You’re Pregnant! Now What?
In some ways, it’s fitting that you find out you’re pregnant by peeing, likely on your own hand. It’s really just the beginning of many, many years of urine being a huge part of your day. From peeing at each OB appointment, to waking to pee more times than you can count while baby plays kick ball with your bladder, and then, baby arrives and the amount of conversations that will focus around how many wet diapers (and poops) baby has will be astounding. Don’t even get me started on teaching a boy to pee IN the toilet... But, let’s back up. You peed on the stick and... you’re pregnant! Congratulations! Hopefully, you’ve already had your nutrition and health on point and getting off to a great start. If not, all is not lost and if so, now is not the time to stop! Let’s take a look at how best to nourish your pregnancy and the baby you’re growing.
Eating for 2
One of the most common things I hear from moms-to-be and their friends is that they’re “eating for two” now. It’s typically used in order to justify doughnuts, that extra taco (or two), and nightly ice cream treats. The truth is, calorie needs are actually not increased at all in the first trimester, and only by about 200-300 calories in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters, respectively. That’s about the size of a good glob of PB... And if you went into pregnancy overweight or obese, the recommendations are even less. (please note, no judgement here, just a focus on healthy mom and baby and we do know that weight gain during pregnancy, too much or too little, can negatively impact mom and baby in both the pregnancy and delivery, as well as long-term). In fact, calorie needs are HIGHEST postpartum. That’s right, at no point during pregnancy are calorie needs as high as they are when you’ve actually got baby in your arms and you’re recovering from delivery, especially if you’re breastfeeding!
So what does that mean? That you just can eat whatever you want? Not quite. While calorie needs don’t change much during pregnancy from pre-pregnancy, micronutrient needs change quite a bit! In other words, you now need to get in a LOT more vitamins and minerals in the same of calories. Good news? If you were already following my recommendations for fertility, the same recommendations apply here, too! The food that nourishes conception also nourishes mom and baby! We’ll talk more specifics in coming posts, but know that the focus is real food, not too much, not too little, with lots of nutrients!
Real Food Pregnancy*
What is real food? And how is that different from conventional pregnancy nutrition guidelines? Why, I’m so glad you asked! A wonderful colleague of mine wrote the book, “Real Food for Pregnancy” and it’s like she went in my head and put my philosophy (and obviously hers!) on paper. Real food is what it sounds like – food as Mother Nature intended. I like to say that if your great, great grandmother couldn’t make it or eat it, you probably shouldn’t either. It generally includes lots of veggies and fruit, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy (if tolerated), nuts, seeds, and legumes and whole grains for some. It EXCLUDES refined grains, added sugars, and extensive processing, like refined oils, dyes, and food additives. It’s naturally fairly low carb, high in fiber, and nutrient-rich.
In comparison, conventional standards focus on low fat, higher carbs, vegetable oils (i.e. processed oils), minimizing animal products, low fat dairy, and lots of grains. While conventional standards (think “MyPlate”) does recommend fruits and vegetables, grains and processed foods are commonly a focus. Conventional guidelines also recommend limiting salt, assumes the RDAs (recommended daily intakes for vitamins and minerals) are correct, and suggests vegetarian and vegan diets are adequate for pregnancy.
Where’s It All Going?
Obviously, what you eat is helping to grow a little human, but that’s just ONE of the many things that put a demand on resources during pregnancy. While growing an actual person is cool, I am personally BEYOND fascinated with something else we grow during pregnancy – the placenta. When pregnant, women literally grow a new organ, one that has didn’t exist before the baby and will be gone after the baby is born. How awesome is that? Beyond the baby and placenta, if that wasn’t enough, your uterus is expanding at an incredible rate, your blood volume expands by 50+%, and your breast tissue grows, preparing to nourish your growing baby with the milk your body is making. Any one of those things is pretty taxing on the system and your nutrient reserves, but all of them together? It’s truly astounding so many healthy babies are born every day!
While we can’t every 100% guarantee a healthy pregnancy and baby, we have lots of evidence to suggest that proper nutrition and lifestyle choices during pregnancy can lower your risk of complications, improve baby’s growth and development, and even impact their (and your!) long-term health. Besides that, there are truly no down sides to eating well during pregnancy. And nourishing yourself and your body is one of the very first gifts you can give your little one.
*I want to be clear about something. While organic, grass-fed, pasture-raised, etc. etc. food would be ideal, it’s definitely not a reality for most, including myself! I get that. Totally. My goal is to supply you with the knowledge of the “optimal”, and then work together to figure out how to get as close to that as we can, while respecting and honoring the obstacles and limitations. I PROMISE we can find ways to nourish momma and baby without making you choose between paying rent or eating.