8 Tips for a Healthy, Happy Pregnancy

Pregnancy is such an exciting, crazy time in a woman’s life. Your body is changing, there are so many pregnancy-related symptoms, and you’re getting ready for your life to change in a big way.

Overall, I had a great pregnancy experience this year. I’ve never felt more confident in my ability to make intuitive decisions and treat my body well. Today I thought it’d be fun to share from my experience and offer 8 tips for a healthy, happy pregnancy. Let’s get to it!

Find a birthing team that makes you feel comfortable.

I’m sharing this one first because it’s a biggie! Going to a practice that you trust is so important. If you aren’t happy with the professionals you’re seeing, it’s worth it to do your research to find out what else is available and to make a switch.

Originally I was getting my prenatal care at an ob-gyn practice, and I just felt that their way of doing things did not align with my lifestyle. I wanted to find a birthing team that leaned more towards the natural side of things and honored my decisions. I wound up switching to a midwifery practice after my first trimester, and am SO happy that I made the switch. I loved their laid-back approach to prenatal care, while at the same time felt like I did everything necessary to ensure the safety of my baby and me. For instance, we did not do anymore ultrasounds after 20 weeks because there really isn’t a reason to if everything is going well, but I did elect to get the TDAP vaccination.

<< Read more about why I made the switch to a midwifery practice.

Take a whole foods based multivitamin.

It’s highly recommended that pregnant women take a daily multivitamin to make sure that they’re getting all of the vitamins and nutrients needed for both mama and baby to thrive. I like taking a multivitamin that’s whole foods based because 1.) they’re full of real foods (plants!) and 2.) I tend to burp up pills all day long – which I did not want happening for months and months.

The multivitamin that I took during pregnancy (and continue to take now while breastfeeding) is Garden of Life myKind Organics Prenatal Multi. The gummies steer clear of processed sugars and syrups, artificial colors and flavorings, animal products and GMOs. Made with only whole food ingredients like apple, guava, beet, broccoli, spinach and blackberry, the gummies have targeted ingredients to support mom and her baby, including 600mcg of folate and 800IU of Vegan D3.

Move daily.

I’m a big proponent of working out consistently throughout life – including during pregnancy. Regularly exercising keeps women strong for labor, will help their bodies bounce back faster after delivery, and helps to keep pregnancy weight gain moderate. It’s not recommended that you try new forms of high-impact exercise while pregnant if you aren’t used to exercising, but it is absolutely recommended that you move your body daily through moderate forms of movement like walking, cycling and yoga.

Meditate.

During pregnancy it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Staying centered and positive in general + getting my mind right for delivery was a top priority of mine during pregnancy. Every day I did some yoga and/or took a few minutes to meditate. Later in my pregnancy, I practiced hypnobirthing on a daily basis – and it helped me to deliver my baby naturally and have a positive birthing experience.

<< Learn more about my empowering hypnobirthing experience.

Use essential oils.

I love using essential oils as natural remedies, and I use them often. During pregnancy, you experience so many symptoms – and from nausea and indigestion to anxiety and sleeplessness, there’s an oil to alleviate just about every pregnancy ailment. Granted, there are a few oils that are not recommended during pregnancy, but by and large, essential oils can be relied on during pregnancy as natural remedies.

<< Check out my Shape article on essential oils to ease pregnancy symptoms.

Apply belly butter on the daily.

As your body grows during pregnancy, you get to the point where you think, Can my belly stretch anymore? It really is wild how your belly can stretch so much and then return to normal (well, almost) after you deliver your baby! During pregnancy, I applied Earth Mama Belly Butter or Burt’s Bees Mama Bee Nourishing Body Oil every night to keep my skin moisturized and to help prevent stretch marks. Moisturizing was a small part of my daily regimen that helped to keep me feeling good during pregnancy.

Take a magnesium supplement.

During pregnancy many women experience constipation – both due to hormones relaxing the intestinal muscle, and from the pressure of the expanding uterus on the intestines. I experienced this and it was such a pain in the ass – until I started taking a magnesium citrate supplement. It works as an osmotic laxative, and definitely helped to alleviate my poop problem and give my tummy less of an issue.

Listen to your body now more than ever.

On the whole, my #1 tip for a healthy pregnancy is to listen to your body. If you’re exhausted, take a nap. If a certain type of exercise isn’t feeling right for your changing body, don’t do it anymore – but find other exercise that works better for you. Eat until you feel satisfied – not stuffed, not still hungry. And if you’re craving something, just eat it in moderation.

When it comes down to it, we intuitively know what our bodies need. During pregnancy this feeling was magnified for me. I listened to my gut and treated myself right – and I think it paid off in the end.

Tell me.. Do you have any healthy pregnancy tips? Is there anything that you struggled with during pregnancy or are worried about if you do ever have a baby?