The 7th Month

Bad about posting the last few weeks, but good about taking weekly pictures. Here's a visual update:
31 weeks
32 weeks
33 weeks (sorry about the dark clothes, I didn't realize how much it would hide the belly in the head-on picture)

34 weeks
And now you are all caught up! Baby looks great and remains head-down. My ribs are sore from probing toes, knees and bottom. I try to take it in stride and remember that the little one is feeling just as squished as I am, but I know my family is probably getting tired of hearing me groan and complain.

On the recommendation of my care-providers I am taking a daily regimen of 5 different pills; my pre-natal vitamin, a calcium/magnesium supplement, bio-flavonoids, evening primrose oil, and an iron supplement called Blood Builder which is made completely from plant sources so it's not binding (yay!). Even after taking the iron supplement, my hemoglobin was only at 10.5...we want it to be up to at least 12.

I have always leaned toward the anemic side and have been unable to donate blood a few times because my iron levels weren't high enough. Taking the information I have learned from those experiences allowed me to make 2 important adjustments to my vitamin schedule

• I am taking the Blood Builder in the morning with a glass of OJ. Calcium and Iron use the same binding site in our bodies when it is absorbed into the bloodstream so I wasn't doing myself any favors by taking it at the same time as my pre-natal and my Calcium/Magnesium.
  
• Vitamin C promotes the absorption of Iron so I switched from taking it with water to taking it with OJ.

After a week my hemoglobin is sitting right at 12. I think everyone was surprised at how quickly I was able to bring my iron up and I have been told to "keep doing what you're doing." I also did a food diary for a week and after the first 3 days Brett sat down with me to review my progress. He was appalled and vowed to get involved. I am supposed to be consuming 80-90 grams of protein every day and I wasn't anywhere close! The next 3 days of my food diary show significant improvement and hopefully Brett will keep me focused with plenty of palatable, simple options. With the baby taking up so much space, I really don't have much of an apetite so it is going to be tough to fit everything in, but with Brett's help I am making better choices about prioritizing which food groups to include in my meals and what actually goes in my mouth.

Our goal is a healthy baby!