburger, veal, apricots, dates, raisins, walnuts, almonds, beans (lima, navy & kidney), asparagas, cream of wheat, cashews, tomato juice, cooked spinach.
Hope that is a little helpful, hope you enjoy at least a couple things on this list to help you out.

Raisins are a good non-meat source of iron, and they're easily slipped into the diet as a quick snack or sprinkled in cereals and on salads. Check packages on other dried fruits as well. I think some of those have iron, but I'm sure about raisins because I wanted to avoid taking iron supplements during my pregnancy due to constipation. Congratulations on your coming angel!

As others have said, lentils and molasses have tons of iron in them - but so does regular Cream O' Wheat cereal. One of my friends suggested it to me when I was pregnant and I was so surprised to see how much iron it had in it. Iron supplements, no matter if mixed with a stool softener or not, wreaked havoc on my stomach. Try to get it from food and know that your body absorbs it better that way anyhow. Good luck!

cook in a cast iron pot or pan!! It is one of the easiest ways to add iron to your diet. Also, make sure you are taking a calcium supplement to help with absorption. A good pregnancy tea can also help with lots of trace minerals and iron absorption. good luck

I used a plant-based iron supplement called Floradix this time instead of Slow Fe. It's available at Pharmaca and tastes like sweet Dr. Pepper. I found that it was easy on my system. If you're not into homeopathy, talk to your OB. Mine had heard of Floradix and said it was fine to take.

hope this helps-you're at 32 weeks in the home stretch-congrats!
:) J.

Try drinking Boost shakes throughout the day. Just little sips. It was suggested when I had a similar issue...the only drawback is that my twins smelled like Boost for the first few days out of the womb. Ewww!!

I was slightly anemic with my first pregnancy and the nurse practioner suggested taking an iron supplement with a stool softener in it called Slow FE. I also had problems with constipation (even before the iron) so between the iron with the stool softener and occasionally using Colace, that seemed to help. Good luck!

I have the same problem with every pregnancy. And I also have severe reflux issues making the iron pills unbearable. I looked high and low at all the foods that have iron and I found the easiest way to get extra iron was to eat an iron fortified cereal every morning. Check out the nutritional information on the box - there are several that have a ton of iron. With all 3 of my pregnancies, I was able to get my crit levels up to normal by the time of delivery with just adding an iron fortified cereal to my diet daily.

Hi H.,

I took a Tablespoon of molasses for my iron supplement when I was pregnant. You can mix it in with a bowl of yogurt.

Try that!

You do not want to take the calcium at the same time as the iron, it blocks your body from absorbing as much of the iron.
Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron.

I have always had low iron. I had to take a slow iron with my first pregnancy along with a prescription prenatal with extra iron. I also had to take a stool softener the one you want is Colace (or the store brand of that one) as there are no stimulates in it.

I have since found a prenatal vitamin that my body is better able to absorb and does not constipate me. (Vitality Multivitamin and Mineral Women Prenatal)
My iron count with it is at the levels the doctors wanted.
Here is a web site you can get more information
www.ChangingStores.info
They also have a supplement that has the same amount of probiotic as ten cups of yogurt.

S.
mother to Kai

I love Floridex. It works wonders for me and its natural and non constipating!

Many of my clients have found that not only is Floradix easier on their systems, but usually helps their iron even more!

W. Nichols-Dewey, CD(DONA)
www.birthfirstdoula.vpweb.com

Red meat, dark green veggies (broccoli, spinach, asparagus, etc.), anything with molasses (baked beans are good), beans & rice (I really like lentils), nuts, shrimp, & fortified cereals & pastas.

I have always been a bit anemic too & have found iron pill supplements way, WAY too strong and h*** o* my digestive system. Try sneaking in small amounts of iron rich foods at every meal (even if it's just a tablespoon of peanut butter).

I used a book called "Eating for pregnancy." For each recipe it highlights which nutrients the recipe focuses on. Plus it has some good guides about what foods are high in each nutrient. I would recommend it, the recipes are good.
For iron:
2 Tablespoons of Blackstrap molasses with give you 7 mg of iron. For a pregnant woman the daily recommended intake is 30. Other sources include all-bran cereal, cooked soybeans, cooked spinach, cooked lentils. Red meat is a good source. I bought frosted mini-wheats because they are 90% iron fortified.

I had to take 2 extra iron pills during pregnancy. I would eat a muffin with each one (or something equally as sturdy), I always took the pills with orange juice (Vit C helps w/iron absorption), stop eating chocolate & look for cocoa-containing substitutes instead (cocoa has no caffiene, which inhibits iron absorption), drink caffiene-free drinks, cook in cast-iron if you can (the iron leaches into food which isn't always a bad thing). Thosre are all I can think of. Look online for iron-rich foods (spinach is, I know, but aside from that & liver I can't think of any right now)
Increase your apple juice consumption too so the iron doesn't constipate you!

Like others have suggested, Floradix is great, as is Ferrets IPS. Also, it helps the iron absorb better when combined with vit C. Pomegranate juice is what we found to be the most helpful in getting the iron absorbed well last time we had to address this issue in our family. Even just an ounce or so at the same time the iron supplement is taken (or mix them together) makes a big difference!