Prenatal Vitamins Questions

[Orglethorp]

Hey ladies!

Alright, so, I'm thinking I should start on prenatal vitamins now. My boyfriend isn't convinced that we need to add the expense to our grocery list just yet, but everything I've read suggests that the extra folic acid present in the first week is very important.

So, opinions. Are you taking anything while TTC?

Canadians (since I live and therefore shop in Canada), what brand do you recommend?

 

[Pinkglitterx]

Hey! Im from the UK so not sure if you will have these there but im taking Pregnacare and they are OTC. They are made for pregnancy but really good for TTC also.

Taking Prenatal Vitamins can be really beneficial as it can aid implantation and help it form and also help to prevent MC. Would definitely get some hun x

 

[spicyorange]

You should take folic acid minimum when ttc, recommendation is at least a month before butit's vital in the very first weeks to prevent spina bifida and you might not know your pregnant. The other stuff in prenatals good but folic acid is essential and quite cheap. Any brand will do

 

[sippy1989]

I'm also in Canada and starting taking a prenatal vitamin before TTCing. I first bought Jameson's prenatal vitamin but found it very harsh on my stomach so i bought just Jamieson's folic acid vitamins and found it went down easy. I also continued to take my regular multivitamin and B6 since i have a bit of a B6 deficiency. Hope that helps!

 

[Orglethorp]

I'm stuck on campus with nothing in particular to do for 4 more hours yet, so I decided to walk down to the drug store. I bought a bottle of Materna, but I stood there in the aisle and hummed and hawed over picking between that and the Jamison one. It's a tiny store, so the choices were those 2 or a no-name that seemed similar to the Jamison formula. I picked Materna purely because it had the higher calcium content, and being lactose intolerant with osteoporosis in the family, that's always my deciding factor when picking a vitamin. If I don't like it by the time the bottle's done, I'll look somewhere with a bigger selection, so I'd still love to hear brand suggestions.

Thanks for the replies!

Materna is only $23/100 tablets, so I don't think it'll be a problem to convince Peter to add it to the grocery list when I need another bottle. I just think he's uninformed and doesn't want to "go all out" too early. You'd think I was crib shopping or something

 

[sippy1989]

If you find materna to be a little harsh on your tummy (I got so nauseous) try taking it with dinner so your stomach is not empty.

Also, another option is to take pregvit if you ask your doctor to prescribe it for you. It's a great comprehensive vitamin and super easy on the tummy!

 

[MrsHudson]

My OB told me to start taking them as soon as you are TTC. Like spiceyorange said, you need at least folic acid because that will greatly reduce the chances of spina bifida and other disorders.

I started using Target's version and I liked them, but switched to Nature Made because it included DHA in one pill. I noticed my hair and nails growing faster on it, so not sure if that means it works better. DHA is also an important one.

 

[babylaw720]

I'm now 15 months ttc, and I started taking prenatals back in January. It can't hurt because it preps your body for a baby and makes it better "living conditions". I'm in the US, but most of the time, the pharmacies around here have them on sale for buy one get one free or something like that OTC. If I paid full price, it would cost me about $15 a month.

 

[firsttimer123]

I use the target brand in Canada and its 8 dollars for 100 pills

 

[DannaD]

I use the costco brand, cheap, looks like everything important is in there, and it doesn't hurt my tummy. There's 360 pills in a bottle so let's pray I won't need more than two

 

[MrsB72]

I take Raw Ones prenatal vitamins. You get great absorption because you take them 3x per day and they aren't hard on your tummy because they are food based. I also take Eskimo 3 Omegas.

 

[stiletto_mom]

I'm in Canada and talked to my doctor as well as a few different pharmacists so say most of the prenatal vitamins are the same. Just make sure it has folic acid in it.

I've been taking Centrum Pre-natal + DHA since August. It costs about $3o something bucks, but inside each box is a $3 off coupon for the next box - lasts about 2 months. We started TTC in October and it was recommended to start about 3 months before TTC so your body has a steady intake/flow of nutrients.

I take it once a day (two tablets). I put it by my computer so I remember to take it daily LOL. I didn't want a heavy "pill regimen". I plan on taking this throughout my pregnancy and whiel breastfeeding.

Since beginning, family members (who don't know I've been taking vitamins) have actually commented on how nice my skin looks. I'm not pg yet, but hope to be soon!!

 

[alchemy]

I started taking them as soon as I got off BC even though we didn't start TTC until more than a year later. I wanted to be prepared in case we had an oops.