19 Weeks & Anemia

19 weeks today.

And last week I got the official word from the nurse that I'm anemic.  I have been the past 3 pregnancies.  I just learned via google that it's pretty common, about 80% of pregnant women are anemic.  Any iron storage I may have once had is pretty much depleted in this 9th baby round.  I got back my lab results last week and even though I was already taking my prenatal vitamin and an additional iron supplement, they were still a little low.  Doh.  My doctor gave me a different brand of iron to use for a few weeks, so we'll see if that helps my energy at all.  What to do.  I did good working out the first part of the week last week but then my energy was gone on Thursday and Friday, didn't workout Saturday either.  Friday I did faint though.  I had eaten breakfast and taken my supplements then went to the temple and fainted during initiatories.  Luckily I was sitting down when my dizzy spell came on, which I thought was weird to have it happen while I was sitting, but I was glad I didn't hit the floor and no one had to catch me.  When I came to the nice temple lady was there just holding my hand letting me know I had just passed out and a medical guy was coming to help me.  My color had returned but they were nice and gave me some OJ and I was able to finish the work. 

So, my new focus this week is diet - (should be doable now that all the Valentine chocolates are gone, haha.)  I've been doing lousy at diet up til now and just eating whatever junk I crave, but I'm going to force myself to eat salads and protein and healthy food.  Some foods it recommends online: Eat foods rich in iron, such as liver, beef, whole-grain breads and cereals, eggs and dried fruit. Eat foods high in folic acid, such as wheat germ, beans, peanut butter, oatmeal, mushrooms, collards, broccoli, beef liver and asparagus. Eat foods high in vitamin C, such as citrus fruits and fresh, raw vegetables. Vitamin C makes iron absorption more efficient. Take prenatal vitamin and mineral supplements, especially folic acid.

That's a lot of food to eat.  Hope I don't gain another 10 pounds this next month...  My 4th to 5th month is when I usually pack most of my weight on.  I say it's cause my babies are believers in food storage so they like to get that taken care of first thing, making sure their milk supply is ready for them.  Also going to google around some more a little each day and see what else I can learn about helping myself with this anemia (any advice from Dr. Read?) and I'm taking naps. 

As for workouts, I did some lat pulls today Body for Life style and got a great burn for my arms with my last 24 reps at 85lbs.  Also did 12 minutes of planks.  Going to try to just eat well, keep my core strong (I think my doing planks totally helped me during my quick delivery and fast recovery last pregancy) and do yoga and stretching.  :)