Finding the right stuff: (Part 2)

Prenatals

Although I didn't take prenatals every day, I've taken them for a couple years leading up to this pregnancy. I've heard over and over how important folic acid is for proper development of the fetus, but there are some other perks: My hair and nails are strong and shiny, the B vitamins balanced out some of my pre/menstrual cramps, and I'm sure I needed the minerals such as Iron and Selenium.

With that said, a healthy diet is also very important for building a healthy baby- and maintaining a healthy mom! I've heard someone say a baby can be built on cheetos (prenatally, that is) and then after giving birth, the mom would just fall over because she would have given every bit of nutrients to the baby from her own body. Whether that is true or not, it helped remember that whether or not I took my vitamins, I was building a full new system, bones and all, inside me.

Garden of Life is the brand I finally decided on once "we" were pregnant, and I switched between the RAW prenatal and the Kind Organics RAW Vegan prenatal.

Here are some reasons I chose the "Garden of Life" brand:


Although I take other supplements that include silica and magnesium stearate, I wanted something I believed in for pregnancy, especially since I wanted to take them quite frequently.


After birthing our son, we found out that I am to continue taking prenatals as long as I am nursing. 

I also used some other supplements before, during and after pregnancy. I'll list these on a separate post.


I generally do not want fillers in my vitamins. Vitamin fillers are often added to give texture, firmness, or homogenization to a pill. These are available as capsules as well and they actually taste quite good. Sometimes I add them to water or juice. I was concerned about source materials and concluded that whole foods are the best foods for mom & baby, since this way they are not made from things I'd be disinterested in eating. Check out the ingredients ---->