Day 81...Monday Nov. 2

Anemia seems to run in my family. So as a result, when it comes to that time of the month, I really have to watch out for my iron levels, otherwise my energy peters out. I've had it so bad before to the point where I felt extremely cold, tired, weak, and dizzy so I began taking an iron supplement. The thing is, iron supplements can easily cause constipation, so when buying them, I have to be extra sure I'm getting digestion friendly supplement.

So what does this have to do with Pickle? Well, I was talking with a co-worker who also struggles with anemia and she shared with me the trouble she had when pregnant. When a woman gets pregnant, since the body is pumping more blood flow for baby making, it is vital to keep an eye on iron levels. In some cases, women who weren't originally anemic can actually develop a kind of pregnancy anemia. My co-worker, who came in to pregnancy already anemic, began to take iron supplements (recommended by her doctor) and became horribly constipated. So she became a good friend with dark leafy green vegetables so as to get her iron without backing things up, if you know what I mean.

Out of curiosity, I did a little research about pregnancy and iron deficiency. Here's what I found:

Why does pregnancy make me more likely to become anemic?
Your iron requirements go up significantly when you're pregnant. Iron is essential for making hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to other cells. During pregnancy, the amount of blood in your body expands until you have almost 50 percent more than usual. And you need more iron to make more hemoglobin for all that additional blood. You also need extra iron for your growing baby and placenta.

Unfortunately, most women start pregnancy without sufficient stores of iron to meet their body's increased demands particularly in the second and third trimesters. If you get to the point that you no longer have enough iron to make the hemoglobin you need, you become anemic.

Your risk is even higher if you have morning sickness severe enough to cause frequent vomiting, if you've had two or more pregnancies close together, if you're pregnant with more than one baby, if you have an iron-poor diet, or if your pre-pregnancy menstrual flow was heavy.

This is why the amount of iron you need shoots up during pregnancy from 18 to 27 milligrams (mg) a day. And because it's hard to get enough iron through diet alone, the Centers for Disease Control recommend that pregnant women take a daily supplement of 30 mg of elemental iron as a preventive dose. Many prenatal supplements contain that amount.

Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia, but it's not the only cause. You could also develop anemia by not getting enough folic acid or vitamin B12, by losing a lot of blood, or from certain diseases or inherited blood disorders such as sickle cell disease. The treatment for anemia depends on the cause. Iron supplements are not always the answer. --www.babycenter.com

So there you have it. A little information on how to help Pickle pump that iron!