Week 20: The bedtime buffet
Every pregnancy brings its own unique challenges. This time, I’m […]
Every pregnancy brings its own unique challenges. This time, I’m keeping it fresh with a health complication I’ve never experienced before: anemia. Fortunately, this one seems pretty easy to remedy!
I had not experienced anemia inside or outside of pregnancy before now, so I hadn’t even considered that I might have it. After my routine prenatal blood test, my OB presented me with my low red blood cell stats (although everything else looked good—yay!) and asked if I’d been experiencing any symptoms of anemia. First, he asked if I’ve been tired. Duh! I’m a mom of three, I’m pregnant, and I have hypothyroidism. When am I not tired? True, I’ve been even more tired since the pregnancy began, but I figured it was typical pregnancy stuff.
Then my OB asked if I’d had heart palpitations. Actually, yes! I hadn’t thought to bring it up at my appointment, but I had been noticing palpitations—and they freaked me out.
Last, have I been dizzy or lightheaded? No … wait, yes! I’d forgotten, but a couple weeks earlier I had the strangest dizzy spell. Shawn and I were in Park City hanging out with my brother and sister-in-law who were in town for the weekend. It was getting late, and I stood up to grab my coat and head home but suddenly felt super dizzy, like I might pass out. I made it to the car, feeling pretty out of it, but for the drive home and the remainder of the night, I felt so dizzy and couldn’t do much more than lie still. The next morning I felt better, and I soon forgot about the incident.
Under doctor’s orders, I’m now taking an iron supplement twice a day, and I seem to have left the anemia symptoms behind. I was worried the iron might make me nauseous, but I feel fine! And I have a great excuse to eat more hamburgers. I took my boys to lunch at Habit today and enjoyed a juicy one (wrapped in lettuce, no mayo). As far as pregnancy complications and their treatments are concerned, I’ve gotten off pretty easy … so far. I still have at least 18 weeks to go, so who knows what else is in store!
But I’ll tell you what, I’m taking plenty of meds to cure (but mostly prevent) what ails me. My morning pill, my mealtime pills, and my buffet of bedtime pills, complicated by the warning that my calcium or iron pills could impede the efficacy of my thyroid pill, so I have to make sure to take them several hours apart. Most of the time, I remember what to take when. It’s a heck of a lot for someone who doesn’t like to take meds unless they’re absolutely necessary!