I have a revelation... I didn't always take my prenatal with my first pregnancy.
The truth is after several tries, I simply could not keep it down.
Aside from the morning sickness...scratch that, constant nausea I was 
experiencing anytime I attempted to down my prenatal pill, it didn't stick, if you know what I mean (insert nauseated face emoji) .
I remember my doctor suggesting I take them with a small amount of food but that really didn't work in my case.
Normally I eat healthy meals, but the truth is I wasn't really keeping much down, so my fear was how important was it that I even take a prenatal?
Is taking a prenatal important during pregnancy?
Taking a prenatal during pregnancy and even while trying to conceive is important, because it provides the essential nutrients for the prenatal development of the baby.
Studies have even shown that taking a prenatal and ensuring pregnant moms get enough folic acid is very important.
In fact taking folic acid 12 weeks prior to conception some would even consider most important, because it allows it to build up in your body and offer the most protection against neural tube defects.
(I truly wished someone had told me to start taking a prenatal prior to getting pregnant so my body could have been best ready (considering nausea doesn't set in until you conceive at least I could have had a build up of healthy folic acid).
If you aren't taking prenatal vitamins, there is the possibility that neural defects for baby, which is essentially when the babies skull and brain do not form correctly and can also impact the formation of the spine and spinal cord.
To sum it up a prenatal can reduce the risk of pregnancy complications and that's massively important.
My doctor even suggested because I wasn't keeping much down it was especially important for me as well.
I can't keep my prenatal pill down, what do I do?
OK, A new mom can get a bit panicked when they realize it's been several days and they haven't been able to keep their prenatal down.
At least that was my experience.
After contacting my doctor there was a few suggestions:
1. I could cut the pills in half and take one in the am and the other half pm. (didn't work by the way).
2. I could try to up my food intake to include even more vitamins and then consider just adding folic acid or a children't multi... (this plan might have worked but foods containing folic acid really weren't all that appealing to me: spinach, lot's of the seafood was off the table, and beans or peanuts etc).
3. I could find a prenatal recommended in a gummy form that typically does not include iron because iron can be really hard on the stomach.
4. Take them at night with the consideration that maybe you could sleep through the iron upsetting your stomach (also didn't work, I just lost sleep).
5. Try a bunch of brands and just find one you can tolerate (kind of an expensive and unfocused suggestion but I mean I guess it checks...
Gentle on the Stomach Gummy Prenatal:
While I initially wanted a prenatal with iron in addition to folic acid, I quickly learned that I really didn't have the stomach for it (pun).
Interestingly enough my friends who were able to stomach their prenatals with iron, complained of intense constipation and relayed stories of them just crying on the toilet quite literally trying to poop.
I ultimately abandoned any vitamins with iron in them to start; figuring I would up my dried fruit intake.
I decided I would go for a gummy prenatal because the feedback was they are typically gentler and purposely lack iron while containing all the other good stuff like folic acid and dha (two very important things on my must haves).
For me the gummy prenatal was a fix. Some days I sucked on it some days I chewed it slowly but it didn't make my stomach upset to cause any hesitation with taking it based on my day and knowing that my baby was getting nutrition consistently was a big relief.
I feel strongly each mom has to decide and do their best based on what they can handle.
For me, going with a gummy allowed me to be consistent with my vitamin intake and get folic acid and dha; which was really important to me to provide for my baby.
While a prenatal shouldn't replace a well balanced diet, all too often in my case early on when I wasn't keeping much down or not feeling like eating the leafy greens and veggies I'm certain they helped!
