If you've ever told a doctor that you were thinking about getting pregnant, you probably heard one thing: start a prenatal vitamin. And then once you are pregnant, the visits go so fast. You get weighed, you get your blood pressure taken, they listen to the baby, and you're out the door. Then on the drive home, you think of five questions you should've asked about what you should be eating.

A prenatal vitamin is a good start, but it's just the start. So today, we're talking about getting your body ready before that positive pregnancy test and feeding it well once you get it.

First we'll talk about the months before you get pregnant, then we'll look at your prenatal vitamin, and then we'll talk about what your body needs once that baby's on the way. Because by the time you get that positive pregnancy test, your baby has already been there for at least two weeks. We don't want to wait until after that test to address these things.

If you're already pregnant, stick with me, because a lot of the first part still applies to you. And if you're not planning on becoming pregnant anymore, or it's way down the road for you, go ahead and read anyway and share it with a friend who's a little closer to having her babies.

I have seen so many times that women come into their first prenatal appointment basically starting from scratch. They have no knowledge of their baseline health. They don't know where their labs are. They don't really know much about how they should eat to be well for themselves, much less in pregnancy.

And by the time I see them for the first time, they are several weeks in. It's not that nothing can be done at that point. It's just a little late in the game, because so much has already been done.

I also see that women who don't nourish themselves well during pregnancy look a whole lot different in the labor picture and the postpartum picture than those who have. Your energy, your stamina in labor, your healing, your milk supply, your mood after birth. All of these things are affected by how well-nourished your body is.

For me personally, in my first couple of pregnancies I was paying attention, but not nearly as much as I was by the time I was pregnant with my third. And I saw a whole lot of difference in the development of my baby after birth based on the things I was eating, things like fresh milled wheat, which I've talked to you about a lot. There are still a lot of things I would do much differently now than I did when I was having my babies.

So let's get started before you even get pregnant. Or if you are pregnant, let's do what we can to make the changes now.

Most women don't realize that an egg goes through its final stretch of growth roughly three months before it's released. So the egg you ovulate three months from now is getting ready today. That's good news, because it means everything you're doing now counts. You're not wasting your time when you take the time to nourish yourself well.

And it's not just you. Sperm takes a little over two months to develop. So the way you both eat, you and your husband, the way you sleep, and the way you live in the months leading up to a pregnancy are building the foundation of your baby.

That's why I like to see couples working on these things a good three to six months before they start trying to have babies. And let's be honest. If you're married and you're having sex, you are trying to have a baby whether you realize it or not. So let's always be preparing, so our babies have the best foundation of nutrition long before we ever know they're there.

Understand, this is not all on you, ladies. It takes two to make this baby. If you'll invite your husband into this and help him understand his role, it will make your job of nourishing yourself and your family even easier, because he'll realize that what he does matters.

His diet, his weight, his intake of anything that might be toxic. Hopefully he's not drinking alcohol or using nicotine, but if he is, this would be a good incentive to stop, because it's going to impact his sperm health. His sleep patterns, too. All of these things affect sperm health, and it's a lot easier to change habits together as a team. Let him listen to the podcast and be part of this change with you, as you prepare to give your baby the best foundation you can.

Before you start trying to have a baby, or if you're already trying, it's good to know where you're starting from. You can ask your primary care provider, or your midwife if you already have a relationship with one, to run labs that will show you your nutrition status before you get pregnant.

You can look at things like iron and ferritin. Ferritin is kind of like your iron savings account, so remember that. We'll come back to it. It's a lot easier to address many of these things when you're not pregnant than after you are.

Another one that's very important is vitamin D. We get vitamin D from the sun, but as we head into the winter months, it's very hard to get all the vitamin D you need, because the sun isn't out as long and its rays aren't as direct. Supplementing with vitamin D in the proper ways and at the proper times can make a big difference in your nutritional status, and vitamin D is essential to your fertility.

You also want to look at your thyroid, and I'm not just talking about your TSH. I'm talking about your free T3, your free T4, your thyroid antibodies (which hopefully you don't have), and something called reverse T3. Together they give us a picture of how your body and your thyroid are handling life, and that can help you have a good, healthy start to your pregnancy.

I also love to know about your blood sugar and your insulin: your fasting glucose, your fasting insulin, and your A1C, to see what your blood sugar patterns look like. About 90% of American adults have some degree of metabolic dysfunction. Those labs give us a picture of how your body is working metabolically, and that's essential for how well your body is going to nourish your baby.

Other labs to look at are B12, folate, and a complete blood count. The reason you want to look at all of these now is that they're easier to fix when you're not pregnant than in the middle of your first trimester, when you can barely keep crackers down.

While you're at it, start tracking your cycle: how long it is, how much you bleed and for how long, your cervical mucus, and your basal body temperature if you want to. That way you know a lot more about your cycle and when you ovulate, and that can help keep you from needing a first trimester dating ultrasound.

Your cycle is like a report card. I know many of us have been taught our whole lives to dread our cycles, but really our cycles are a blessing as women. They give us a monthly report on how our hormones are doing and how our health is doing. If you're not reading that report card, you're missing a lot of information that could give you actionable things to do to be more well.

Regular cycles that show you're ovulating tell you a lot. Very long, very short, or very painful cycles also tell you something, and they're worth working on before you start trying to have a baby.

I want you on a good prenatal before you're pregnant. By the time you miss your period, you're four weeks from your last period, and your baby has already been there for about two weeks, since conception usually happens right in the middle of your cycle. Whatever nutrition you have on board is what your baby has to work with.

By that point, the baby has already implanted. The placenta has started to form, and those cells are organizing into the layers that will become every organ in your baby's body. Then over the next two weeks, the neural tube forms and closes. That's what becomes the brain and the spinal cord. That's also when that little heart starts beating.

A lot of women are just finding out they're pregnant right around then, after all of this has already happened. So whatever your body has stored up is what your baby gets to be built with. Your nutrients need to be on board long before you get that positive pregnancy test.

Go get your prenatal vitamin bottle, turn it around, and let's read it.

First, look at the folate. If it says folic acid, I want you to know that's a synthetic form. It doesn't exist in nature, and I don't want you taking it. I want every one of you taking methylfolate. The medical world will tell you that you only need methylfolate if you have something called MTHFR. But from my perspective, everyone needs methylfolate, because I don't want you taking synthetic vitamins. I want you taking the real thing that your body knows what to do with. On the label it may say methylfolate, or it may say methyltetrahydrofolate.

Next, look for choline. If you don't see choline on there, or it's only a tiny amount, that's something to look into. Most prenatals have little or none, and your baby needs it for the brain and spine development we just talked about.

Also look for iodine and vitamin D, and think about omega-3s, especially DHA, which supports your baby's brain and eyes. You can get it from low-mercury fish like salmon or sardines, or from a supplement.

Start your prenatal at least three months before you start trying to conceive. And remember, a prenatal vitamin is just a supplement. It does not replace real food. I don't want you eating garbage and thinking your prenatal will make up for it. It doesn't work that way. Eat whole, real foods, and then supplement. Supplementing means to add on, not to replace.

Now let's say you're pregnant. What does your body need?

If I could only get one food change out of all pregnant moms, it would be more protein. God is building every single cell in your baby, and your body is growing extra blood, growing your uterus, and creating an entire placenta. Your protein needs go up in pregnancy, especially in the second half, because protein is the building block that all of these things are made of.

So I want you having protein at every single meal and every single snack. Never eat naked carbs. Always have protein with your carbs. That can be eggs, meat, low-mercury fish, dairy, or beans.

If nausea makes that hard, try smaller amounts: a cheese stick, some nuts, or a protein smoothie without a lot of added carbs or sweeteners. There's actually some thought out there that the nausea of pregnancy could be related to a protein deficiency. So the nausea that's keeping you from eating protein could be connected to not having enough protein. Try to find ways to get in as much as you can.

And eggs are like a pregnancy superfood. They have both protein and choline, so they're an easy way to amp up your nutrition. Hard-boiled, scrambled, any way you like them.

Now, blood sugar. Pregnancy hormones naturally make your body a little more resistant to insulin, especially later on. That is normal. That is how God designed it, and that's okay. But you've heard me talk a lot about insulin resistance and what it can do to your body.

Some of the same things that help blood sugar outside of pregnancy help in pregnancy, too. Protein. Always pairing your carbs with protein. Taking a walk after your meals to keep from getting a blood sugar spike, which can lead to a crash, which can make nausea worse and make you feel worse overall. We want a steadier blood sugar balance.

You can talk to your provider about glucose screening and the options they offer for how it's done. Just know that it's coming later in your pregnancy, and the more you pay attention early on, the less likely it is to cause you problems later.

Remember that iron savings account? Here's where it comes in. Your blood volume grows a lot in pregnancy, so your iron needs go up, too. A lot of women start pregnancy with their iron already low, and that's exactly why we want to check it before.

Signs that your iron is low include exhaustion beyond the normal fatigue of the first trimester, shortness of breath when you haven't really done much, feeling cold all the time, restless legs, and even craving ice. If you're craving ice, tell your midwife, because that's one of the classic signs of low iron.

Ask for a ferritin, not just a hemoglobin. Your midwife is probably going to look at your hemoglobin, and she may or may not look at a ferritin. It's kind of a new thing for midwives to check. Honestly, I have mixed feelings on it, because there aren't really established normals, and sometimes I think we over-treat situations that may not need treating. But it's still a good data point.

Your hemoglobin can look okay while your ferritin is very, very low, and that can mean more of a problem once birth comes, because you are going to lose blood at birth. It's going to happen. You want plenty of ferritin, a good savings account, to replenish that blood supply after birth. Low iron going into birth can make your recovery harder.

Your postpartum recovery starts long before your baby is born, because it's all based on what you've already got on board.

Build up your iron and your protein before birth. Stock your freezer with nourishing meals so they're ready to go once that baby comes. Line up help for those first few weeks so you're not running on empty. And make a plan for how you're going to keep eating and drinking enough while you're feeding a newborn.

Whether you're hoping to get pregnant in the next several months, or you're already pregnant and want more support than your prenatal visits are able to give you, I would love to help you. You'll find both on my Menu of Services, or you can email me at lori@morriswellnessservices.com. Tell me where you are, whether you're trying to conceive or already pregnant, and I'll point you to the services that fit you best.

If you need help picking out supplements, I already have a prenatal protocol on my Fullscript with my favorite prenatal vitamin and the other supplements that cover what we've talked about here. Please, please don't order your supplements on Amazon or pick them up at a convenience store or grocery store. Those usually aren't the best quality. Fullscript puts quality first, and the supplements are tested to make sure they contain what they say they do.

Children are a heritage from the Lord. Preparing your body to carry one, and nourishing it while you do, is good stewardship.

Thank you so much for spending some of your valuable time with me this week. You can listen to or watch the full episode of If Mama Ain't Healthy (Ain't Nobody Healthy) at the top of this page.