anyways, here is the regimen:
morning--Obimin (multivitamins formulated for pregnant women)
Calciumade 600mg (calcium supplement)
evening--folic acid supplement 5mg
Calciumade 600mg
so horribly scared i might deprive the baby of essential vitamins and minerals that i am consciously complying to the prescription. more so because almost 10 years ago, i wrote an advertorial series for Gerber Baby Food about pregnancy and raising a toddler and there are some stray facts that have stuck to me.
folic acid is important in developing fetuses, especially at the first trimester. in fact, women who intend to get pregnant are advised to ramp up their folic acid intake because it helps in the baby's spinal development and helps prevent birth defects like spina bifida (where the spine or bones covering the spinal cord are not fully developed and therefore do not encase that which they are supposed to protect).
calcium and i have no love affair. i am just not fond of drinking milk. before prescribing the calcium supplement, my OB and i did have a discussion over what my options were. my lactose tolerance only allows about a glassful of milk a day, and i don't even drink that much. i only put some in my coffee, and some in my cereal (except i usually eat bread for breakfast) and the occasional yogurt or creamy dessert. so not consistent and not enough. she asked if i would consider soy milk. yech. i tried it once before and threw the bottle after a couple of gulps. and my question is still--why replace something over the real thing? (i.e. why drink soy milk when there is real milk?) anyway, i'm going around in circles. the conclusion was, to ensure that i was getting enough calcium, i had to take 1200mg a day. that's 2 large pills. each about the size of the last segment of my pinky.
multivitamins--again, more as an insurance barrier in case i am not diligent about what i eat. eating healthy (and consuming the recommended daily amount of nutrients is not as simple as you think), so taking supplements was an easy way out.
of course, they have some cost implications
calciumade Php 5.50.tablet x 2 per day
obimin Php 179.26 tablet bottle of 30
folic acid Php 5.20 per tablet
that's about Php 17 worth of supplements per day. and there is no big difference whether you purchase them individually or in a bottle/jar. i have also inquired about alternative brands for the calcium but none appeal to me, and the others i have seen are even slightly bigger and that makes me gulp in a bad way.
i'm stuck with these for now.
