If you are thinking about trying to get pregnant soon, have you thought about preparing your body for pregnancy? Before going on the journey of pregnancy and using your body to create new life there are some things that you should do to start your pregnancy off in the best health possible, and help your body to grow a healthy baby.
There are several things that you can do as you are preparing your body for pregnancy, but we will just cover a few of the most basic ones today.
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Preparing Your Body for Pregnancy
- Eliminate drugs, alcohol, and smoking.
Recreational drugs, alcohol, and smoking can all harm your baby as he grows. Nicotine, drugs, and alchohol all cross to the baby through the placenta because the placenta cannot filter them out. These things can be very harmful for your baby in the first critical weeks of developement. Click here to see the effects of drugs upon an unborn baby’s brain.
2. Clean up your diet.
Try to cut out the extra junk food that you are consuming. Increase vegetables, fruits, protein, and healthy carbs. By reducing your amount of processed foods your immune system will be able to work better and you will be in better shape health wise for pregnancy. By eating a cleaner diet your body will also receive more vitamins and minerals which can help build up your stores before pregnancy. During pregnancy the baby will take the vitamins and minerals it needs from your body, so anything you do to increase those stores will be helpful both for recovery after birth, and for the pregnancy itself.
Adding fruits, vegetables, and sources of protein may seem like it will increase your grocery budget, and it definitely may, but you can still eat real, nutrient dense foods on a budget. {I also like the thought of paying more for better food and less in doctor and hospital bills because we won’t be as sick when we eat a healthier diet.}
Here are some tips:
- eat canned or frozen fruits and vegetables. Usually they will be cheaper than fresh and sometimes they contain more vitamins and minerals than the fresh because they are preserved at peak ripeness and not sitting in storage or a store for weeks.
- look for meats that have the discount sticker on them, freeze or use promptly.
- whole chickens, chicken legs and thighs, will be cheaper than chicken breast most of the time.
- keep your meat bones to make bone broth or stock. Bone broth is very beneficial for most people, but if you have an autoimmune disease you may want to avoid it.
- keep your carbohydrate choices simple- whole grain breads and tortillas, potatoes, rice and winter squashes are all great carbohydrate options, both for pregnancy and when you preparing your body for pregnancy.
- build your meals around protein. During pregnancy it is recommended that you have between 80-100 grams of protein per day, so if you start building your meals around protein now, it will be easier to get in the recommended amounts later. Eggs, meats, rice, legumes, protein powders, dairy products, and greens, are all good sources of protein.
3. Start taking a prenatal vitamin.
You are going to want to start taking a prenatal vitamin even before you see a positive pregnancy test. This will ensure that your body has the needed folic acid to help baby’s developement. It will also help to build your vitamin and mineral stores and prepare them for pregnancy. I personally used, and loved, the Garden of Life Raw Prenatal during my last two pregnancies. It has prebiotics and probiotics, along with ginger to help with morning sickness + all the needed vitamins. If you are local to Newaygo County you can find it at Health Smart in Fremont, or you can order it on Amazon.
4. Check your iron levels.
You don’t want to start your pregnancy being anemic. You will feel exhausted already from the hard work of growing a baby without having low iron on top of it. If your iron is low ask your provider about Floradix rather than a common over the counter or prescription iron. Floradix is made with herbs and greens, and because it is plant based and natural it is more easily absorbed into your body, and it shouldn’t make you constipated like synthetic irons.
5. Start exercising.
Women who exercise through pregnancy tend to have easier labors, and births, and are able to have a quicker recovery after birth than those who don’t. You don’t need to start running three miles tomorrow though, instead, if you haven’t been exercising, start with yoga and stretching, along with gentle walking. Then start adding in cardio work. Your body needs a strong heart to pump all the extra blood that comes with pregnancy, exercising and working out while preparing for pregnancy will help you to be able to handle the stresses of pregnancy.
If you want to start preparing your body for pregnancy these tips are the perfect place to start!
