Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Vita-huh?

I am up to five vitamins per day.  FIVE.  I had to do some research on vitamins because while, yes, it is wise to ingest vitamins, I'm also supporting a whole other form of life (ie: Eleanor) so I had to double check if I needed to up or down my doses.  That said, this is what I'm taking for a "lactating female ages 18-50".  Got it? Here we go.

D3- 400IU from my prenatal, 1000IU from a softgel.  My prefrence is a softgel form because I feel like they break down easier in the stomach and more of that vitamin goodness is absorbed instead of ending up in the sewer.  I recently read that if pregnant or lactating, 4000IU should be taken.  Hopefully I'm getting the rest in the form of food.  And sun.  I'm pretty pasty this time of year, so maybe not the sun.

Fennel- simply put, it's good for Eleanor's belly and keeps her from getting gassy.  I am not willing to go a day off of it to test to see if it's working or not.  All I know is, she isn't gassy.  Sold!

Fish Oil- My mom is borderline diabetic, on cholesterol and blood pressure meds. People in my family have had strokes.  I like red meat.  Houston we have a problem.  Fish oil to the rescue!  Doododoodoooo!!!!  300mg per day of DHA is what I'm rooting for, not necessarily Omega-3 fatty acids.  There is a difference but it involves a lot of big words and it's past my bedtime so I'm not going there. My prenatal vitamin has scored a zero in the DHA section, so I take 300mg in a softgel form.  If you are burping tuna after taking fish oil, store your bottle in the freezer and take the pills frozen.  Wha-bam, no more fish breath.

B12- Don't take your B12 with an antacid (Tums, Mylanta, etc) because it will inhibit it's absorption!  Also, put the pill UNDER YOUR TONGUE before swallowing! My mom mentioned my aunt takes B12 "for energy".  If all I need to do is take a simple $4/bottle pill for some added oomph to my day, sign me up.  Sure enough, signs of a B12 deficency are memory loss, fatigue, and depression.  These are also the signs of an overworked underpaid mother of three young children.  I started taking B12 just in the last week and haven't noticed any amazing differences in my energy levels but only time will tell.  One pill = 500mg and the bottle recommends taking one to three a day.  I'm just getting started so one a day is good enough for me.

Prenatal- generic and boring.  I'd love to try Supermom vitamins but they are a bit out of my $4/bottle budget. 

One last thing, I have a sneaking suspesion that my thyroid has gone caput.

Low thyroid levels (hypothyroid)



Moms who are hypothyroid have low thyroid hormone levels and elevated TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) levels. Symptoms include cold intolerance, weight gain, dry skin, thinning hair, poor appetite, fatigue, depression and reduced milk supply.

This was a simple copy and paste from the website KellyMom

Here is my hypothyroid reasoning

*Kendall is tired finding my hair all over the place, but it could be stress and post baby hormones. 

*I'm cold but, hello, I live in Minnesota. 

*My scale is my enemy. 

*I'm going through moisturizer like nuts but I also have the heat running. 

*I'm tired but I have three small children.

*One of the reasons I quit nursing Ernest was my milk was dwindling, although I was also pregnant with Eleanor at the same time. (Tandem nursers, unite!)

Let's see what happens, let the adventure continue!




1 comment:

  1. I felt the same way about going in about my thyroid levels, but finally (because of resting heart rate of 126) went in to the Dr. Was so glad I did! Can I say that again? Was so, so, so glad I did. Had hyperthyroidism, which when very, very hyper, has same symptoms of hypothyroidism. Was so nice to take a pill to increase energy, lose weight, gain hair, and feel so much better! It takes a bit to get the level adjusted to what feels right for you. It's a pretty big "normal" range, so hopefully you'll have a Dr. who will work with you.
    Since I couldn't remove my malfunctioning pituitary, I had my thyroid removed, as the med. I was on for hyperthyroidism wasn't good for long term. Lost the functioning of one vocal chord, but now just take generic synthroid like so many other hypothyroidistic people. (Is that a word?) :)
    Join the club! :)
    Daisy

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