I'm Anemic. Give me Iron... and Fiber!

I have never been able to donate blood due to the my low amount of iron. Though I've never been classified as Anemic until my last doctor's appointment. I'm usually labeled with having "borderline anemia". Apparently it is not uncommon for women to become anemic during pregnancy because there is almost a 50% increase in the amount of blood produced, which means the body requires more iron to make more hemoglobin for all the additional blood. Also, you need extra iron for the baby and placenta. [Thank you Babycenter.com]

So with that being said... I am Anemic. This makes me so happy... yeah. Not really. It means I have to take iron supplements along with my prenatal vitamins. Let me tell you how much this blows. A LOT. Let me tell you why...

1. Both of these pills make me nauseous. When I say nauseous, I mean I have to eat a lot of food with them or else it will be vomited back up within 15-20 minutes. Just ask my fiancé. 
2. Not only do I have to take one iron supplemental pill, but I have to take two a day. Twice the chances I'll have to throw it up. 
3. I have to pay for these pills. I had a breakdown at the Walgreens pharmacy today. To start off, I listed the wrong address because they still had my old address in their system. Not that big of deal. Then she told me that not one of my three insurances covered the cost of these pills. She asked me if I still wanted to get them. [LIKE I HAD A CHOICE]. Obviously I never wanted to get these in the first place. Tears decided to fill my eyes. I said to the lady, "I don't want to get them because they make me nauseous but I don't have a choice so YES, I will pay for them." She starts telling me about fiber... I ask, "How many months supply do I have here?" She says only one month. I did not want to have to come back and buy these pills every single month... And then the tears came rolling down my cheeks. I quickly handed her my credit card and apologized for crying and told her I couldn't help it because I'm pregnant. I cried all the way home. [**MAJOR PREGNANCY EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN... Guess how much these pills cost? $6.00. Guess how much longer I'll be pregnant. 2 months. So even if I have to take these iron pills for a few months after my pregnancy as well, it is not a big deal... Like I said originally, I had a break-down. And a pointless one at that.]
4. The doctor recommends eating a lot of fiber because apparently this much extra iron is highly likely to cause constipation. So now I'm paranoid because I'm lucky to have rarely experienced this and don't know what to expect [besides the worst]! So to expand upon my paranoia, I will tell you what I just ate for dinner. 

• 2 slices of whole grain bread (4g of Fiber)
• Peanut Butter (2g of Fiber)
• Special K- Fruit & Yogurt cereal (6g of Fiber)
• TLC Cherry Dark Chocolate Granola Bar [tastes disgusting] (4g of Fiber)
• Total Fiber Consumed= 16g of Fiber
• Total Fiber recommended= somewhere between 20-35g/day

Anyways, I was a little melodramatic today over this whole "Anemia" issue but there are definitely worse problems to have. I'm hoping that with the increase of iron, I will have at least a little more energy throughout the day. I have been so ridiculously tired these past two weeks. With that being said, I am off to take an evening nap because my eyes are getting droopy. Nighty Night.