It’s a given that when you have children you are no longer the centre of your universe. Suddenly, your needs as a person are superseded your parental responsibilities. Dh and I are pretty good at looking after each other as well as the girls – we eat well, rest as much as we can (ha ha) and keep an eye on each other’s wellbeing.
Sometimes though, your body fights back. Over the last couple of months I’ve been feeling quite tired (with twins, a full-time job and a – limited but important – social life to keep track of, this isn’t a massive surprise) and I have also fainted a couple of times. My concerned GP sent me for some blood tests and surprise surprise: I’m anaemic.
I went back to see my GP on Thursday to talk through the results. My iron stores are extremely low (one grade lower and I’d have to have a blood transfusion) and so I’ve been put on iron tablets and told to eat lots of iron-rich foods – cereals, green leafy veg, fruit juices, etc. Oh and dark chocolate – hurrah! Generally my diet is pretty good. The only things I’ve not really been having are the fruit juices, so I need to remedy that.
I was mildly anaemic when I was pregnant (hardly surprising with two little babies sucking the life out of me) and don’t exactly have fond memories of the effects that the iron tablets had, but you do what the medical professionals tell you do, don’t you? Plus the thought of a transfusion doesn’t exactly fill me with joy. I’m being chased by the blood donor service for a pint of my finest at the moment – I need all the red stuff I can get!
I also got the usual lecture from my lovely (really actually lovely) GP about looking after myself and resting when I can. Bless her, I know she means well but when? How? I have a busy life but wouldn’t have it any other way. I need to keep ‘doing’ things. I’m probably the most uptight and least relaxed person on the planet. Aside from being felled by a stun-gun, I don’t see how I can slow down.
Answers on a postcard.
