Congratulations! You are pregnant and by now, you should be wondering; what are the things I should not be doing rather than the things that I should do? There might be abundant resources on the internet and lots more from your friends and family. You are bound to be bombarded with advice, tips and hacks if you have a close-knit circle of family and friends.
Let’s go ahead to see what are some common questions that are in the mind of a first-time pregnant mom.
WORRY #1 - BE VERY CAREFUL- DO NOT MOVE- DO NOT BEND
Unless you have an already existing disease or weakness or you have been specifically told by your OBGYN to be on bed rest, your body is absolutely fine to do any sort of physical activity. In fact, your body will multiply its powers to an unnatural level that you can be treated like someone on a performance enhancer drug. So, don’t worry to take the bumpy road on your two-wheeler or the auto, you will be perfectly fine. To rest the case, In the U.S. many athletes use first trimester pregnancy to their advantage. They get pregnant right before their game to make use of the body’s physiological performance. When you are pregnant, there is an increase in the Red blood cell (RBC)level, and the oxygen carrying RBC’s not only does the job of providing nutrients to the baby but also increases the mommy’s aerobic performance.
Hence, don’t worry about the next door advises about bending down to put on your shoes or climbing up the stairs. Buckle up!
Just remember that pregnancy causes amplification of what you are, if you are healthy then you are super healthy now, if you are weak and depressed then you tend to be multifold of the same.
WORRY #2- DO NOT EXERCISE AT ALL
If you have been a fitness freak, which means you have been working out in the past 10 years consistently, then there is no harm in continuing your workouts. Run, ski or lift weights, do whatever you were doing, in fact your baby should be lucky to be enjoying it with you.
However, if you have started workouts as a means to reduce your body weight recently, then do not start with any rigorous exercise. First trimester is not the time to work out intensely or start something new. Swimming and cycling is safer as opposed to weight-bearing exercise. If you have been lifting weights regularly then reduce the sets and switch to machine weights than free weights.
Thumb rule: Listen to your body, stop when you are exhausted, stay hydrated and grab a banana post workout.
On the contrary, if you have never worked out in your past then now is not the time to start. Enjoy doing the walks to the shop to buy groceries and stay fit doing an activity.
WORRY #3 EAT ONLY NUTRITION BASED FOOD- ONLY PROTEIN
There are too many diets available on the internet and it’s getting a lot of attention to follow just one particular nutrient but not the wholesome food together. Protein is definitely important, but that does not imply that you should be eating only protein-based food by avoiding the other food which has all the nutrients combined.
Hence, eat food and not nutrients. Because eating food without looking at just the label of nutrients, will give you multiple nutrients than restricting to a specific nutrient based food. At the end of the day, a wholesome meal, good amount of sleep and exercise will be the only factors which help you and your fetus attain the required amount of nutrition than just eating protein- only meal.
WORRY #4 IF YOU MISS OUT ON YOUR VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS - YOU ARE UNHEALTHY
The supplement industry which is gaining popularity in the recent trend would love to make you believe that you cannot be healthy unless you don’t buy those extra vitamin supplements for each of the need. However, the pregnancy stage isn’t very different. It is the same set of vitamins which is needed for women of a reproductive age – Vitamin D, Calcium, Vitamin B with addition of folic acid (B9) and B12. If you have the budget for it, it wouldn’t hurt to buy them, however if you have already been a supplement user in the past or you are currently taking them, then just continue using it. Don’t forget that a supplement is just a supplement and not a replacement to your wholesome meal, sleep and exercise.
WORRY #5- YOU WILL BE NAUSEOUS – NO WAY TO CONTROL
Nausea is caused due to a lot of hormonal changes with high levels of progesterone and growth hormone spikes in your body. However, it can be better or worse based on the food you eat. It is not just the hormones but the lifestyle that can also lead to the sickness of acidity discomfort.
Pro Tip: keep your gadgets away 60 mins before sleep. Unwind your body and get good rest at night. Have a power nap of 20 mins in the afternoon post lunch. Lastly, stop eating packaged and processed food.
WAYS TO AVOID NAUSEA OR MORNING SICKNESS;
- Avoid tea for the first two hours after you get up
- Try to consume a fruit first thing in the morning
- Add extra ghee to your lunch and dinner this helps your blood sugars to climb slowly and stays for a long time
- Add lemongrass to warm water- it is refreshing to your body, mind and the room.
- After bath take a tiny drop of coconut oil and massage the insides of your ears. This helps greatly.
WORRY #6- EXCESS OF FOLIC CAN DAMAGE YOUR BABY?
Do not entirely depend only on the Folic acids and miss out on the other nutrients or just do not take up the pill thinking it will do its duty. No, it would fail to do so.
The folic (B9) needs the vitamin B12 to do its duty; hence missing out on B12 will make you lose the whole purpose of consuming folic acid. Hence, focus on eating the natural foods as well which contain the necessary vitamins such as Beetroot, cooked lentils, soaked sprouted lentils & curd. If there are reports which suggest that consuming excess folic may damage then there is a possibility that the person had not taken a wholesome meal, hence the damage. Therefore, you need not worry about the damage if you are consuming the required amount of folic per day along with a balanced meal.
