# 36 weeks pregnant, anemic and protein in my urine- help!



## guestmama9904 (Jul 6, 2002)

i am really healthy generally speaking but my hemoglobin was 11 today and my midwife said if it got lower they wouldn't be able to do a homebirth. also i had more protien in my urine then usual (i often have a trace amount as i usually eat prior to mw's appt.) and my midwives said the protein is spilling into my urine because i am not eating enough protein. i estimate that i only eat about 50 gms protein a day and they rec. 80-100gms a day. i try to eat mostly traditional foods but often succumb to crackers or other non-whole foods. i am now starting to take chorophyl and floradix as my midwives suggested at twice the usual dose.

what are some high protien meals you love that aren't soy based? also what are some high in iron foods that are easy to prepare? i just feel turned off by cooking meat but i don't mind eating it if someone cooks it for me.


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## Jojo F. (Apr 7, 2007)

Lately I have been really good about my diet and am making a lot of things with chicken stock- chicken soup loaded with roast chicken, veggies, and herbs; Bean soup with kale and kielbasa(it is sooooooo good!!).

Are you taking CLO? Oh, sardines with the bones, smoked herring(kippers)-I might try some of the kippers with cream cheese on crackers- I really like rosemary crackers. Salad with fish in it and topped off with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt & pepper is really tasty, IMO.

Full fat smoothies with 3 raw egg yolks is a good way to get more protein.

Cream of buckwheat- I just made a big bowl of it with banana and walnuts- Banana walnut buckwheat, it was delish!!!

Quinoa has a good amount of protein too. You could cook whole quinoa as a side dish like rice or use the flour to make a spiced cake/bread-I buy the flour at whole foods.

Have some cheese handy- I'm addicted to the darn mozerella cheese sticks from Whole Foods. Organic Horizons makes a really good raw cheddar cheese









So.... meats, beans, fish, nuts/seeds, & dairy









Do you have Susan Weed's Wise Woman Ways for the Childbearing Year? She has great info for preventing pre-e/PIH(protein). I make an infusion about once a week- A very large one! with nettle, alfalfa, dandelion leaves, RRL. Dandelion and fresh raw beets are good for your liver and kidneys which need some support right now.


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## valeria_vi (Nov 19, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jojo F.* 
Bean soup with kale and kielbasa(it is sooooooo good!!).

i want the recipe please!


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## Jojo F. (Apr 7, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *valeria_vi* 
i want the recipe please!

Wicked easy!!

What you will need-
1 bag of soaked beans- pinto, navy, etc. I don't think black would be very good though
1 bunch of cleaned and blanched kale
1-2 chopped and sauted onion/s
a few cloves of garlic chopped and sauted with the onion/s
1 kielbasa, chopped
Homemade chicken stock- the amount depends on how 'soupy' you want it.

Cook your soaked beans. While the beans are cooking blanch your kale and saute the onion/s, garlic, and kielbasa in oil/butter/lard/bacongrease/whatever you want.

Drain the beans. Add as much stock as you desire and toss everything into your pot. Salt and pepper to taste. Do not drain any fat/grease from your sauted onions, garlic, etc., toss that into the soup too, it adds soooo much yummy flavor









BTW- I did make the smoked kippers with cream cheese tonight and it was so yummy on crackers. DH thought it was gross but that just meant more for me


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## Eliza_Douchehammer (Oct 22, 2008)

Protein in the urine is a warning sign of pre-eclampsia, which is not something you want to mess around with. If I were you, I'd go to the hospital for testing. That doesn't necessarily mean you won't be able to have a homebirth but it does mean you'll know for sure if you have pre-e.


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## guestmama9904 (Jul 6, 2002)

thanks for the concern but i am not setting foot in a hospital. i do not have any symptoms of pre-eclampsia ecept the protien in my urine. my blood pressure is less then 110/80 every single time, pregnant or not and i am in great health otherwise. my midwives have been doing homebirths for 30 years and i am very confident in their analysis of my urine which they believe is indicitive of lack of protien in my diet. if there is an emergency during the birth i have no qualms with going to the hospital but right now i am sticking to my plan.


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## vegmom (Jul 23, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *arismama!* 
i am really healthy generally speaking but my hemoglobin was 11 today and my midwife said if it got lower they wouldn't be able to do a homebirth. also i had more protien in my urine then usual (i often have a trace amount as i usually eat prior to mw's appt.) and my midwives said the protein is spilling into my urine because i am not eating enough protein. i estimate that i only eat about 50 gms protein a day and they rec. 80-100gms a day. i try to eat mostly traditional foods but often succumb to crackers or other non-whole foods. i am now starting to take chorophyl and floradix as my midwives suggested at twice the usual dose.

what are some high protien meals you love that aren't soy based? also what are some high in iron foods that are easy to prepare? i just feel turned off by cooking meat but i don't mind eating it if someone cooks it for me.

I was like this for my second pregnancy. My midwife was even wondering how I can be standing and walking around. She was also worried about my planned homebirth. I had to take a prescription iron pill. Which really caused tummy problems. I did not take it for long because of this.

A major cause for anemia is the phytates in grains and beans. Phytates bind minerals and don't allow them to be absorbed. Iron is one of those minerals.

Even though I was eating a lot of red meat and salads/greens the only way I could keep my iron levels high enough was through eating small amounts of organic liver every day.

During pregnancy that is not appealing, but I wanted the best for my baby and homebirth.


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## deditus (Feb 22, 2006)

Nettle tea really helped me keep my iron up during pregnancy. I used Susun Weed's recipe, too. I drank a qt a week.


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## jazzharmony (Nov 10, 2006)

My hemoglobin was a 9 during my second pregnancy and I was also spilling urine. I am a vegetarian and upped my intake of beans, quinoa, spinach, millet, amaranth, etc. I began drinking foradix but couldn't stand the taste so I stopped. I did make protein shakes but they were soy based.
My midwife explained that some women normally have lower iron than others and that if you are anemic your body will feel it. I felt fine. My mother also tested lower in iron during pregnancy and continues to lean toward lower iron levels. So what is considered "normal" range for one may not be for another.

I had a wonderful homebirth and my midwife said that I bled no more than a tablespoon. She also said that some moms with "normal" numbers bleed a lot.

How does your body feel?

ETA - my midwife also gave me a list of herbs to take but can't remember what they were - like the others mentioned, nettles was one.


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## dogmom327 (Apr 19, 2007)

I had PIH starting at 35 weeks and it almost derailed my home birth.

You have to start eating very large amounts of protein immediately. Due to the problems I had started to have, my midwife had me eating 125 to 150 grams a day. It stinks and it's a miserable way to live but it worked. I was able to hold off higher protein counts in my urine until right before delivery.

Definitely take the nettles (may look at dandilion too) and the floridex. All good stuff--but you need to eat protein. If you need a bunch of ideas, let me know...I totally feel your pain!


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## Koalamom (Dec 27, 2007)

I would also start rtaking the homeopathic remedy Ferrum Phos. I was 36 weeks pregnant, and was tested for iron, and I was a 9!!!! I got up to a 10 (almost 11) in no time at all. I was able to deliver at home, with no problems. I also doubled my dose of floradix for a few weeks. My cousin had low iron, and after taking vitamin E, her leveld went up. Also get plenty of b vitamins. That is why liver is such a great food. The brand Standard Process has an amazing, fast working whole food iron called FerroFood. This is what really worked for me, but I found this after my babys birth, and it got my iron levels up to normal.

It is all going to be alright!


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## mysticmomma (Feb 8, 2005)

drink some oj with your iron and avoid dairy. IE no cheese with your meatballs. Cook in a cast iron pan as well.


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## veganf (Dec 12, 2005)

chili
4 bean salad
nut butter + anything sandwiches
roasted seeds
bean, barley, & vegetable soup
lentil soup
spicy black bean soup with lime juice
kale, garlic & cannelini beans
buckwheat noodles with broccoli & peanut/cashew sauce
smoothies made with hemp milk, almond butter, rice protein powder
bean burritos/enchiladas/tacos
6-layer refried bean dip with tortilla chips
hummus
chick pea curry
red lentil & potato curry
oatmeal with sliced almonds
falafel with sesame sauce
pasta with red vegetable & black bean sauce
sauteed spinach and/or chard with pine nuts & raisins
sauteed kale with nutritional yeast sauce

I've eaten a higher protein diet during pregnancy with lots of these foods, never any dairy, and have always had good iron levels and no toxemia through 4 pregnancies.
Floradix is great also, mixed with so oj or other citrus juice (not the fortified kind though).
And dandelion root, alfalfa, and blackstrap molasses are all also great for iron.


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## guestmama9904 (Jul 6, 2002)

thank you all for your replies and personal stories with this. one thing i am just not understanding is why is protien in the urine even a concern if one has low blood pressure consistently? for the record i called my midwife and she said she really isn't concerned about me at this point and said even if i had high protien levels again she would just keep pushing me to eat more protein, she half-jokingly said she and her midwife partner just like to be bossy to pregnant ladies and tell them to eat!

today i think ive done ok on food in general, protein in particular- tell me what you think of my today's diet and how it could be improved or enhanced;

breakfast: bowl of oat/cinnomon cereal with 8 gms protein per serving, with whole milk. also coffee with cream and honey. unpasturized apple cider with dropper full of choloxygen (concentrated cholophyl in an herb base), glug of CLO and 2tsp floradix.

snack; 2 organic cookies









lunch: jarlsberg cheese, like 3 large slices, whole apple, carrot slices with a bit of hummous.

dinner: black bean chili w/grass-fed beef and veggies, organic cornmeal muffins made with whole milk instead of water.

RRL tea with nettles in it to drink and some more apple cider, i am obsessed.


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *arismama!* 
thank you all for your replies and personal stories with this. one thing i am just not understanding is why is protien in the urine even a concern if one has low blood pressure consistently?

Some protein in the urine is normal, "on occasion", but consistent significant protein in the urine is a sign of a problem. Paired with other things, it's a sign of pre-e, but that is not the only thing it can be a sign of. If nothing else though, it is a sign that you're not eating enough of the right things. And this is probably why your MW is nagging you to eat better... trying to avoid other problems (like pre-e).

If I were you, I'd really work on laying off the grains. Like the pp have said, the anti-nutrients in grains can cause enough problems on their own, but when you're eating them to the exclusion of protein, and you're pregnant, that can cause a whole new set of complications.

If you want to eat the grains, be sure you're eating them with a source of protein, never alone... if you're eating crackers or bread, eat them with PB or cheese (for example). If you want some rice or pasta, have a small portion and at least an equal amount of protein (meat, beans, cheese, etc.). My recommendation though would be to try to limit your grains to one meal a day... maybe some rice with your dinner, but eliminate them from the rest of your meals.

Of course, if you'd be willing to post a typical day's menu, we could have a better idea of what specifically you could alter to work better.


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