You get your nutrients WHERE?

I'm not taking prenatal vitamins. I don't plan to. I only plan on supplementing towards the end if I end up having a deficiency of some kind (namely iron) and I'm totally okay with that. So is my doctor. So is the high-risk OB/GYN I see every 2 months. 

Other people, on the other hand, seem harder to sway. The nurse who checked me in at my last appointment looked at me like I had a cigar in one hand and a fifth of Jack in the other when I calmly answered, "no" to her "are you taking your prenatal vitamin every day?" inquiry. 

"How can you be sure you're getting what you need?" she asked.

Oh gee, I don' know. Because I pay attention to what a put in my face? Because I know where to get things like calcium, folic acid, and iron (which are the three you should really be watching) in my diet. 

Because I don't eat three meals a day at a drive-through window and then pop a "vitamin" to call it even.

I took the vitamins for the first couple of weeks. I took them because, well, that's what you do when you're pregnant, right? I tried 4-5 different brands, and you know what? They all made me sick and constipated and miserable. Those don't seem like issues I want to deal with if I have a choice. Since I stopped taking them, my morning sickness has completely stopped and everything else has been going...the way it should be. 

It's not difficult, it just requires a little effort. I have to plan out all of my meals, eat very specific foods throughout the day, and eat at the right intervals. My shopping trips are more regimented. I can't choose the danish over the banana. Not that anyone ever should. I'm bound to get tired of some of the things I'm eating, but this isn't forever. It's 6 more months. I had crappy boyfriends in high school for longer.

It drives me crazy that people so blindly follow the advice of...what, Centrum commercials? That they look at me like, "oh, this is your first baby, you'll figure it out."

I've also had people tell me that I'm not gaining enough weight and that I shouldn't be exercising. Right. Because gestational diabetes is the best route. I was on pelvic rest early on, which has since been lifted, so I plan on working out to my little pregnant heart's content. No, I'm not going to overdo it. No, I'm not going to be kickboxing or downhill skiing. 

This "mom's club of unsolicited advice" already makes me want to punch somebody.