Does anyone know about pregnancy vitamins. I take Quixtar (Formerly Amway) vitamins and I love them. Apparently though the double x formula I now take has a RDA in some areas like Vit A that are too high if I take the vitamins twice a day. If I take them once I meet most of the vitamin needs I've read about. But, I take a supplemental Calcium and Iron as they are low or non-existent in double x. I don't want to take the perscribed pre-natal as they are so harsh to the system and cause constipation. Anyone have any knowledge about this. I'm 6 weeks preg. as of today.

Hi, although all vitamins and minerals are important in fetal development, the major ingredients we often look at in a prenatal vit/min are Vit A, Iron, Calcium and Folate. you will want to make sure that Vit A is not too high (which you've been doing - great!) and also Iron is not too high. usually pregnant women in 2nd and 3rd trimester have a high chance of developing anemia so extra iron supplements are needed anyway. therefore you want to make sure the existing prental vit does not contain too much iron so that you won't suffer from iron toxicity. as for folate, most prental vit has 1 mg of folate so you may not need to worrry about that too much. lastly on calcium, calcium is tricky because it really depends on your dairy intake. as long as you consume 1200mg of calcium daily, you are fine. one serving of dairy gives you ~250 - 300 mg of calcium. therefore you need to do some maths to figure if you need any extra calcium supplments.

materna by centrum is the most common OTC prenatal supplements. certainly there are lots of other options such as PregVit or other brands you may find from your local nutrition stores.

good luck

Gloria,

Thanks for the info. I went to the pharmacy today and looked at the ingredient list in four pre-natals the pharmacist had. I compared them to my nutrilite vitamins. I think I will be fine with my current vitamin taking them once a day instead of twice. I am continuing to supplement them with calcium and iron. I eat well too so hopefully all will go well. Thanks for the response.

hi i'm glad you are so health conscious and doing well!!! in case you are not aware, i thought to share with you one of the articles on our website about tuna and pregnancy.

http://www.healthcastle.com/tuna-safe-eat.shtml

pls feel free to post any nutrition related questions here in the future!!

best wishes,

Thank you. I have read the article on Tuna already. I'm just going to skip the tuna for the pregnancy. It sounds yucky to me right now anyway. In fact, food in general is not sounding good lately. I am eating it anyway but its a challenge. Thanks for your support.

Hi wjazz,

Just wanted to encourgae you to eat lots of nutritious foods even though they sound yucky. Remember what you eat will be a part of and help your baby. Good luck with the pregnancy! =D>

Dear Bohmah,

Oh if you only knew!!!! If there was ever a person not to worry about when it comes to eating healthy during pregnancy or just on a regular basis...its me. I just finished my salad as we speak. I have digestive issues if I don't eat well. I eat oatmeal every single morning with fruit and nuts....salads for lunch....lean meats (no red) and veg's for dinner. I do eat carbs too. I eat most things in moderation but severely limit the really bad foods...sugar...refined products. I just have to get in the extra 300 calories they recommend starting in your second tri-mester. I'm not a snacker at all so I have to really work at breaking my meals down into small meals throughout the day. If I could, I'd eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and call it a day. Thanks for the encouragement. I welcome all prayers for a healthy happy baby and pregnancy.

It sounds like you are in your first trimester - am I right? all taste aversions will go away once you enter into your 2nd trimester. sometimes it is more important to do what's "comfortable" than to do what's "right" during pregnancy - babies enjoy a stressless life!!! Enjoy your pregnancy!!!

Hi Gloria,

Well, you just may be onto something. I think my morning sickness is kicking in....only its more like afternoon evening sickness. Tonight I went to make dinner FOR my husband and I'm tellin ya....gag! I reminded myself I was making dinner for myself too! I managed but it wasn't fun. At least I"m sick I guess and hoping its a good sign. I had a vaginal ultrasound last week and the doctor "wished she saw" more in the gestational sac. I had mentioned I had some right side pain when the doc called with some blood test results ie; rubella antibodies and cystic fib gene....all normal. She had me come in for an ultrasound to rule out ectopic preg. She thinks she saw a "fetal pole" but wasn't committing to anything. I spend a lot of time on babycenter.com and thankfully many women who had early ultrasounds for whatever reason did say the doc's weren't always very positive with their findings that early on. I have another ultrasound Monday and I'll be 7 weeks. So all prayers are welcome. I'm 40 y.o. and this will be my first. I just got married to my husband (his first marriage too) 2.5 years ago. I'm healthy and very thankfully do not look my age and boy have I recently had that confirmed which elates me since I'm going to an older mom. Maybe its the pregnancy glow! ha Anyway, I'm talking a lot about preg. on a non-preg forum. I'm not even remembering why I wrote in the first place. The comments have been nice. I'm taking it easy at home and finding myself living at the computer. I am currently a psuedo-retired master's degreed psychologist. I've been able to stay home now and concentrate on getting preg and working on our house. Thanks for your thoughts. Excuse me, I have to go throw up. ha Just kidding. I'm trying not to pre-think about Thanksgiving food so maybe I'll be into it on that day. I love T. food.

Hey Wjazz,

Stay optimistic and hang in there. Most women report that after the first trimester, food aversions [-( and "morning" sickness :-8 decreases dramatically.

Stay healthy and thoughts go out to you and your pregnancy. =D>

And don't worry, pregnancy posts are always a welcome!

Essential fatty acids are immensely important in fetal development not only for the fetus but the mother too.

The brain is the fattest part of the body consisting of 60% fat. If the mother can't suply the fetus then it will rob them from the mother and the mother's brain is the richest source especially duriong the brain formation.

This continues well into the breast feeding since the mother's breast milk contains the highest concentration of EFAs like GLA.

Studies have shown that severe Post partum mothers have up to 7% brain shrinkage.

Thanks for the info. I take EFA everyday but I've only been taking one capsule since pregnant. What I get confused about is how much to take while pregnant. Any idea? My vitamin is from Arrowhead Mills called Flax Oil Seed Refrigerated Version and each capsule contains 1,000 mg. They recommend 3 capsules which in total contain 3,000 mg broken down as follows: Alpha linolenic Acid Omega 3 1,710 mg; Linoleic Acid Omega 6 480 mg; Oleic Acid Omega 9 540 mg; Beta Carotene naturally occuring 3 mcg; Mixed Carotenoids 214 mcg; Mixed Tocopherols 1,590 mcg. Thanks

almost no prenatal vitamins come with EFA unfortunately. EFA like DHA and ARA are naturally present in breast milk - that's why the infant formula companies are adding EFA in their formulation in the past 2 years to mimic the content of breast milk. having said that, no studies have shown the babies born 50 years fed with formula without EFA have lower IQ and poor visual acuity than babies born now it's more than an insurance (more is better; some is better than none) because there is no indication that babies are indeed "deficient" causing any deficiency symptoms.

a few months ago Mead Johnson nutritionals launched a new DHA supplement for expectant and nursing moms called Expecta Lipil. for more info, pls check their website http://www.expectalipil.com/

A lot of talk about Omega 3's in our diets and the lack of them, but the truth is that many people have trouble converting the Omega 6 EFAs at the first step in metabolizing EFAs into more complex EFAs.

A faulty Delta 6 enzyme (the first stage) is the main culprit. Blockaged due to overwelming amount of omega 6(processed oils), viruses, sugar, caffine, deficiancy in certain Vitamins and poor genetics.

To get around this you must have an EFA supplement that has GLA in it. Dr. David Horrobin found that Evening primrose seeds contained the most bio-available source of GLA for human use.

The only trusted brand that has gone through all toxicology testing approved by the FDA, and is a prescription drug in 14 countries (Europe) is EFAMOL brand EPO (Other products claim the same but apply EFAMOL research to their products). Avoid cold pressed primrose oil since the seeds are so small and can't take the pressure, heat or exposure to light during extraction. The oil has to be leached out naturally and in complete darkness.

Always take OMEGA 6 (GLA) at a ratio of 3:1 with OMEGA 3 (EPA & DHA in fish oils).

Gary

Gary,

I just did a quick search on ratio of omega 3 and 6. Numbers are all over the place. Suggestions ranged from 1:1 to 25:1. I am wondering where you got 3:1 and why do you recommend this?

...the 3:1 ratio is due to the percentage of the essential fatty acids in Omega 6 supplements (GLA) to the Omega 3 (fish oil already has EPA and DHA).

In other words the amount of GLA is lower than DHA and EPA. To make up for it EFAMOL Brand has 12% GLA which is 120 mg per 1,000 mg, X that by 3 and you get 360 mg for every 3,000 mg.

Omega 3 side EPA and DHA are usually 90 mg of each per 1,000 mg which is 180 mg per 1,000 mg

So you would get 360 mg (GLA) to 180 mg (EPA/DHA) and we need more 6's further down the enzyme chain than 3's. Now it's a 2:1 ratio. Hope that makes sense.

The liver processes these EFAs for the production of eicosanoids which work off the cell membranes to play a significant role in all of our immune system responses as well as other celluar functions.

Read more about them here,
http://www.westonaprice.org/know_your_fats...s/tripping.html

Gary :c)

[color=#6633FF][size=3][font=Tahoma] Hi wjazz, I was just looking for answers for the same reason a you, I google 'doublex and pregnancy' and I got a really good article from Nutrilite it self on www.amway.com.au/downloads/nutriwaySellsheetsDouble%20X.pdf
I'm too taking it plus Omega3 and Iron Folic also from same brand. They are wonderful products. Hope this links helps you!
Regards,
Pilucha

Omega 3 fatty acids are an important pregnancy vitamin, as they assist in the development of the babys brain and nerve tissue. They are sourced from seafood and dairy products. Iron helps to maintain oxygen levels in the blood, helps prevent low birth weight, and premature delivery. A lack of iron can cause both mother and/or child to become anemic. Iron can be sourced from pork, beef, spinach, and dried fruits.

Seconded, just think about your baby and it'll be fine. I hope everything goes well with your pregnancy.

Hi ericdeko,
The pregnancy is long over the baby will turn 5 shortly ( Nov 22 2004), my how time flies.

Cheers

This doctor is a female who has 3 kids of her own. I'm American and she's Egyptian, I live in the Middle East, so I don't know if she is expecting me to go through pregancy in this regions standards but really, I think in my next pregnancies, I'll stick to American standards. I already told my husband that I want a different Dr. and that this one will definitly not be handling my birth. My husband did many c-sections but refuses to do mine. The Dr. that will be handling the birth will definitly be American trained. My husband works for a Pharmacuetical company and this Dr. that told me this is one of the people that he supplies.