Hi All! My doctor told me to start taking folic acid before I begin trying to get pregnant--however she didn't tell me how long. So, how long should I take folic acid before trying to get pregnant? I've been taking them for about 2 weeks and am very anxious to start trying....

I think it is a good idea to start as early as possible but wouldn't wait to try if I were you.

I heard you should take prenatals before you try

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Mom of one kangaroo!

I'm a planner. I think I started taking prenatal vitamins and folic acid 6 months to a year before we tried to conceive. Not all people have that kind of time, so just start as soon as you can.

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Attaining financial freedom is like eating an elephant . . . it takes one bite at a time.

If you are taking it already I don't see why you can't start trying. I'm not good advice on this, I didn't take vitamins and I sure wasn't trying for any of my 4!

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A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt

I wouldn't wait to start trying if it was me. The folic acid is great for you and the baby. Since you are already taking the vitamins, the baby will get the folic acid once it is concieved. But I'm no doctor...I just concieved baby #2 and didn't start taking them until I got the positive test result...whoops!

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Mom to Kaylee (10/2006)
Waiting on our second bundle of joy to arrive January 2009!

You should be fine now unless you are a high risk mother or had a really deficient diet before you started taking the vitamins. If you don't know whether you are high risk now, that means you aren't high risk. The point of taking vitamins pre-pregnancy is to get a certain level of the folic acid in your body before the baby starts draining it out during its development. You only run into problems (defects) when you don't have enough for you and the baby to use. You have been getting a good dose for two weeks now so you should be fine (in addition, almost all wheat flour breads and crackers and most breakfast cereals are fortified with folate so as long as you don't have celiac's disease, you should have plenty of folic acid for your soon-to-be baby to use to grow) The folic acid is most critical in the first month of pregnancy, that's why they want you to start taking it before trying, because some of the damage from not having enough folic acid is done before it is even possible to test positive for pregnancy. Keep taking those vitamins, though!