First Time Expecting Mother

I like "What to eat when you're expecting". But to simplify, keep it simple.
Whole grains
fruits
veggies
milk
Moderation in sweets/fats
Congratulations!

I was told by my dr to stick with one or two sources so you don't get confused. I tried to follow the What to Eat While You're Expecting book and ended up gaining about 18 lbs before my first dr appointment. I agree that you should just eat healthy and avoid those bad things (drugs, etc). At babycenter.com (my favorite site, besides this one) they have a section titled "is it safe" and they have great explanations of things you should and shouldn't do.
Congratulations and enjoy!
C.

Hi there I am a mom of three, three year old twins and a one year old baby boy!! With the twins I read every book on the market and made myself sick about what to eat, what not to eat, what to do and what not to do so on and so forth. They were premies, but fine in the end. When I found out I was pregnant at 14 weeks along with number three (we weren't supposed to ba able to have anynmore kids, opps!) I had been drinking, eating whatever, including sushi, and doing what i do on a normal basis, and figured I made it past three months, so why change much. However I did cut back to one glass of wine if I felt like it (OK per my doc) and no more raw or under cooked fish or meat! Other than that I did as I pleased and he was born on his due date at 7lbs 2ounces and VERY healthy. OS go figure. I think the advice from the others is right, don't stress, eat as healthy as you can and try not to worry too much!!

Congrats motherhood is wonderful!

Hi.

I recall being horribly confused at that point, too. Honestly, it seems like half of those books are written to scare new mothers. Just what we need. So, someone advised just sticking to one or two books. I agree with that. Maybe just choose one book. It's important, but it's not like you're going to miss one thing that will have made all the difference in the world. Healthy kids can come out of horrible environments. Your kid will come out of a healthy environment, because that is clearly something that is important to you. So, as others have said, please try to relax - it will be fine. Even women who eat horribly during their pregnancy have healthy children, because those babies just suck mom dry. So, eat what you know is healthy and you both will be in great shape.

All the best,
T.

Congratulations and like others said "stop stressing".

My OB acutally recommended I throw out all other books "because they have terrible nutrition advice" and stick with "Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy". The advice on nutrition from that one boils down to "eat what you tolerate and remember there are consequences to living on icecream for 9 months".

The general advice you've already received is good - try to eat relatively healthy but also listen to your body. I've observed pregnant women and spoken to a lot during my professional life. The thing that struck me most here was how many started eating McDonalds cheese burgers when pregnant. Even those who normally wouldn't consider McDonalds for anything and a couple of vegetarians. What it came down to was a craving for bland protein that was interpreted in this culture as a very simple cheese burger. If you have a craving for a food try to look at the basic need behind it another relatively healthy food will often meet the need.

Pre natal vitamins can help you keep a good balance. If you find yourself with "morning sickness" then go with what you tolerate and make sure you are taking in enough fluid (again what you can tolerate, I used to throw up water but found that diluted pineapple juice was my salvation).

So generally if you can, eat a variety of relatively healthy foods and use moderation if you wish to indulge in treats.

Not overloading on high simple carbohydrate foods may help normalise your risk of gestational diabetes. Your body is under extra stress from the pregnancy (not a bad thing just an additional stress) so providing a lot of extra glucose to the blood stream may be something your system doesn't cope with well. Others do fine.

The rational to avoid raw and rare seafood and meat, also soft cheeses, pressed meats, unpasteurised dairy, etc has to do with potential bacterial load. Some bacteria that may be present in such foods and as adults cause no significant harm, however once in our blood stream can cross the placental barrier and may be harmful for the developing baby.

Avoiding high in the food chain fish (such as shark and swordfish) is more about limiting exposure to certain toxins, especially mercury.

Limiting or avoiding alcohol and caffeine along with other optional drugs is to limit exposure to the developing baby. Many things will easily cross the placental barrier once they are in your blood stream.

That said it comes back to "relatively healthy, fairly varied diet and use moderation when indulging".

There are some herbs that should be avoided in large therapeutic doses but generally not in culinary doses. That is, if you normally cook with it, unless you make it a prime ingredient, it is probably ok. Caution taking supplements should be advised.

There is (or at least was, I hope she is still around) a local herbalist who specialises in pregnancy, postpartum and lactation. Her company is Herb Lore. You may try her if you want more detailed information in this area.

There are some reliable books as well though I don't have mine to hand, sorry. I know Dr Tieraona Low Dog is considered an expert in this field so if you can find some books or articles by her I'd be willing to trust those. Again the list of herbs and other supplements to avoid during pregnancy is long but even those listed are for supplemental/therapeutic doses not as flavouring in food.

If you want truly best practice then try to eat organic foods (better nutrition and less toxins) and minimally processed foods (avoiding unknown affects of the many additives plus often better nutrition). But really you will suffer more from a poor diet then you baby will.

I know this was not the simple answer you were looking for - I hope it helps anyway.

K.

Hi,

Congratulations! and I wish you a safe, healthy and smooth pregnancy.

I have two kids: age 5 and 2.

The best advice is: eat in moderation and eat small amounts often throughout the day and avoid big heavy meals. (This prevented me from feeling a lot of the nausea, especially during the first trimester).

There are the obvious restrictions eg alcohol, sushimi, caffeine, soft cheeses, etc, but my OB never banned anything other than the raw fish. She always stressed moderation.
(Women in Italy drink wine daily, Japanese women eat sushimi, British women consume a lot more tea daily than most American women drink coffee, and their babies turn out fine).

A book that really helped me, (I don't eat meat - just fish),
was "Nutrition and Pregnancy: A Complete guide from Preconception to Postdelivery" by Judith E. Brown, published by Lowell House.
ISBN: 0-7373-0018-3 (paperback)
It has great recipes too.

It really helps explain the "why" part.

My M-I-L works at Borders and brought it home for me - so you can probably browse at it there and see if it is for you.

If you can't find it. Let me know and I would be happy to mail you my copy. Your need is greater than mine!

Take care,
S.

The only things that I was told to avoid too much fish (mercury), lunch meats, too much caffeine and medicines. I didn't stress too much because that is worse for the baby then eating the wrong foods. I ate lunch meats, and drank a soda everyday and my daughter turned out fine. I did avoid medicine with the exception of the occasional Tylenol and my daily prenatel vitamin. Hopefully you won't get really bad morning sickness, and then you won't want to eat at all. Morning sickness started at about 7 weeks for me.

Every book is going to give you a different list. I used the complete pregnancy bible and really liked it but the best list I got was from my doctor at my first appointment around 9 weeks.

Try not to stress too much about it. Eat healthy and avoid the dangerous chemicals (alcohol, drugs ect.) and anything that has the potential for food poisiong (raw/undercooked foods)and you'll be fine.

Congratulations on the pregnancy.

A.

Congratulations on your baby-to-be! I have 2 kids now, and what I learned throughout both of these pregnancies is that you should eat as healthy as you can, but don't make yourself too crazy about what to eat or not eat. Avoid raw or undercooked meats, don't smoke, keep alcohol to a minimum, don't do drugs, take your prenatal vitamins. Other than that, whatever you can keep down is fair game! (As a side note, I made myself an absolute neurotic mess with the "what to expect" books, to the point that my OB-GYN made me bring the book with me to my appointment at about 4 months, and he threw it away! LOL!) My favorite pregnancy book of all time is Vicki Iovine's "The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy." No, there are no lists of food in there, but that woman gives great advice and she's hilarious!

Good luck!!

http://www.babycenter.com/eating-well-during-pregnancy

And "What to Expect When You Are Expecting".