I wonder if anyone actually does have that blooming/glowing feeling that is supposed to happen in the second trimester? I didn't last time, and haven't so far, and I'm 18 weeks.
The single best thing that the midwife has told me so far is to try liquid iron supplements. You can buy these from health shops or from large pharmacies, and Tescos and Morrisons definitely have them too. I've tried Spatone which is quite expensive. Think my fav one is Vitabiotics Feroglobin B12, which has liquid iron, minerals, zinc and B vitamins. (About £3.50 ish a bottle in Morrisons.) You can take it through pregnancy - follow dose recommended for pregnancy - and it doesn't have the level of nasty side affects that iron pills do (had those last time!). I had the max dose of 3 x 5ml daily and after 3 days the utter exhaustion started to lift. That was about 3-4 weeks ago i think. Think I'll just keep topping up with 2 x 5ml now and see how it goes.
Tried Spatone too. That tastes better, but it's very expensive and I find the liquid sachets hard to take without spilling half of it!
So, if you're feeling completely knackered, give this a go. I didn't realise that your body does need more iron than usual in pregnancy, so I think even if your blood results come back 'normal' i.e. you're not officially classed as anaemic, then if you're feeling exhausted past 13 weeks, it's worth trying a liquid iron supplement anyhow.
NB Don't take an iron supplement within at least 30mins of anything containing tannin e.g. tea (black tea, not redbush) or wine, as that reduces the level of iron your body will absorb.
Hope this helps some people. :)