Newly Pregnant? Do This for You and Your Baby's Health

I'm surrounded by newly pregnant people. Like too-early-to-tell-anyone early. But I'm the happy keeper of their wondrous secrets. Don't ask for hints on who I'm talking about. I won't tell.

It's funny how short that newly pregnant moment is, because when you're in it, it feels so long. And it's amusing how no one would ever guess because it's so not apparent bump-wise even if inside your own head it's the LOUDEST thing that has ever happened, and ever will again. Well, maybe until your own kid(s) tells you they're pregnant.

One pregnancy I'm spending a lot of time thinking about is a third. The first two times, the mom was severely nauseated. She threw up for months on end. And she's expecting to be so again. But until that nausea comes on, she's cramming herself full of all sorts of great and crucial food and sleeping when her kids will let her. These are weeks to take care of yourself as much as you possibly can. While we were on the phone strategizing about how best to get the nutrients in before she started hurling them up, I went back to my personal notes plus my lists published in The Complete Organic Pregnancy.

The smell of cooking food is particularly awful to the nauseated (mildly or very) pregnant person. Roasted meat scent in particular killed me when I was pregnant so I remember doing all sorts of things to get protein sans smell - protein rich grains like amaranth went down ok, so did beans (sometimes). Avocado worked. Eggs also smelled when scrambled or fried but boiled eggs worked (no smell cooking but sometimes unbearable when I cracked open the shell post boil). I remember having people cook me meat at their houses so I wouldn't have to smell the cooking. My friend has family that lives nearby. I suggested she have her husband cook their meat (they belong to a great pastured meat collective, like a CSA for humanely and ecologically raised animals) over at their houses, and to bring it back into their apartment after it cools off and the scent is less intense. Sounds crazy but when you only have a short period of time to get animal protein and nutrients in before months of barfing, you do what you have to do. If eating seafood, make sure to eat fish and shellfish with the lowest contaminants (PCBs, mercury) and the highest omega-3s and other crucial nutrients found in fish.

Here are some other things that came to mind re those first few weeks from The Complete Organic Pregnancy and from my personal notes:

• Sleep as much as possible.
• When not sleeping, do a house detox if you haven't already. That little dot you're growing is vulnerable to a whole host of harmful chemicals the average home contains. Green your cleaning products, your laundry detergent, your cosmetics, up the ratio of organic food in your fridge and cabinets, toss the non-stick pans.
• Give your partner or close family and/or friends some things to do: have them test for home contaminants like radon and lead paint, plug in a carbon monoxide alarm if you don't already have one, and send your tap water out to be tested. Have them install a showerhead filter, and look into organic or natural pesticides for your garden or kitchen if there's an issue you're dealing with.
• If you're starting to feel queasy, try taking your prenatal vitamin at night just before bed instead of during the day (this worked for me). Keep food by your bed and in your bag at all times. Oddly being hungry can make you as nauseated as eating and smelling food. Keeping moderately full can be the key to feeling good.
• If you feel up to it, get fresh air and move around. Go for walks, continue to work out, be yourself. Being pregnant isn't an illness!
• Don't renovate. If you have to, get out and stay out until after all of the work is done and professionally cleaned. Use green materials only.
• Move away from plastics if you aren't already avoiding plastic. Too many plastics contain hormone-disrupting chemicals and not everything is well labeled. Plus, you want the offspring to inherit a better Earth, one that doesn't have plastic swirling around our oceans and stuck in the form of bags in our trees. You'll need to hydrate a lot when pregnant - do so out of glass. Or, if on the go, out of a stainless steel reusable water bottle.
• Canned soup is easy when you're exhausted and not feeling well but try not to rely on it. Study after study has shown that canned food contains unsafe levels of the hormone disrupting chemical bisphenol-A. Check out this latest BPA-in-cans list from Consumer Reports:
• And don't forget to enjoy the moment. It really does pass quickly.

For more on natural pregnancy treatments for what might ail you in upcoming months, check this out.

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Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.