Self-diagnosed anemia, that is. Let me back up a little bit.
Monday I got my standard 18-week ultrasound, which takes about an hour and in which the technician looks for anatomical abnormalities. Once again, my baby was lying with its feet towards the ultrasound wand and its head towards my spine, making it impossible for the technician to look at the heart and brain, two crucial things this ultrasound is supposed to accomplish. I have another appointment in 2 weeks, and hopefully by then my baby will have grown too large to hang out in that position. I guess I could just blow the whole thing off – I mean, at this point I have had 2 1/2 hours total of ultrasonic waves directed right at my fetus over the course of 4 appointments – is it like standing in front of a microwave? It doesn’t seem like it could possibly be a good thing, and I am not sure how necessary it is since even the technician said that the huge increase in routine ultrasounds in the last 10 or 20 years has not had much effect on outcomes. But…I like it. I like to see the baby feet and ‘wittle toesies’. It makes me feel closer to the baby inside me. If for no other reason than that, I will go back again for another hour of someone banging on my bladder with a lubricant-covered plastic wand.
Wednesday I saw Tiffany. Kelly was with me for both appointments, which was nice. We got the blood test results, and everything came out okay – no higher risk for folic-acid related abnormalities. We also got to feel the bulge where the uterus is – it’s about at my belly button right now. I gained another pound this month, right on target. And I was pleased to report that I have been feeling some movement down there – both the “fluttering” sensation the books talk about, as well as some round ligament pain that feels like quick jabs or pinches. All in all, my baby looks healthy and well.
I got a prescription for Flagyl, aka Metronidazole tablets, to treat my bacterial vaginosis, which I have some trepidation about. The last time I took metronidazole tablets was last August, and it made me feel weak, out of sorts, and also completely took away my appetite…one of the possible side effects is anorexia, and I lost about 5-10 pounds in the week or so I took the medicine, which is the main reason I was at the low end of my weight when I got pregnant in November. It doesn’t seem that there is any other way to treat b.v. than with this incredibly strong drug, which has a laundry list of side effects. I wish there was some sort of alternative treatment I could try first. Any leads, anyone?
Yesterday, I felt fine when I woke up, but at work in the morning I started to feel nauseous and got a sinus headache. I ate something and the nausea went away, but then around noon I began to feel extremely light-headed. I was just sitting at my desk when my eyesight went completely red and the insides of my ears went rushing and cold, like a sudden drop in blood pressure. It sometimes happens when I stand up, but this time I was just sitting there! I knew that I was about to throw up, so I went to the bathroom and tossed the soup and bread I had had as a snack. I was afraid of fainting on the stairs on the way to the bathroom! I sat on the bathroom floor for a while with my head between my knees. After I went back to my office, I went home for the rest of the day and mostly rested on the couch or in bed. This morning my headache is still there, as is the faintness and weakness. I feel crummy. I came into work, but I’m not getting much done (evidence this post).
I think this is happening because at around 20 weeks ( I am at 19 weeks and 4 days today), your blood volume shoots up. This can cause anemia if you don’t have enough iron to create new red blood cells. At the last appointment I had a month ago, Tiffany told me that I had started my pregnancy with low iron numbers – not anemic, but the possibility of developing anemia if I didn’t eat enough iron. Anemia can cause low blood pressure, faintness, and headache. I am going to start supplementing with iron, washed down with orange juice, and hopefully that will help.
One of the books I have (“What To Expect”) says that it is almost impossible to eat enough iron during pregnancy. That seems insane to me – what did women do before supplementation, then? Kelly and I call “What To Expect” the “Will it hurt my baby?” book because the whole book is organized around fearful questions followed by the phrase “Will it hurt my baby?” Fortunately, you’ll be glad to know that anemia, in general, will not hurt the baby – it is very rare for babies to be born iron-deficient, and it seems that this is one of the cases where the baby manages to satisfy its nutritional needs before the mother.
I’m showing now, enough that I can’t wear any of my work pants, but not enough that the casual observer could possibly tell. I seriously need work pants with a stretchy waistband!
March 14, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I was all up-in-arms over the possible side effect of anorexia until I looked it up and realized there’s a difference between anorexia and anorexia nervosa. Ho ho ho.
Blarghh! Sorry to hear you’re feeling so ill. You’re going to have to keep this blog live for at least thirteen years, so that your child can look back over your posts as a teenager and properly repent for its former parasitic ways.
March 14, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Yes, “anorexia” just means decrease in appetite. link But it actually seemed like quite a problem at the time – not eating when you should be eating is bad for you, whether it’s because of voluntary starvation or is a “side effect” of a drug. My midwife was like, you can just force yourself to eat, and I will certainly try.
I actually feel a lot better this afternoon, although I was seeing spots all morning. My vision is back to normal and my headache is gone. Still, gonna do some hard-core resting and iron eating this weekend.
March 14, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I’ve heard that cooking (and eating!) out of a cast-iron skillet is a good way to get iron. This may be a “duh” comment. But I love me some cast-iron.
March 14, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Yeah, I have heard that too. I think we are going to buy one online.
March 14, 2008 at 3:59 pm
They are AWESOME. If you want any tips on seasoning them, I will hook you up. My dad is the king of seasoning cast iron skillets. It’s simultaneously less complicated but somehow more difficult than it sounds, if that makes ANY sense. Which it does not!
March 15, 2008 at 6:47 am
no worries about the ultrasound. there is some known amount of radiation that a pregnant woman can get without hurting the baby and you can even get a few standard x-rays and be okay. if you had twins or a complicated pregnancy, you would be getting a lot more ultrasounds and still no side effects.
flagyl sucks and the pills are huge. better not to send your baby through bacteria-ville though…
March 15, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Try loys of spinich-it has lots of iron…also raisins.
May 30, 2008 at 12:19 pm
You definitely need to avoid/treat anaemia in pregnancy. Basically, if you are anaemic you will feel dreadful, and it won’t get any better until your ferritin stores and Hb are up. You will feel the effects before your baby, but very low Hb levels do reduce the oxygenation of the blood – which is important for your baby. Also, you are more able to withstand blood loss at the time of the birth if you have higher Hb levels and ferritin stores. If you go into labour seriously anaemic then you are taking an unnecessary risk. Some level of anaemia is normal in pregnancy due to haemodilution (basically you have a higher circulating blood volume, which lowers the proportion of red blood cells in your blood) – nonetheless you should take anaemia seriously.
Luckily it is very easy to ensure you get sufficient dietary iron and – just as important – good iron absorption from plant sources. All plant sources are non-heam iron. The absorption of non-haem iron is inhibited by phytates (unrefined seeds) and polyphenols (in tea and coffee, as well as fruits and vegetables). Fortunately the effects of phytates and polyphenols can be neutralised by organic acids, in particular ascorbid acid (vitamin C). So, the bottom line is – eat iron-rich meals (especially dark green leafy veg alongside vitamin C, and avoid teas and coffee with those meals). Calcium also reduces iron absorption – and calcium is not neutralised by organic acids. However you need some calcium in your diet, especially in pregnancy – the important thing is not to eat calcium-rich foods (or calcium supplements) at the same time as your iron-rich meals.