6.5 months pregnant and B12 too low

[currumbinpen]

Hi there, I am Pen and I live in Australia. I am 6.5 months pregnant with my first baby and am pretty well. the morning sickness has been quite full-on, and i am having heartburn/indigestion on and off all day, and consequently have found it hard to eat as much as i used to before i was pregnant. but i am eating good food, just not enought of it. I am taking Floradix liquid, but have recently upped the doseage.

I had standard blood tests at 26 weeks (for sugar etc) and i asked my GP to test my B12 as I was curious to see how it was seeing I wasn't eating enough. My GP called me in great alarm with the results - everything was normal but my B12 was very low, in the 70's (I will know more when i can get a copy of the results) So I am starting B12 injections tomorrow.

My concern is - have I caused any damage to my unborn child by having such low B12? Bearing in mind that I don't know how long it was been low, and that I haven't had any particular low B12 symptoms (pins & needles, blurred vision etc).

I'd love to hear from anyone!!

Pen

[iris]

Hi Pen,

I wouldn't worry to much, many women not just Vegans have really bad sickness during pregnacy and spend most of it eating dry crackers and sipping lemonade, myself included.

Your baby is going to get everything before you do, it sucks all the nutrients out before your body gives you any so if your B12 stores are low your baby gets first go at what is there and you get whats left over so if you aren't feeling any side efects i'm sure your little babe is fine:D


I have been through two pregnancies the first i didn't know i was for ages and i really was eating poorly and then i was so sick i could hardly keep anything down and i was really worried as my iron levels were shockingly low and my Ob assured me that i was the only one suffereing bubs was getting any iron i had and i was the one missing out. Julie is now a healthy happy 2 yr old

I hope this gives you a little piece of mind :)

Can i ask where in Australia you are?

[sophie]

Hi Pen!
Good luck with your pregnancy, I'm sure your baby will be absolutely fine. I agree with Iris- your baby has probably been sucking up all your B12!It's good that you've found out about B12 now, so you can get onto it. I think some people absorb B12 differently from others, as my sister and I take the same supplements and my B12 is fine but hers is low, so she gets injections now.
With my 3rd pregnancy (my son is now 7 mths old) I had great iron levels at 10 weeks, but got very low in iron at the end of the pregnancy. The baby was fine, it was just me that got low! The baby will take whatever it needs from your body.
It's pretty full-on with a first pregnancy, with my first I was worried about lots of things, as I couldn't get much info about vegan pregnancies, but all three of my babies have been very healthy. All the best, and tell us how it goes!
Ps Are you in Currumbin? Is that where the bird sanctuary is? If so, I've been there! I'm a kiwi, but I'm half aussie;)

[currumbinpen]

thanks Iris and Sophie - I'm feeling much better after reading your posts so thanks thanks thanks.

i think you're right about absorbtion being different, my mum has low B12 and she's a regular meat eater, but her absorbtion isn't that good.

i will investigate some more supplements in addition to my B12 injections. I'd love take Blackmores pregnancy and breastfeeding ones, but they have tuna oil in them. i'll have a look at a few more, have injections, up the Floradix and try to eat more !!!!!

then i need to get some books on raising vegan children - any recommendations?

just a bit of background - my husband has been a vegan since he was 18 (he's 35 now), and being a vegetarian on and off for a few years, I've been vegan since 1998 (i'm 36). we both enjoy cookingwe don't know many vegans, but all our friends love eating at our house and we do a good dinner party!

yes, i live in Currumbin, south east QLD. an hour north to brisbane, and 34mins south to Bryon Bay. A beautiful part of the world. Currumbin Bird Sanctuary is here, and it's a great day out. I took my then 3.3 yr old neice last year, and she still talks about when we went to "bird country"!

thanks again girlies
Pen

[Erin Pavlina]

Hello,

First I want to welcome you to the boards and congratulate you on your vegan pregnancy.

It's good that you caught the B12 situation now, and I'll agree with the others that your baby is probably just fine.

After the babe is born, be sure you're also getting a good source of B12 each day. I was recently pregnant and relied on fortified rice milk and fortified juices that were giving me more than my 100% daily recommendation. It was a fast and easy way for me to be sure I was doing it right. I don't much care for nutritional yeast so that wasn't a good option for me.

I've authored and published a book called Raising Vegan Children in a Non-Vegan World (http://www.vegfamily.com/raising-vegan-children/index.php?src=forums). Many of the people on the board own a copy so could probably tell you about it.

Or just click on the link to learn more about the book.

And now I have to ask... what is the difference between an Aussie and a Kiwi?

[sophie]

Erin- LOL, a kiwi is slang for someone from New Zealand (named after a small flightless bird native to New Zealand, and not after the fuzzy brown fruit), and an Aussie is an Australian.
Pen- glad you feel better. Do you get the Thompsons supplements over there? They are the ones I take, the B12 is supposed to be good, and the organic iron (that I took when pregnant) is quite digestable, it also contains B12.
All my rellies live in Brisbane, by the way, I love it there. I love Byron Bay too. Haven't been over for 4 years, hopefully it won't be too long before I'm back!

[Erin Pavlina]

Thanks, sophie, that clears up a long-standing mystery for me. :)

[currumbinpen]

Well, i had my first B12 injection yesterday and today started taking a supplement called Elevit, a pregnancy and breastfeeding supplement. It has 4 micrograms of B12 per daily tablet, the daily suggested amount being 3 micrograms. so hopefully i haven't developed pernicious anaemia and can absorb this! I knew about Elevit, I don't know why I didn't take it all the way along GRRRRRR.

So hopefully, I will be on the road to recovery now. i guess i'll have some more blood tests in a few weeks to check levels.

Love that byron bay, off for a lunch and shop day in 2 saturday's time!

Thanks again
Pen

[currumbinpen]

hiya, i just wanted to pop back and say that my son is now nearly 6 months old, is fully breastfed and is thriving. we are still seeking and consuming B12 supplemented foods, which means we have switched to a different soy milk, and we're both taking B12 tablets too. we are planning to TTC baby no. 2 in the next few months, and i'm glad i'm going into this pregnancy with my B12 sorted out.
Pen

[Erin Pavlina]

Glad to hear it. Thanks for the update!