Since baby-making is (finally) in my near future, it’s time for me to start preparing my body for carrying another life for almost ten months. If you are a few months or less away from starting TTC (trying to conceive), here are some things you can do to prepare:
1. Exercise and maintain a healthy weight – If you are drastically over or under weight, you may have trouble conceiving. This is the time to get your body into the shape that’s right for you – a healthy shape.
(Even though I wasn’t technically overweight, I lost 30 pounds this year in preparation for TTC by exercise and a healthy diet, to get my weight in the ideal range recommended for my body type by the Mayo Clinic.)
2. Get your diet on track – Get healthy by improving your diet. Reduce or drop sugars and refined foods from your diet and start eating more raw food. Remember, if you get used to a healthy diet now, it will be much easier to stick with later.
(Even though I was already a vegetarian, I chose to do a raw food cleanse to make sure my body was in tip top shape, and then continued to add lots of raw foods to my diet instead of refined foods.)
3.Cut out bad stuff – Now is the time to quit smoking, drinking, recreational drugs, and coffee. All these things aren’t really good for you anyway, but they can be especially harmful while you are TTC and pregnant, and can even lower your chances of conceiving.
(I don’t drink, smoke, or do drugs, but I did have to give up my coffee addiction. It wasn’t easy, but I’ve finally cut my coffee habit down to the occasional - like once a week - decaf cup.)
4. Go to the doctor – Make sure your health is in order at your doctor’s office with both a checkup with your general practitioner and a preconception checkup with your OB.
(I had full blood work and urinalysis run just to make sure everything was good and I didn’t have any deficiencies like anemia.)
5.Go to the dentist – Get a full periodontal exam, including x-rays if necessary. You won’t be able to get x-rays while pregnant, and many dental problems can become much worse during pregnancy if not taken care of. If you don’t want to live by the old wives tale “You lose a tooth for every child”, you’ll want to be on top of this appointment!
(I’ve made an appointment for a dental exam, and am having full panoramic x-rays done to check for decay or potential issues with my wisdom teeth.)
6. Start taking prenatal vitamins – It takes time for your body to build up its stores, so start taking your prenatal vitamins now. Folic acid is incredibly important to the development of your baby in its first weeks, perhaps before you even realize you are pregnant, so it’s a good idea to start taking them before you start trying.
(I started out taking a chewable gummy prenatal vitamin, but I found out that they don’t contain iron and other minerals I need. I’ve ordered another, higher quality vitamin, and will switch out my gummies for those as soon as they arrive.)
7. Keep track of your cycles – While you don’t necessarily need to start temping and charting right away, it’s a good idea to at least keep track of your periods so you can estimate your ovulation dates. If you want to start charting, invest in a good basal body thermometer and use a site like Fertility Friend to keep track.
(I started an account on FF and started keeping a record, although I don’t temp. My cycles seem quite regular, so I won’t start temping unless I need to in the future.)
8.Figure out finances – Now is a good time to open a savings account for all those baby-related items you’ll be needing. Also check your insurance coverage to make sure everything is in order for prenatal coverage.
(We’ve done our research to figure out coverage for prenatal care and the birth, and we feel confident in our plans. While we certainly won’t have a lot of money to spend on baby gear, we’ve done our homework on quality budget items and we’ll manage just fine.)
If your partner wants to get in on the pre-ttc preparation, here are a few things he can do as well:
Get healthy – He should be in his best health too, so maintaining a healthy diet and exercise as well as taking a daily multivitamin and staying off alcohol, drugs, and smoking would be a very good idea.
Keep Cool - Heat is bad for sperm, so to increase conception chances he should keep his testicles cool. That means no hot baths, boxers instead of briefs, and limit bike riding.
No comments:
Post a Comment