Vitamins, Supplements, & Medications

Many of you already know that I took progesterone supplements throughout the first trimester of my pregnancy, and as well, you probably know I have the MTHFR mutation. With the mutation comes a few different changes I’ve had to make in order for my body & baby to absorb the vitamins we need. Many of my friends also know that I’m more natural minded when it comes to health & vitamins. So with all of that, I wanted to share with you what vitamins, supplements, & medications I’m taking throughout this pregnancy.

To explain briefly what the mutation is, it means that my body has a methylation problem. When we eat folic acid, our body converts it into methylfolate so that we can absorb it, but because of the methylation problem that comes with MTHFR, my body cannot convert folic acid into what it should be. Therefore, my doctor had me go gluten free (mostly just wheat free) because so much of our flour is “enriched” or “fortified” with high levels of folic acid. If my body has too much folic acid, it can create a buildup of it, then making it hard or impossible for any folate (the natural form) to enter my body. It’s basically folic acid (synthetic form) vs. folate (natural form). So why is this important with pregnancy? Folate is a highly important vitamin our babies need while in the womb.Thankfully my folate levels were good when we tested them, so that’s why my doctor didn’t prescribe me extra folate, but now I just have to be carefuly to only take folate vitamins in the natural form. With all that research, I came across one of my favorite vitamin brands, Garden of Life.

1. I take the Garden of Life RAW prenatal which is made up of organic fruits & vegetables as well as probiotics. When you’re taking a whole food vitamin in general, your body actually absorbs it, whereas synthetic vitamins are barely absorbed. I’m not going to give you facts & numbers because I’m still learning myself, but you can do your own reasearch on it if you’re interested. The RAW prenatal is 3 capsules a day, which was a lot during my first trimester, just because they don’t smell the greatest when you’re nauseous, but now they’re really easy for me to take.
2. I was on 200mg a day of progesterone prescribed by my doctor from the day I got my positive pregnancy test to the end of my 13th week.
3. Every day since even before I was pregnant, I’ve been taking 1 baby aspirin a day. Many women who have multiple miscarriages are told to take this, as well as anyone with the MTHFR mutation. One of the side effects of the mutation is miscarriage, due to the baby not getting enough blood because of blood clots. The aspirin is supposed to help with that.
4. Every night I take a strong probiotic. The 2 I love most are Dr Axe Live Probiotic & Chime Probiotic 250 Billion. With these, I only take 1 capsule a day instead of the recommended 2 or 3 because they are pricey, but I still feel like 1 capsule will do it’s job. I’ve been reading soooo much about the benefits of taking a probiotic during pregnancy, that there’s no way I would take this out of my daily routine. Not only does it help keep me regular (which pregnancy tends to make you unregular haha), but it will have so many benefits for my child as well.
5. This next one is not a pill or supplement, but recently we started drinking alkaline water. We started drinking it initially for overall health after learning how acidic our bodies have become (thanks to preservatives, pesticides, junk foods, etc) & also because I was having some acid reflux from pregnancy & wanted it gone!! We have only been drinking it for a couple weeks now, but almost immediately my acid reflux went away! That is worth it for me just for that reason, but the more I researched, the more I found out how beneficial it is for pregnancy. Here are a few things about it:
   1. Helps reduce morning sickness because it lowers the acidity in your body. Pregnant bodies tend to be more acidic, hence the nausea & heartburn.
   2. Reduces the likelihood of jaundice in your baby.
   3. Increases lactation in the mother.
   4. Reduces calcium loss during pregnancy.

*Alkaline information from www.pregnancyrelated.com

**I am not a doctor & every body reacts differently & has different needs. With the alkaline water, talk with your doctor/midwife beforehand, as well with any vitamins or supplements you want to take.