We often talk about what we should do to prepare when baby arrives, but rarely do we ever take the time to consider and discuss what we need to do be doing for preconception health.
Getting ready for pregnancy is very often overlooked, and I can understand why. In-depth sex-ed discussions are often overlooked and it’s often not talked about in enough detail to help men and women understand the importance of helping our sex organs thrive.
The state of mens testes and women’s ovaries will have a major impact on the state of your fertility, how your pregnancy plays out. How well sperm and eggs develop have the potential to affect your fertility, pregnancy, your postpartum experience and how well your baby develops in-utero and outside of the womb.
My fertility programs aim to discuss the steps that should be taken prior to conceiving to ensure that mom is strong and ready to receive and carry life.
Preconception Health
This term refers to the state of ones health (both moms and dads) prior to becoming pregnant. Ideally, before getting pregnant, both parents should be feeling good, energized and should be quite resilient to colds and flus.
Part of that health profile looks like having healthy, daily bowel movements, having energy that is well balanced through the day without needing coffee, having quick muscle recovery post work-out and being able to bounce back quickly after times of stress. I will break down some simply ways you can support yourself naturally below.
Now don’t get me wrong, no single person is perfect in all of these areas of health, but if you’ve got a handle on most of these, you’ve got a good head start. If you are already pregnant and you’re reading this, don’t worry! There are many things that you can do to support yourself naturally once pregnant (a blog post for another day).
Why Get Ready For Pregnancy?
The state of your health and the health of your partners will determine the quality of the egg and sperm that will be used in fertilization.
If a body is in a constant state of fight or flight, if you’re often sick and eating a diet that does not supply you with many nutrients, it has the potential to make fertility, pregnancy and postpartum harder on you.
When a body and mind is strong prior to conception, it removes a lot of potential obstacles that may present along the way, making it more enjoyable.
When should I Start Preparing for Pregnancy?
If you’re reading this, this is your sign to start preparing your body for pregnancy! If you’re reading this now, it’s likely because you’re thinking about what pregnancy preparations may be needed, so the time time to start making lifestyle changes to benefit you and your offspring is now! So get on it!
It takes a minimum of 3 months to help the body set the stage for a healthy pregnancy. It takes 3 months for sperm and oocytes (eggs) to mature, so naturally, it would take a minimum of 3 months of active work to make healthy sperm and egg. If you’re someone who is currently trying to conceive and you’re having a hard time, it’s a sign that your body needs some extra support – so have a look through the list below to see where you may need to put your attention. You can also call or email for guided support!
If you are dealing with a myriad of health concerns, that timeline can certainly be longer – so start now, start slow and have some faith in your body, in yourself. Additional fertility support options are also available.
What Should I Do To Get Ready For Pregnancy?
My goodness, there are so many things that you could do, it’s best to start with just one and master it before moving into another. If anything seems too overwhelming and you don’t know where to start, that’s where I come in with my fertility nutrition program.
Pregnancy preparations don’t have to be overly complicated, often times, it’s some of the foundational work can be enough to get the body back into balance. Have a look at the information presented below to help you get started with some of those foundations!
1) Eat a diet that is rich in nutrients prior to starting to conceive
Eating a diet that is rich in a wide range of beneficial nutrients prior to conceiving will help to make healthy, strong sperm, eggs and follicles to better help with fertility support, pregnancy, postpartum and the health of your baby.
Foods that are rich in nutrients include things like: grass-fed beef, pasture-raised organic eggs, oysters, berries, cold-water fish, bone broth and lightly cooked dark leafy greens.
Note that our ability to digest these foods will be just as important as it is to eat them in the first place!
2) Address bowel issues for a healthy pregnancy
So you’re eating all the right foods to help you thrive, but are you digesting them and absorbing them into your system or are you struggling with your gut health?
You should be having at least 1-2 healthy bowel movements a day. They should be quick and easy to pass with very little resistance and smell. They should be neither too loose or too hard.
At the very least, pregnancy preparations should include having an in-dept review of your overall bowel health – not only for better nutrient absorption, but to help you feel better during pregnancy!
Depending on what’s going on, it might be worth addressing what foods you may be eating and seeing if they are affecting you negatively. If they are, it might be worth removing them for a short period of time while you work to bringing your body back into balance. You may also consider that you’re not drinking enough hydrating fluids through the day, or getting enough movement in your day to support bowel health. These are just some of the things we review when working to support gut health.
3) Address hormone imbalances for fertility support
Hormone imbalances may present themselves as menstrual irregularities like endometriosis, PCOS, amenorrhea, severe cramping, excessive bleeding/clotting, spotting and more. While these symptoms are very common, they are not normal and are in fact a sign of hormone imbalances. To help support fertility, these should be addressed or managed well ahead of pregnancy.
While you are pregnant, your hormones will go through major shifts as well, so if you’re in a good place prior to pregnancy, you are much more likely to have an easier time.
PS. It is recommended that you should be off your hormonal birth control for a minimum of 3 months working on pregnancy preparations to see how your normal hormones levels are flowing prior to conception. I talk about birth control methods including how they can affect fertility in my “How Effective Are Birth Control Pills” blog post
Ways to support hormone health: managing healthy blood sugar levels, having healthy stress coping skills, staying hydrated, eating enough protein and fat, ensuring digestion is working well, breathing fresh outdoor air, letting the sun hit your skin, practicing deep and restorative breathing. All of these are discussed when working on balancing hormones.
4) Get your energy levels balanced throughout the day for more energy during pregnancy
If you wake up needing coffee to get you through the day, dare I say that your energy management skills aren’t exactly up to par with where they should be. Finding ways to help keep you steadily energized throughout the day without needing a booster is important – not just for your current health, but also to help support your energy throughout pregnancy.
Balanced blood sugar levels also has the ability to help reduce the odds of developing high blood sugar in pregnancy which could lead to pre-eclampsia and possibly diabetes for your little one! This is not to scare you, just share with you some of the realities of what dysregulated blood sugar levels can look like in some women.
Ways to support your blood sugar levels: eating less processed sugar, to start! Otherwise, eating enough protein, fat and non-starchy vegetables prior to sweeter foods can help. A big one worth mentioning here is to have your morning coffee after you eat! Something like red light therapy (the one I use) can help support energy production, reduce inflammation and support digestion, too!
5) Do you have stress resilience to help you cope with changing hormones in pregnancy?
Making sure that you have healthy stress coping skills will be a live long journey, and it’s especially worth addressing when focusing on pregnancy preparations. Stress has the ability to “shut down” reproductive processes, therefore has the potential to affect fertility.
Hormones change a lot during pregnancy, so making sure that you have good coping skills to help keep you regulated may help you bounce back quickly in times of added stress.
Adding things like: breath exercises, slow movement, gentle exercising, walking, sun bathing, meditation, speaking with someone who makes you feel safe, and taking strategic moments of silence can help a lot with nerve management. All of these techniques can help when thinking of preconception health, to support fertility and to help manage pregnancy.
6) Regulate immune dysregulation prior to conceiving
If you’re constantly fighting a cold or flu and it knocks you on your butt every couple months or more, it may be worth addressing why that is, prior to starting to try to conceive. Our immune system down-regulates itself after conception so we want to be in tip-top shape ahead of time. Part of that actually looks like supporting your digestive health, too!
It’s also known that if you’re always sick, it’s likely your body is fighting something and unable to move through it – possibly a stealth bacterial, viral or parasitic infection that would best be addressed before pregnancy. When the body does not feel safe, it will not reproduce, because it is not deemed safe for mom or baby. On the other hand, if you have a stealth infection that is just lingering about and it isn’t causing you discomfort, it has the potential to be passed along to your offspring.
Ways to support immunity: address possible infections, eat fermented foods, reduce processed sugars from diet and any other processed goods. Reduce toxin exposure.
PS. Doing a live blood analysis can help to identify immune dysregulations and help pinpoint if this is an area that may need attention!
7) Ask yourself and your partner some of the harder questions before trying to conceive
When getting ready for pregnancy, I believe that this is an area that is really important for any couple to do prior to conceiving. As part of your pregnancy preparations, I honestly think this is probably one of those most important things that all couples should do.
Once you’ve made a baby, there is no going back – that baby is yours. Having open, honest discussions with your loved one ahead of time will help you establish what your wants and needs are, and possibly how you might want to parent! Parenting is a lot of work, and it constantly keeps you on your toes, keeps you surprised even. So making sure that you both have a similar parenting style will be important to help not only your child, but also your relationship with your partner.
Some of those pre-baby, maybe-hard-to-discuss questions to have pre-baby, include:
- What will we do to support our preconception health?
- What is your parenting style/philosophy
- What boundaries will be set with extended family members?
- Who will be the primary parent for the baby?
- What are your expectations of each other as parents? As partners?
- What happens if we don’t get pregnancy right away?
- Will the baby be breastfed, bottle fed or formula fed?
- Will we circumcise our boy if we have one?
… and so many more!
Are you prepared to have hard conversations? Send me an email and ask me for the list I have gone over with my husband ahead of each fertility journey.
8) Prepare yourself for a lot of changes in pregnancy and postpartum (make sure you’re open to it!)
Honestly, as much preparation as you do for your fertility journey, your pregnancy, birth and postpartum, there is nothing that can actually prepare you for it, until you’re in it.
What I mean by this is – you may talk to your partner ahead of time, do all the prep in the world, read all the books, take all the courses, but nothing truly prepares you until you’re in it.
To that, I have to say: honour that this time in your life is every changing. Let it flow, and be open to the fact that a lot of things will surprise you! The more you resist some of the changes that come along the way, the harder it may be. The more you are able to let go, the easier it can be. A lesson I am still learning over and over again.
You should also be prepared to unlearn a lot of what you thought you knew about XYZ.
9) Be prepared to unlearn a lot of what you thought you knew about fertility, pregnancy, birth and postpartum
You were likely taught or you picked up a lot information about fertility, pregnancy, birth and postpartum whether it be through friends, family or through movies – be prepared to let go of whatever preconceived notion you had about all of those things. While many of those stories are true for them, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be your reality (I’m mostly speaking of all the traumatic experiences that we often hear about).
Prior to starting to conceive, I encourage you to do some research on what physiological birth looks like so you can possible remove some of the fears that come along with the discussion of birth (how you birth will set the tone for your recovery, your ability to breastfeed, your chances of developing post party depression and so much more).
It’s important to be open when hearing stories, but also to use your own discernment, while simultaneously trusting yourself, trusting your gut. You will always know what is best for you.
10) Start setting boundaries with yourself and with others
Ooooof, boundaries! This is a big one that will need to be addressed during your fertility journey, in your pregnancy, when it comes to your birth choices and in postpartum. People will project their fears onto you by telling you horror stories that happened to them or their friends friend, how they did something that you mention in passing but it almost killed them! Thank goodness X was there or they would have died! You’ll hear all sorts of stories of trauma and then the sentence will finish with: “at least they’re healthy”!!!
While these comments aren’t necessarily meant to scare you, they definitely have the ability to alter your headspace and cause you concern (even when you know if your heart what will work for you). My gulley, the things you are likely to hear – leaving you open to adding to any fear you may have, causing you stress and discomfort and possibly change your mind to what you deem to be safer.
DO. NOT. LET. THEM. ROB. YOU. OF. YOUR. POWER!
In these instances, it is going to be very important for you to start being more open to changing your boundaries and maybe having some hard conversations with the people you love, and sometimes complete strangers. Be strong in your beliefs and tell them as it is. You deserve to be heard and respected in this journey, so do what you can to protect your space, your energy and your boundaries <3
Pregnancy Preparations: Summarized
I could keep going but this comprehensive list is enough information to really help you get started on your healthy fertility, healthy pregnancy and healthy postpartum journey – it is not meant to scare you, promise!
At the end of the day, there are many steps that you can take to help yourself feel empowered, strong, and comfortable in your body prioro to conception. I shared so much valuable information in the text above and I hope that you’re able to use that to your advantage. For guided fertility support, I am here for you – email or call anytime and I would love to discuss how I may be able to help you on your path.
Pregnancy and your fertility journey can truly be a beautiful and magical time, the most important thing to remember is that you are the best possible mother for the baby you’re planning on bringing into this world, you are everything they need and you are going to do a magnificent job – even on the days it doesn’t feel like it. The fact that you’re reading this blog post means that you are already a great mother.
At the end of the day, nothing can prepare you for the amount of love you will have for your little one.
Soak it up and enjoy yourself.
Veronique, CNP
Your fertility and nutrition coach
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