Here are 5 more tips to prepare your body for pregnancy. In case you missed the first 5, find it here.
1. Avoid alcohol/ quit smoking: This may seem so obvious, but I still see pregnant women smoking! If your partner smokes, the second hand exposure may cause difficulty conceiving. Starting to wean while you are not pregnant can be a slow, gradual process which may be easier for some. Smoking during pregnancy can cause a premature birth and other complications. During pregnancy, alcohol can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome. This includes problems with your child’s vision, hearing, memory, attention span, and abilities to learn and communicate. Your male partners that do smoke, be aware that it will affect their sperm and decrease the number!
2. Lose some weight: More than a 22% body fat may prevent ovulation. Also being overweight during pregnancy increases not only risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke, it increases chances for a cesarian section.
3.Decrease stress levels: As we may know, stress affects our hormone levels. These hormones are vital for ovulation and implantation. High stress can deplete our levels enough to affect your ovulation cycles, making it later in your cycle than usual or not at all.
4. Eliminate Certain Foods: This is for the pregnant ladies out there. You must avoid these foods: raw sushi, processed meats, raw eggs, raw shellfish, high mercury fishes such as tilefish, mackerel, and swordfish. Keep tuna to a minimum. Let’s not forget the soft cheeses like brie, camembert, roquerfort, feta, and gorgonzola. Caffeine has mixed views. But you don’t want to consume more than 120mg of caffeine a day. By the way, espresso has nearly half the caffeine as a regular cup of joe.
5. Start adding flax to your diet: This can be used as ground flax in your salad or cereal. Or you can use flax oil,either in your food, in a shake, or capsule form. These healthy fats are necessary for conception and fetal development. Omega 3 enriched eggs are another alternative as well.
I am an advocate for self care and during this time when you are happily trying to conceive or if you are planning to within the next 6-12 months, you need to lower any stress levels you may have. So take a long bath, or curl up with a good book and a chai tea.
I’d love to hear from you now, did you find one of these difficult to eliminate? Have you successfully conceived? Do you have any other tips for us that worked for you? Please share!
Happy summer,
