hello and welcome, If iron injections are painful you may ask your doctor for intravenous iron infusions that are given through IV fluids. They replenish the dose quickly so multiple injections are not needed and also the hemoglobin comes up faster. A hemoglobin of 9.8 is not very low if you are placed in India cause this is average for Indian females during pregnancy. If you are outside India this is considered a low level. Oral iron also acts very well and supplement with b complex and proteins in food will help overcome the deficit faster. Also take a deworm drug like albendazole as worms may lead to anemia. Also include lots of green leafy vegetables, carrot, apples, peaches, pomegranates, beets and some meat in the diet to help increase the hemoglobin faster. Hope this was helpful. Have a safe pregnancy and delivery. Thanks for using HCM. Feel free to ask any more questions that you may have. Dr Madhuri Bagde Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist