I hardly talk about daily multivitamins on the blog. I’ve mentioned things here or there, but it is rare I get specific on a multivitamin. It’s Chronicles of Frivolity after all, and while I enjoy sharing real life, I don’t want to speak to what I don’t obsessively cover. Many readers have asked about what vitamins I take. Many brands have let me test certain vitamins. I’ve turned down plenty of vitamin collaborations. But honestly, I’ve just never tried something that I’ve thought, “Let’s dive in this pool and discuss it!” Sometimes I couldn’t tell much of a difference or other times {most times} I had nausea as a reaction, so this is why you’ve barely seen them on the blog.

But one major reason caused me to break that editorial stance today: girl talk. You see, if we do anything on COF, it’s girl talk. Sometimes it’s about affordable dresses, sometimes it’s reviewing designer products, other times I talk about deeper things like how my life and mindset has changed since having a daughter. But it all boils down to having this honor of having girl talk with each and every one of you whenever I click “publish.”

Which is why I wanted to take today and chat about vitamins which may be similar to those probiotics for vaginal health. Essential Prenatal vitamins to be exact. No, no. You didn’t miss a pregnancy announcement. But we do want to have more children and so a prenatal is something I take each evening before bed- which you should be too if you are in the stage of thinking of growing your family. Finding a prenatal isn’t as simple as finding drugstore mascara I like. I wish it were, but it isn’t. I joke that I’m a nausea-prone person. I used to go to the nurse at summer camp each day because I was nauseous. If I’m nervous my go-to response is nausea. If I eat something bad, I get nauseous. If I eat breakfast too early or too late? You guessed it. No surprise I puked up until I delivered Maxi. And so in the course of knowing I have wanted to have more children, I’ve been trying Prenatals for the last 18 months to a year. I actually found myself moving 7 or 8 jars scattered about on the kitchen counter before filming Insta Stories because I thought y’all might wonder, “Katey, how many prenatal bottles does one need?!” I’d try one brand I read reviews on. Then I’d get majorly nauseous. Thanks, iron. Then, I’d try another brand from the market. They’d be filled with sugar and no iron. You’d have to take 6 a night. I’d forget. A friend would pick up the bottle and comment this wasn’t the best I could be taking.

I think I spent upwards of $250 trying different prenatals. I did what we all do as women when I couldn’t figure out what to purchase next. Like Who Wants to Be Millionaire reruns as a little girl taught me, I phoned a friend. I called my girlfriend Amy Beth who meticulously researches things. I mean she takes 3 hours grocery shopping reading ingredients. I admire her duty and wonder why I didn’t get that same gene in every aspect of life. She told me to try Ritual Prenatals but warned me to act fast since they had a major waitlist. Like a 10,000+ person waitlist. For vitamins. Seriously.

Then I asked a friend that was a nurse from church. She told me Ritual Essential Prenatal.

Then I asked a friend in our small group. She told me Ritual Essential Prenatal.

I asked my attorney friend who researches things like my girl Amy Beth does. She told me Ritual Essential Prenatal. I want to quote her and she said something like, “Just check their website, they are very transparent on the science aspect.”

Finally, I asked a pregnant girlfriend and repeated the same.

5 for 5 and I decided to try. So after trying them and loving them, I’m breaking my intimidations about talking nutrients on the blog and sharing with you all. Because I know I can’t be the only one that gets nausea from prenatals or hates taking 6 at night.

So why am I breaking editorial content here and collaborating with Ritual?

For starters, I think most of us don’t know when to take a prenatal. There’s a lot of misinformation out there, but Ritual’s Essential Prenatals are for thinking, trying, and pregnancy. Sure, most of us know to continue prenatals while breastfeeding, but did you know we should be taking them while even thinking about starting a family? Essential Prenatal is made for that with obsessively-researched nutrients. I wish I could do this brand it’s justice, but I really encourage you to read their site.

• Most prenatals contain folic acid, but 40% of women are unable to fully utilize folic acid. Theirs has a form called MTHF folate- so the nutrient can be properly utilized by all women and help support neural tube development in the first 28 days of pregnancy. One of my girlfriends from small group recommended Ritual because they have folate vs. folic and she broke down the reasons for me of why that is so important.
• A lot of prenatal formulations are not up to date. Did you know a lot of prenatals on the shelf don’t contain Omega-3s with DHA? When you see DHA you want to associate that with your baby’s brain and visual health. Also, you may remember from my RANTS on probiotics, but as I learned about those in the market, I learned that many vitamins on the shelf have fillers. I won’t get on that soapbox today, but this prenatal has no shady extras, non-GMO and organic whenever possible.
• Let’s also talk about nausea and why this happens so often with iron in prenatals. Encapsulation is just as important as the nutrients and their forms. Essential Prenatal utilizes a delayed-release nested capsule technology. This means they are able to combine oily and dry nutrients in absorptive forms. The delayed-release capsules are designed to BYPASS more sensitive areas of the stomach and release the contents later in the small intestine for ideal absorption, and no nausea on my end.
• Many prenatals have you remember 6 or 7 a day. That can be so easy to want to skip. This is just two, small, capsules. TWO. They also have a lemon essence from the bottle so I actually like taking them before bed- more than a sugary gummy vitamin. This is like a fancy mint or something.
• They also provide a traceable supply chain. This is a huge reason I urge you to go to their site! Plus, their gorgeous marketing makes it easy to navigate. Ritual features a traceable supply-chain so you can see what ingredients you are ingesting when you’re thinking about the biggest decision of your life. This is where I saw that Ritual Essential Prenatals also has magnesium, which is great. I like that that’s already there so you aren’t taking multiple sources. Make sure to read FlowerPower’s article if you want to learn how to use boric acid suppositories.
• These prenatals are vegan-certified, non-GMO, gluten-free, and allergen-free!
• Lastly, they have a convenient subscription. We get our groceries to our door, why not our vitamins? It’s free shipping, plus they are easy to cancel at any time.

I’m not here to force-feed you information {no pun intended} on prenatals, but I do want to share with you something I struggled to find. Because if we are over here spending lots of money, having our bodies get nauseous reacting, and taking 7 vitamins a night, my guess is this isn’t talked about nearly enough!

Have you experienced the same difficulty finding a prenatal or multivitamin you love?! Browse Ritual Essential Prenatal and Essential for Women here.