Baby: Prenatal Vitamins

When I had my first prenatal checkup, my doctor gave me a lot of prenatal vitamin samples along with other freebies and coupons for me to take home. Think of it as a welcome-to-the-club basket sort of thing. I asked the nurse why I had to try so many, she said just find one that I feel comfortable taking every day for the next months until after I give birth.

I could not imagine, at first, how many existing prenatal vitamins were in my goodie bag. Each brand had its own formulation, pill size, taste and, of course, price. One brand even required me to take 2 different pills on a daily basis.

So what do you get from prenatal vitamins anyway? According to doctors, a mother's diet does not have enough nutrients for the baby to be as healthy as it can be. Prenatal vitamins make up for this deficiency. Folic acid is needed to lessen the risk of spinal cord and brain defects. It also includes calcium to help the baby grow bones, and not deplete your own calcium supply. Iron... to help blood carry oxygen. And there's this thing called DHA. It's a type of omega-3 fatty acid to somehow help cell membranes develop.

I tried all the samples my doctor gave me. I did not find one that was suitable for my taste. One brand did not have DHA, so I still needed to buy additional DHA supplement to take it with. Another was so ginormous that I found it difficult to swallow. One tasted like weird chocolate, and another tasted fishy (I later found out that the DHA in that brand was made from fish oil).

Finally, I found the right one for me. The brand was called Prenexa. It was great! It tasted just a bit chocolatey, and it even had plant-based DHA. The only downside to it was the price. It was not covered by my prescription insurance so I was paying something like $40 a bottle. Man it was expensive!

Then luckily I found this manufacturer's coupon here. I can get $30 off per bottle for 9 months! That's great, right? Right on time for my delivery next year, plus a bit more during my post-natal months. In the end, I was paying $10 a bottle. Great deal!

Of course I am not a doctor, and pregnant women still need to consult their OB/GYN about which prenatal vitamin to take.



This post is by no means sponsored by Prenexa or Upsher Smith. Images taken from www.prenexa.com