So before you read this I would love you to go and find a mirror and marvel at yourself and your incredible body. Whilst you do this, pay attention to the areas of your body that have most noticeably changed and whilst lovingly stroking them, repeat the mantra
‘Thank you for making these miraculous changes necessary for the life growing inside me’.
If you are already giving yourself a massage nightly, add this little mantra to your oil routine.
Although this section is about nutrition, it goes hand in hand with loving your body and the amazing changes that have been made.
You have all made it this far! Not only have you kept yourselves alive and healthy, despite perhaps feelings of sickness or heartburn! But you have provided your body with enough nourishment to grow a healthy happy baby. Whatever you have been doing was obviously not wrong.
As women we have spent a large portion of our lives feeling uncomfortable pressure about our weight, appetite, appearance or sportiness. And unfortunately the pressure from others only mounts in the pregnancy. If you feel uneasy weighing yourself at every check up you are NOT alone.
What often is not said, is that weight gain in the pregnancy is not only good but essential! How can you grow a baby and create a placenta and hold amniotic fluid without gaining a pound? It's not possible. And it fluctuates, some babies grow at a steady pace, but the majority grow in bursts, so you may have felt like you didn't have a bump for ages and then all at once, your tummy popped out and your weight went up. There is no right and no wrong. Weighing in the pregnancy has nothing to do with diets or steady weight gain, it is to give health care providers an indicator for a very rare but serious illness for example, Pre-Eclampsia.
So please remind yourself of this next time you are asked to weigh yourself….this is not about my size.
Women get pregnant and give birth all over the world and have done so for a long long time, and their diets are as varied as the lives they lead and the places they come from.
There is no one perfect diet for pregnancy. Most of the time your body will tell you what you need. Examples:
If you're sleepy and lethargic, you may need more iron and so may be craving strawberries or bolognese.
If you crave bananas, you may be craving potassium.
My advice is to remember that ANYTHING in high quantities is potentially harmful.
Instead, get a GOOD VARIETY of meals.
Too many bananas is harmful as is too much salt or too much sugar! I know it's not easy in pregnancy, especially if you don't have an appetite, but try to ensure that you're getting a good variety of meals. If you're struggling, ask friends to have lunch with you or prepare dinner with you. It should definitely be delicious and varied, but it definitely doesn't always have to be healthy.
The “Eating for two” Myth
Eating for two is a myth that women have heard for a long time but it does not apply to pregnancy. It is enough if you eat your normal diet plus an extra 300-400 calories a day depending on how active you are, it may be more. So that's like an extra sandwich, a fruit salad and a handful of nuts.
That being said you DO need to be drinking probably double what you're used to, especially if you are pregnant in summer.
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