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+SouthernMomma+
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My first post!
+SouthernMomma+
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Hey y'all! Found out I was expecting our second child, two days ago! My husband and I starting trying for baby number two last year. So we are thrilled! A little about us, husband is 27 with the USMC. I'm 24, stay at home mom currently of our 5 year old daughter. We are stationed Camp Lejeune. I only have a couple questions, 1. What type of prenatals can/should I take until I have my first doc appointment? 2. How is the maternity care at the naval hospitals?
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!
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Re: My first post!
CJ 05/29/2013
Hi, welcome and congratulations! Like BLT, we are an Army family, so I can't comment on Naval hospitals.
Through 4 pregnancies and multiple different types of prenatals, they always made me ill. With babies 3 and 4, my midwife had me take Spiderman gummies with extra iron pills and calcium pills. They never made me sick and were far easier to take. Tastier, too.
My H is Navy but I have Standard so I don't go to the Navy hospital here.
As for prenatals, your best bet is to take a chewable or powdered form. A solid vitamin doesn't always completely dissolve in your stomach so you don't get full absorption. I took a powdered prenatal by Nutrametrix all pregnancy, but just ran out and switched to Flinstone's chewables for the last month. My OB said they are the same as a prenatal.
Hi and welcome!
DH is a Marine as well
I was prescribed generic prenatals from the naval hospital when I was pregnant with DD. I ended up getting the gummy VitaFusion brand prenatals because I was having issues with constipation at the end of my pregnancy(they don't have iron in them). Initially, they had them at the pharmacy...but then stopped carrying them. I bought mine at Target.
We are stationed in Twentynine Palms right now and that's where I delivered DD. I was pleased with the care that I received during delivery and our hospital stay. The only thing I wasn't a huge fan of during my prenatal care was having to see so many different doctors, and not really having a choice of who I was going to see at each appointment. I know that some practices in the civilian world are like that though. I guess it was good in a way, because I had seen most doctors and had at least been seen by the doctor that delivered my daughter.
Let me know if I can answer any other questions for you!
We're stationed at Camp Lejeune, too! I've been going to the naval hospital the whole time, and I've really liked it. It's great if you're not high risk, because they have a very hands-off approach when it comes to pregnancy. However, if you are high risk, I'm sure they'll make the appropriate modifications to your prenatal care. I hope you like it as much as I have!
You can call the ob office and ask for the pharmacy to give you the prescription vitamins before your first appointment if you want to save some money. In general, I'm really bad at taking traditional pill vitamins, so I've been taking either the VitaFusion gummies, or Target makes an off brand that was much cheaper. Because they do not contain iron, I forgot to take an additional iron supplement till late in my pregnancy. I ended up becoming anemic, and it may cause further issues when I deliver with bleeding and such. So take iron pills, too, if you choose to take the gummies!