Just when I thought I had my daily dietary routine figured out and basically ingrained, I learned that my iron levels are lower than they should be. This is common enough in pregnancy and my midwife said that I might need to start taking an additional iron supplement if my recent blood work showed my iron levels to be too low. As it is, my iron levels have dropped since my first round of blood work (I guess that is not uncommon). So there are some thing that I need to do to remedy my minor iron deficiency. First thing I needed to do was go to the local health food store and buy the iron supplement my midwife strongly recommended so that I could start taking it right away. I need to add the iron supplement in the morning and evening and it must be taken with something acidic. My midwife recommended taking the iron tablet with orange juice but I do not drink juices; my acid of choice is an orange or grapefruit in its whole fruit form. Then there are changes or perhaps minor modification that I need to make to my diet in general. I need to increase my daily consumption of iron rich foods. So instead of reaching for the ground turkey, I need to select red meat, which is not a big deal because we already eat beef several times a week. Now I need to try to eat a hamburger every day. The spinach salad that I eat several times a week, will now become a daily staple as well, along with a daily serving of prunes. My midwife also highly recommended baby beef liver but I have never liked liver. My mom used to make liver and onions and the few bites I managed to swallow were drowned in katsup while the majority went into a kitchen towel and after dinner the liver ended up in the garbage. I just do not like liver!
I was getting comfortable in my routine but things change and it is best to be proactive with low iron levels. I am really grateful that my midwife is on top of things because I would not want to have a problem during the birth of my daughter because of low iron levels!