Folate and other vitamins

Sorry this is a bit of a ramble!

DH and I have decided that we are happy to start trying again - our DD is 12 months old so figured that would be a good gap if we fell pregnant straight away and if we didn't we were happy with that too.

We stopped using protection last week but I only started taking folate this week. Is this bad? Should I have started earlier? Also I thought I might try the Ellivit (can't spell) tablet but it was $55 for 100 pills - folate is $5!! Am I being scungy and so I need all of those extra vitamins? My health is generally good.

Last question - did anyone start feeling symptoms within a week of trying? Is this too early to feel them? I think I might be feeling a little seedy but it could be in my mind!!

I never took any vitamins with any pregnancy before hand .....and then during i would be to sick or forgot!

Never felt anything within the first week of TTC either!

In a ideal world you would take folate prior to conception, but the reality is that this doesn't always happen. If you have a good diet and have started taking it i should think you have nothing to worry about. I started after conception with both pregnancies.

I don't take pregnancy multi vitamins as they make me horribly ill. I am constantly concerned about my vitamin intake though, i try and ensure i have a balanced diet so that neither myself or my babies miss out. It's not always easy when you feel like rubbish.
You don't HAVE to take a multi but it is an easy way to ensure you get all your required vitamins. Elevit is the most expensive, you can take a cheaper one if you want to take one.

As for feelings in the first week. I knew i was preg b/c i felt sick.

Best of luck with your pregnancy. ;)

Yep, it is ideal to take them b4 TTC, but those of us that arent planners and just wanna jump straight into it, that plan doesnt reallly work for us. As soon as i found out we were prg i began taking iron tabs - about $9 from chemist, would have to buy about 3 throughout my pregnancy. I was like you and couldnt afford $55 odd dollars.

ETA: Im a vege, but just made sure i had a good diet, lots of greens, veges, fruit etc....and i have 3 healthly lil girls....;)

Folic acid 0.5mg is recommended at least 1 month prior to and during the first trimester when the baby's Spinal cord and brain form. If your diet is ok, ( you eat 2 pieces of fresh fruit and 3 cups of veg daily with a variety of veg) , you should be ok vit wise. having said that, most of the food in recent years do not have as many vit and usually have a high conc of pesticides etc. As falguni said, Multivit is a good way to ensure we get all the vit reqd for healthy growth of baby, as diet is not always ok even when trying to eat healthy.

Elevit does not have any 'miracle' ingredient but the price is just for their increased testing & advertising! Fefol multi-preg has all the essentials plus folic acid with a lower price tag. That way you can ensure you get other essentials like iron, iodine for healthy brain development of bub.

I don't think you should worry too much about starting to ttc early. good luck and hope you get a BFP soon.

If you have trouble with taking the big vitamins the FGF - ferrogradumet plus folate is a really small tablet and costs about $10 for 30 so much cheaper and easy to swallow.

i started taking natures own pregnancy platinum multivitamins the day after we decided to TTC. i pay $30 for 60 tablets and they have everything you need - folate, iodine etc.
unless i'm one of the lucky ones and fall pg straight away, i'll have been taking them for at least a month before we concieve so i wouldnt be worried that you only started taking folate this week..good luck on TTC

Folate is the only supplement you should need (and maybe iron down the track). You are better off eating well than paying for vitamins. Elevit is not necessary, but folate on its own is a really good idea. It's better to be on it for a while before falling pg, but obviously this isn't always going to happen. Just keep taking it now. Best of luck hun, I hope to hear some really good news really soon.

For my first three pregnancies I was taking folate but I miscarried all three very early.

My fourth pregnancy I wasn't taking it because we weren't trying but I started taking it at 3 weeks (so one week after O) because I suspected I was pregnant.

Once I knew I was pregnant I switched to the Cenovis Pregnancy vitamins which contain fish oil (for bubs eye and brain development). My diet was not the best before pregnancy and got worse during it as I had a small appetite and wouldn't eat a lot of things so it was necessary for me to get vitamins from somewhere. They only cost around $15 for 30 days supply. They contain vitamins to help with morning sickness (I never had any at all, don't know if the vitamins helped with that, could've just been luck). They have zinc in them which supports your immune system - I never got a cold or any type of infection - not even thrush throughout the pregnancy. It also has iodine in it for bubs brain development (new studies show most women are iodine deficient because we don't eat enough iodised salt). Also has B vits and iron to support your energy levels. I managed to work til a couple of days short of 37 weeks (full time), a lot of women half my age don't manage to do that. I have no idea if it was my vitamin intake that helped me have such an easy pregnancy but I can't explain it any other way.

As for your question about symptoms. I started to suspect I was pregnant as I had bleeding gums and a stuffy nose from 3 weeks onwards. I get these symptoms when I am pregnant - they are the first things I notice. I was still temping so I also noticed a two day temp drop at 3 weeks. I was not at all surprised to find myself with a positive when I tested a few days later.