May 2014 Moms

Blue fingernails (not from being cold)?

Has anybody else noticed the nail beds beneath their fingernails being blue?  I've noticed this happening on and off pretty frequently, for the past couple weeks.  Yes it's cold out and yes this normally happens to me pre-pregnancy when my hands get really cold, but a few times lately they've been REALLY blue (darker than ever they were per-pregnancy) and not coinciding with my hands being cold.  A quick Google search comes up with a bunch of different possibilities, 2 of them being B12 or Iron deficiency.  I am planning on asking my OB about this, but in the meanwhile, has this happened to anyone else?  Thanks!

Re: Blue fingernails (not from being cold)?

  • It's probably your iron level. It's super common to be low in iron during pregnancy. I'm pretty sure it's standard to check your iron levels mid-way through pregnancy for this reason. Baby is eating up all the iron he/she needs, not leaving enough for yourself! Iron is really important during your third trimester, so it's standard to monitor that about mid-way through.

    Have you gone for blood work in the past few weeks (your OB would have ordered a set of labs during your 24 or at your next (28 week) appointment)? My understanding is that they like to re-do a lot of the tests they run at 12-14 weeks just to check on the different levels of things (like iron). I had a panel for a bunch of stuff run at 26 weeks and no surprise ... low iron. I'm on an additional supplement of just iron on top of my prenatal now.
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  • It's probably your iron level. It's super common to be low in iron during pregnancy. I'm pretty sure it's standard to check your iron levels mid-way through pregnancy for this reason. Baby is eating up all the iron he/she needs, not leaving enough for yourself! Iron is really important during your third trimester, so it's standard to monitor that about mid-way through.

    Have you gone for blood work in the past few weeks (your OB would have ordered a set of labs during your 24 or at your next (28 week) appointment)? My understanding is that they like to re-do a lot of the tests they run at 12-14 weeks just to check on the different levels of things (like iron). I had a panel for a bunch of stuff run at 26 weeks and no surprise ... low iron. I'm on an additional supplement of just iron on top of my prenatal now.
    @RachelCA29, I actually left a message with my OB on Friday to ask if my iron levels will be checked at my next appointment, bc although they didn't mention this to me at my 24 week appt, I read something similar to what you said about levels being checked at 28 week appt/with GTT.  I left another message this morning and am still waiting for them to get back to me (grrrr...) just to confirm, otherwise I think I'm going to pay a visit to my GP to get my levels checked.  I also have had some low iron issues in the past, pre-pregnancy, so would not be surprised if my iron is low now.  Glad you are on supplements as I understand it can be really dangerous to go through labor with low iron levels.  thanks again for the info!
  • This can also be indicative of low oxygen levels-call your ob/mw!
  • I have Reynaud's syndrome and my hands and feet turn blue when it gets too cold. Even several hours after they warm up, they stay that color. The longer they are cold, the longer the blue lasts later on. 
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  • I agree. It could be a vitamin deficiency. Just check with your dr to be sure.
  • Thanks for all the advice, ladies.  I finally got in touch with the nurse from my OB's office and she said they don'y typically test iron again (which seems odd to me since lots of other ladies I've spoken to said their OB checks it again at 28w and sometimes 34w to be sure before birth) but if I'm that concerned they will check it for me next week.  Thx again!
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