SEVERE anemia while pregnant - am I really the only one?!

[3bypassbabies]

Has anyone had a blood transfusion WHILE pregnant? I am 29weeks and was admitted to receive two units of blood, some b12 and iron ivs this week after my routine glucose test revealed a hemoglobin concentration of only 5.4 g/dl . Apparently for a normal non chronically anemic person this should have been a deadly number.

After all that my hgb had only climbed to 6.2 so I am going back for 4 more iron treatments over the course of the next 6 days. I'm Also getting daily b12 shots.

This is my third baby since my gastric bypass 5 years ago (we HAD bypass to make babies after years ttc at 450lbs) and while my vitamins have been low each time I have always been able to maintain safe (albeit low) levels with just a rigorous oral supplement schedule.

I was blindsided by this. The nurses all ask "How could you miss it? How did you get out of bed?"

I have two rambunctious boys under the age of 3 and I'm in my third trimester. I was supposed to notice the symptoms of being "tired" and "lightheaded"?! That's every day.

Anyway, I'm feeling like an anomaly - neither my doctor or the 20 year veteran labor nurses have ever had to give a transfusion to a woman who's still pregnant and no one seems to know why its not helping or what to do after these 4 iron infusions. Since i always get preeclampsia (proteins and high bp) around week 32 I'm also wondering how this will effect that shoe when it drops.

Can anyone relate to any of this?! Am I really such an anomaly? I thought even severe anemia is common in pregnant women....

 

[Eternal]

Wow, it's very very unusual to get blood while pregnant, it really is not the done thing. I had several room infusions during my last pregnancy, my iron was extremely low and I asked about blood and they said it NEVER done in pregnancy, I think do to the fact baby probably has another blood type, not sure of that's affects them, but the NICE guidelines also say no blood.

I found the iron infusions helped.

Well done on the weight loss, how much did you manage to loose (if you don't mind me asking)?

I think it stems from the gastric bypass, hope it improves. A low iron count could cause problems if you bleed in labour and if you need induced as there is a greater chance of needing intervention.

 

[2have4kids]

What kind of prenatal are you taking? And what are you eating when you take it? Read on, I just found out why this is SO important.
Ppd and learning disabilities have been directly linked by the WHO to low iron:

I'm not even preggers yet but my pharmacist went OFF on general prenatals when I picked up my PregVits yesterday. PregVit, the one my doc prescribed, has 2 pills, pink & blue, pink = iron & vit C in am, blue = calcium in pm. He said too many women take an all-in-one prenatal and the calcium binds with the iron in your tummy causing you seriously bad side effects (upset tummy, constipation, and MALABSORPTION). He said you have to take iron with orange juice or vit C and absolutely no milk or calcium. Also, some ladies in third tri are still deficient even with a good prenatal. He said then you need to take liquid iron if this happens. It's SO hard to absorb iron from a pill (goes for calcium too). He said 28mg is the recommended iron dose for a pregnant lady and asked me if I knew how much this is? Apparently it's 30 heaping plates full of spinach. Do you drink pop or caffeine (coffee)? This will leach the iron and other nutrition from your body.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Iron carries the oxygen on each blood cell. Low iron = low oxygen for baby. Oxygen deprivation causes developmental issues (primarily in learning disabilities, delayed speech, ADHD etc) and is the most common side cause for ppd. You need to ensure you're eating high iron foods: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/

Saying all that, once you're getting enough iron, getting vigorous exercise improves circulation and oxygen for baby. So a 1/2 hou to hour brisk walk everyday. What you do now will effect your child for a lifetime!

 

[ttc126]

hi I'm so glad I stumbled on your post. I just delivered my son in August. I had to have a blood transfusion done at 22 weeks pregnant. I have a blood disorder called thalassemia. it makes me very anemic during pregnancy. when I had my blood transfusion done I was very worried but couldn't find any information online about blood transfusions DURING pregnancy. Due to the thalassemia my hemoglobin was monitored throughout my pregnancy and that is how my doctors knew i needed blood.
mention thalassemia to your doctors. a characteristic is low hemoglobin that will not resolve with iron treatment.

meanwhile, feel free to message me if you have any questions as I've been right where you're at before.

 

[ttc126]

I also wanted to add not to worry about receiving blood while pregnant. my little one is absolutely fine. I also had preeclampsia and was induced unexpectedly. I needed to have a blood transfusion after delivery also so make sure they check your levels often.