I need your help please! Iron (HB) low again!

[nickelbabe]

I had my latest (last!) blood test results today - the blood was taken 2 weeks ago.
The HB level is low, even lower than before: it's now 10.0, and the MW is not happy.
apparently, my iron stores are good (normal!)and one of them has even gone up (platelets I think) but she says that because my HB is low, I'm not absorbing it.

Her main issue is that I'm not resting (I own a shop and can't have time off before the birth because I have no one to cover)

My latest plan of action is this:
Today I will close ½ hour early at 5, and then I will open at 10:30 and close at 5 every day. (i don't open sundays anyway)
I have things planned for Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, there is potential to cancel the Saturday night (it's a party), but Thurs and Fri are non-negotiable. I have church on Sunday, and I can't skip that (but it is only a couple of hours so I can rest all afternoon)

DH is a postie, so finishes work at 2-ish and I've said that he can take over the till once we've had lunch.
He has holiday booked all next week, so he can do the lion's share of the work that week.
(i don't do housework anyway, so we don't need to worry about that!)

I have multi-vitamin tablets that I try to remember to take.

I have realised that I tend not to eat all day from when I have breakfast until DH comes in for lunch. (which can be nearly 4 o'clock some days!), supplementing with a couple of biscuits mid-morning.

So, I thought I could have a bowl of ready-brek (lots of iron) with milk and follow it with a satsuma/glass of OJ at about 12?

What I'd like is some ideas of meals that are big in iron and vit C, so that I can get as much ready iron into my system as possible.
MW suggested dried apricots but that made me want to vomit (I might be forced, so I won't rule it out!)
I'm a vegetarian, so nothing with meat in, please! (but do eat eggs and dairy)

I'm hoping that these ideas might help others in my predicament, so I don't mind lots of suggestions (even obvious ones like drink juice with your tablets etc)

thank you! :)

My DH makes roast veg with seeds - sesame, pumpkin, sunflower coating them. Seeds seem to be doing me good. I take Spatone iron sachets which are basically iron rich water and I seem to absorb them better than tablet form. You could also drink vegetable juice with blackstrap molasses as a way of boosting iron intake? I'm veggie like you, I hope this helps.

Spatone? You can pop two satchets in your OJ. Or 1 if you already have supplements.

Although 10 isn't that "low", yes outside normal but MWs usually worry if it's leas than 10. What is she expecting? I can't find any info on iron levels below 10 - NICE mentions a lower figure of 8 something. My old independent MW said iron levels will drop because our volume of blood increases so it's more diluted. They should also look at something else (I'll be damned if I can remember it!) anyway my iron is 9.4 at 37 weeks - I feel fine but am taking spatone as MW wants the level up.

Also eat properly - carry snacks with you like nuts, bits of cheese etc in a Tupperware box that you can dip into regularly.

Spatone - noted. :)

My iron started at 12.8, then it was 10.9 when they checked at 32 weeks, and now it's 10.0.
She said they wanted it to be 11.0 minimum.
The main problem is that I want a home birth, and they're a bit stricter with iron levels with home births because if there's a bleed, they've got to transfer to hospital.

blackstrap molasses? I'll have to look into that, i've never heard of it!

This is useful too...some dietary tips. www.vegsoc.org/document.doc?id=9

if blackstrap molasses is a bit sour for you (and it's sometimes hard to find too), you can have dark treacle. I stir it into vegetable juice and it's quite nice

ooh, very useful link, thank you!

nuts, cheese etc. okay.
(not chocolate though... didn't mention the 2 bars i had on Sunday, thought she might not like that... I was tired, I needed sugar )

It is annoying, though - I'm a blood donor normally ,and have never had these problems before!

hmm, that's intersting.
In that leaflet that sospanfach linked, a lady mentioned that she had shots of Vit B12, and that brought her HB up.
I do eat Special K, which has vit B12 supplement in, so I must look into that too.
(B12 is hard for veggies to get hold of)

Are you taking your multivit with orange juice? I don't know whether it applies to your specific iron issues but if you take your iron with fresh orange juice (or any vit c drink) then it helps your body to absorb the iron more effectively. So perhaps drink fresh orange juice with every meal and with your multivit.
You could also leave your multvit in the till so when you cash up, you take it then and don't forget but make sure you take it with food as it'll make you feel ill otherwise.
Don't eggs have a good source of iron or is that protein?
And if you go with the orange juice idea, buy not from concentrate stuff, more expensive but a better source of vit c

Yes I saw that too...I was told to take B vits so I take a supplement....I think Brewers Yeast tabs are a good source though, too? And quite cheap from Holland and Barrett.

I've been having the multivit after my dinner. problem is, I'm really forgetful (so pregnancy brain has been fun!) so I keep forgetting to take it. MW suggested taking it with juice.

I feel really bad, because I'd been having juice with every meal, but money's been tight, so I rationed us to having juice only with breakfast.
that was a bad mistake.
not from concentrate - check. (I do have a batch of satsumas too)

eggs do have iron as well as protein. I've told DH to hard boil up a batch of eggs so I can bring one each day as a snack (we have hens, so that bit's easy!)

brewer's yeast: yeurgh. I will give it a go though! (i can hide marmite in stuff, can't I?)

Another vote for Spatone here. Take it with OJ and don't forget to boost your folic acid too as you need that to help your body absorb the iron.

Also agree that 10.0 isn't that low.

NICE guidelines say if iron is between 8.5-10.5 then it needs to assessed on an individual basis when planning the place of labour. So if you can get them up to 10.5+ I think you can argue your case.

I had blood loss during my homebirth - well at the end I had a third degree tear. I had the injection to expel the placenta, got to the hospital (via walking to the ambulance) and only required extra fluids. However my irons were much lower than yours at the 28 week point - my body seems to do that as it's doing it again this time around!

So I'd ask your midwife whether higher iron levels guarantee you wont have blood loss (in my case I can't see it would have made a difference as there were other factors present - the tear plus pushing for two hours as DS had his arm by his face). I assume they'll offer you a managed third stage?

Bran flakes are a really good source of iron and also counteract unwanted side effects of iron tablets!

Also you don't mention it in your original post so you've probably got this covered but iron absorption is badly affected by tea consumption, so make sure if you're a tea hound that you don't drink it at mealtimes.

oh, she's not trying to worry me that I will have blood loss, she's just warning me that if I do have blood loss, it might not be so easy to deal with.
As she wrote all this in my notes, I said it looked like a right telling-off!

She's told me several times that she's more worried about my rest than my iron, but I can't do anything about the rest, so I'm honing in on the iron problem.

lentil tomato soup in a flask, so you can have it at 12 or so, if you have a quiet moment? It combines lentil (iron) and vitamin C (tomato), plus keeps your blood sugar stable (always a plus, for anyone!)

Cameron - got that one covered! We had a problem a couple of years ago with drinking tea with meals, so I'm very careful not to do that.
In fact, I have a maximum of one cup of tea a day these days. (and at least an hour after food)

mmmm, that sounds nice, definitely do-able :)

also, sundried tomatoes and sunflower seeds! And put herbs (esp Thyme and Parsley) into your food:

www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/food-sources-of-iron.php

All this food talk is making me hungry!

naughty number 2 being the cocoa - lots of iron, but caffeine to stop it being absorbed!

yes, I agree Iggly. If my canteen special soup is lentil today I am having some

Spatone works wonders. My iron was far, far below 10.0 for most do my pregnancy and just after the birth. Of course it's not good, but 10 isn't that low at all.
Spatone helped bring my numbers up quite a bit. With oj and a kiwi. :)

You can get blackstrap molasses in holland & barett - it's really runny and sticky like treacle btw.

I am veggie too and found an internet recipe for muffins made with allbran, sultanas and blackstrap molasses so ultra iron rich. I have one with a satsuma mid PM. They taste 'healthy' as my OH says but they're nice and cheap as well.

YI was also told you can also soak raisins overnight in water and the water itself is iron rich so can go on muesli etc. I tried that - still not sure why I wouldn't just eat the raisins??!!!! But muesli with extra raisins on it and soaked in OJ instead of milk is a very iron rich breakfast.