When I was in the middle of my third trimester I got the
scary news of a rare pregnancy condition I had developed: cholestasis.
Affecting 1 out of 1000 pregnancies, cholestasis often goes undetected and can
cause fetal demise if not monitored properly. You can imagine how freaked out
and upset I was when I received this unfortunate diagnosis. As you know by now
– all worked out and we have a beautiful, healthy baby girl. What you may not
know is what kind of havoc this condition and pregnancy, in general, wreaked on
my body.
Because of the cholestasis I had weekly bloodwork to check
on my liver and bile acid levels (I promise to post at another time about
cholestasis as I think it’s something that needs more attention – but for now I
will only touch upon it). Each time my blood was drawn I would cross my fingers
that my levels were going down instead of up, which could potentially cause
harm to the baby. When I found out that my iron levels were low as well and
that I was mildly anemic I almost didn’t have brain space left to deal with yet
another issue.
Being anemic didn’t sound too scary compared to what I was
already going through. I was told to take iron supplements right away and that
it could be awhile for the iron to build back up in my system. I found out quickly
that iron also takes its toll on your stomach. At this point in my third
trimester the nausea had returned and starting my day with a swig of liquid
iron was less than appetizing. It also led to additional constipation and stomach
pain. So, it’s probably no surprise that shortly after giving birth, I "forgot" to add those lovely iron supplements back into my daily
regimen.
I experienced a host of other issues after giving birth
including pre-eclampsia, which is typically relieved by having the baby. I had
never realized you could get pre-eclampsia after having a baby. It’s was like I hit
the rare health conditions jackpot.
I also started to experience horrible bouts of stomach
cramps followed by a long trip to the bathroom. This prompted another visit to
my doctor and a battery of tests to find out what the heck was wrong. A
sonogram, bloodwork, and stool sample (yuck!) didn’t tell much. I was left with
a big fat question mark, but found out about yet two more issues. One being a
small kidney stone that had developed. The second being that I was still
anemic.
So, I started back on the iron supplements. That is, when I
remembered to take them. My mommy brain had enough to manage and somehow those
supplements slipped through the cracks. A month or so ago I felt incredibly
dizzy and my husband mentioned it could be my iron levels. I couldn’t believe I
had forgotten to take my supplements all this time. He rushed to the store and
got me a fresh batch.
And then I forgot to take them AGAIN.
A few days ago, the dizziness struck once more and immediately
I realized low iron was most likely the culprit. I decided to google untreated
anemia and, like most google searches for health concerns, it scared the pants
off of me.
I immediately posted to my facebook mommies group and was
shocked that a handful of women were also experiencing dizziness and, like me,
none had seemed all too concerned about it. That is, until I mentioned the
potential fall-out from not getting proper treatment. Which ranges from
fainting spells to heart attack to leukemia.
I am not trying to scare any pregnant or post partum mamas.
But I do want to give you all the kick in the rear that I just got. We sure as
hell have been through a lot with our pregnancies and the challenges of having
a newborn. But we are no good to our babies or ourselves if we ignore our
health.
Please remember to have your iron levels checked. One of the
mamas in my facebook group offered a great piece of advice. She rests her
toothbrush atop her various vitamins so she always remembers
to take them. I urge you to do the same or find a daily trigger that will work
for you.
We owe it to ourselves and our babies to be healthy, strong,
iron women!
