Best Ways to Prepare for Pregnancy
Is getting pregnant is a dream or goal in the near future and you are ready to start preparing and educating yourself now? If that is the case, good for you! We don’t all have the luxury of planning our pregnancy every time, but it is sure nice when you do. If you are thinking about becoming pregnant in the near future, these tips are the best way to prepare for pregnancy for a healthy and comfortable gestation.
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Benefits of Preparing for Pregnancy
By preparing your body for pregnancy even before conception, you are more likely to:
- have a healthier pregnancy
- conceive more easily
- minimize possible complications while pregnant
- recover more quickly postpartum
- give your new baby the best chance possible to be healthy
- relieve anxiety with pregnancy
We all want a healthy baby. Whether you are hoping to conceive a boy or girl or whether you are ready to conceive now or 3 months from now, we all just really strive to have a healthy baby.
As well as an easy and uncomplicated pregnancy and birth.
While there’s nothing you can do to guarantee these things, there are MANY steps that you can take now to maximize the chances of them occurring.
There are even many steps to take prior to conception that can increase the chances of conceiving quickly, a healthy pregnancy, and an easier recovery. That’s what we are going to cover here today.
Simple Steps to Take Before Conceiving to Have a Healthies Pregnancy
Begin Taking a High Quality Prenatal Vitamin Now
Did you know you should ideally begin taking a prenatal vitamin at least 28 days prior to conception?
If you are planning on beginning your pregnancy any time soon, you should already be taking prenatal vitamins. The first month is very important for neural tube development of the fetus and those nutrients ideally should already be stored in your body for at least 28 days before pregnancy. When the neural tube forms by week 5 of pregnancy, the fetus draws from maternal folate stores for proper formation.
The BEST affordable high quality prenatal vitamins I’ve found are called Essential Prenatal. These vitamins:
- are extensively researched and tested
- contain clean critical nutrients for mama and baby
- contain the right form of folic acid that can actually be absorbed by the body (almost all prenatals do not)
- have vitamin D3, directly associated with a healthy birth weight
- contain Omega 3s and easily absorbed DHA
There are so many prenatal vitamins on the market. Ranging from cheap brands with artificial ingredients from Walmart to high-priced brands from the health food stores.
What does a prenatal vitamin need to contain?
FOLATE AND IRON: Folate protects the brain and spinal cord and also protects against neural tube defects.
Unfortunately, the form of folic acid in most prenatals can’t even be readily absorbed by almost half of women! It will read “folic acid” as opposed to folate on the bottle. Folic acid is synthetically created and underutilized by the body, while folate is naturally derived and better absorbed. (Read all the details of folic acid vs. folate and much more about prenatal vitamins in the next chapter.)
Essential Prenatals contain a special form of folic acid called methylated folate that your body can absorb and actually use to properly form those imperative foundations in your baby in those critical first 28 days.
DHA: During pregnancy you also need at least 200mg of DHA to help with babies’ brain and eye development. It is tough to get enough from food consistently throughout pregnancy as it is only found in seafood such as fatty fish.
Many prenatals do not contain Omega-3 DHA so you will either need to take an additional DHA supplement, or choose a prenatal vitamin with it already included.
Eat Well
It is important to eat as clean and healthy as possible when preparing for pregnancy. You want to fill your body with nutrient dense and delicious foods. Some nutrients can be stored in the body for later use. If pregnancy is in your near future, now is the best time to begin storing up those vital nutrients to support fetal development now.
Begin avoiding foods known to contain added chemicals.
- It is a good idea to eat organic when possible. That can get expensive quickly, so if all organic is not in your budget, at least replace the dirty dozen with organic vegetables to avoid the highest levels of pesticide contamination. Also use a vegetable wash to best remove leftover pesticide residue.
- Avoid foods known to have high levels of BPAs such as acidic foods in cans. (Think tomato sauce, soups, and fruits as well as reusable water bottles.) Some cans say BPA free lining.
- Eat fish lower in mercury content such as salmon and canned light tuna. Fish such as swordfish, fresh tuna, king mackerel, and shark are known to have high levels of mercury. It is suggested to limit consumption of mercury laden fish while pregnant, so it’s a good idea to limit your intake now while you are trying to conceive.
But you’d be suprised to learn you actually SHOULD be eating fish while pregnant as it is a great source for nutrients that your baby vitally needs! There has been so much research on nutrition and epigenetics during pregnancy done in recent years that we basically know exactly how to eat while pregnant to “turn on” good genes and “turn off” bad genes in your baby while in utero!
To learn everything you could ever want to know about how to have the most healthy pregnancy and baby possible through diet & nutrition, exercise, and general lifestyle you HAVE to check out The Perfect Pregnancy Plan. It’s based on a whole lot of scientific data but but together in an easy to understand and super applicable way.
Limit Exposure to Toxins
On a typical day your body is absolutely inundated with toxins from your environment. On average over 100 toxins are readily absorbed through the skin in a typical daily beauty routine. Most household cleaners contain an array of toxic chemicals. Plus we consume toxins daily through our foods.
While entirely eliminating toxins may be impossible, it is pretty easy to limit your exposure to them. Toxins can build up in your system, so you want to remove them from your routine as much as possible when you are preparing for pregnancy.
Become aware of all the chemicals in your daily beauty routine. And learn how to avoid a ton of daily toxins while pregnanct with easy swaps.
Get in the Best Shape Possible
Pregnancy is extremely challenging on your body. If you are preparing for pregnancy prior to conception, it is the perfect time to get in the best physical shape that you can.
If you begin to strengthen your body for the incredibly difficult but amazing journey it is about to endure now, it can lead to a more healthy, fit, and active “bump only” pregnancy overall.
During pregnancy, a hormone called relaxin loosens all your ligaments in preparation for the big day, so joints can quickly begin to ache as your size and weight increase during pregnancy.
If you focus on strengthening your entire body now the physical adaptations of pregnancy will be easier to endure. Your muscles will be more likely to support your growing body and loosening joints (assuming of course, that you continue working out throughout your pregnancy).
The best prenatal fitness program is The Perfect Pregnancy Fitness Plan with workouts designed for each week of pregnancy based on strengthening the parts of your body that are about to become strained by that stage of pregnancy BEFORE they do… so you stay more confortable for longer! (Pst… it benefits your baby’s genetics for LIFE when you follow a prenatal fitness plan too!)
Get to a Healthy Weight
You can prepare your body for a healthy pregnancy by reaching a healthy weight now. You will inevitably put on approximately 35 pounds during the course of your pregnancy. By reaching a healthy weight now, you have the best chance of remaining the most comfortable throughout your pregnancy.
Being at a healthy weight can also increase your energy levels and improve your chances of conception. The key to weight loss is diet and exercise. Simple and boring as it may sound.
There are many direct health benefits to starting your pregnancy at a healthy weight. By beginning pregnancy at a healthy weight, you will more effectively absorb vitamin D, which helps direct other nutrients where they need to go in the body, is directly connected to strengthening your baby’s bones, and aids in genetic expression.
Additionally, you will halve your baby’s chance of suffering from neural tube defects by getting to a healthy weight now. If you are overweight throughout your pregnancy, it increases your baby’s risk of suffering from congenital heart defects, diabetes, and stroke.
Plus, your weight at conception plays a large role in how your metabolism reacts to pregnancy, even more so than your diet.
Take this time to get to a healthy weight. If you are already pregnant, it’s not too late to lose excess fat and replace it with baby weight to benefit your baby. It is harder to lose excess fat after conception, but it can be done through diet and exercise.
- Begin following a nutritionally dense whole food diet now. 90% of your weight loss is due directly to diet.
- Combine a healthy diet with frequent exercise. It is recommended to exercise for at least 1 1/2 hours per week to maintain health and physical fitness. Increase this number or the intensity of your workouts for weight loss.
- HIIT routines and weight lifting are an amazingly effective ways to increase metabolism and lose weight when you don’t have much time to spend working out.
- Or check out my free 3 week workout series e-book free to get a completely laid out fitness plan. (no sign up required even at the moment)
Get Good Sleep
Once you are pregnant, sleeping may quickly become difficult. Your hormones are raging, your body is growing and changing rapidly, and insomnia is common.
Practice getting as much good quality sleep as you can NOW! Good sleep is important to your overall health and weight loss goals.
If you are anything like me, sleep may not naturally come easy. Some tips to try for better sleep are:
- Guided meditation
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation
- Yoga
- Lavender, Vetiver, or Frankincense Essential Oil (Sprinkle on your pillow at night or put into an essential oil diffuser. This brand is as clean as the MLM brands but without the high price point! I love Simply Earth.)
- Get off screens well before bedtime. The blue light hinders the release of melatonin and makes finding rest more difficult.
- Try white noise.
Stop Using Birth Control
Some birth controls take quite some time to fully get out of your system and for your hormones to rebalance. Birth control works by stopping your ovulation.
Ovulation returns in varying times for the many different forms of birth control. For many women, fertility will resurface in as little as 1-3 weeks.
For others it may take up to 3 months for fertility to return. In extreme cases (like myself) even longer. So if you are planning on becoming pregnant within the next 3 months, it’s a good idea to stop using your birth control now.
Stop Smoking
We all know that smoking has numerous negative effects on your health, many being fatal. However many people still smoke. If you do, try to stop now. Easier said than done, I know.
It is proven that smoking through pregnancy can have many negative health effects on your baby. Quitting smoking may take you longer than you expect, so start now!
See the Dentist
While preparing for pregnancy you should see the dentist. There are some mixed opinions on whether or not X-rays need to be avoided during pregnancy. Older machines need to be completely avoided during pregnancy.
I have been informed by two dental assistants in different locations, that their new x-ray machines are fully safe and emit less radiation than a cell phone. Find out what your personal dentists office states about their machines. From there use your best judgement as to whether or not you want to take that risk or if you would rather wait until postpartum for any x rays to be done.
Many dental procedures should be avoided as well if possible during your gestation. It is your best bet to get all of your dental work needed out-of-the-way now so that you don’t need to have any done during your pregnancy.
Pregnancy can also inflame your gums causing mild to severe (though often temporary) pregnancy gingivitis. Where your gums become red, swollen, or bleed easily. By getting your teeth and gums in optimal health before conception, your gums will be more comfortable during pregnancy.
Wrapping Up How to Prepare for a Healthy Pregnancy Before Conception
By incorporating these eight tips into your lifestyle now, you will be in an excellent position to begin a fit and healthy pregnancy. You may conceive more quickly, and have a more comfortable pregnancy as well!
A quick recap of the 9 things you should start doing now to prepare for pregnancy:
- Begin taking a prenatal vitamin
- Eat well
- Limit your exposure to toxins.
- Get in great shape.
- Get to a healthy weight.
- Get good sleep.
- Stop smoking.
- See the dentist.
