Taking Care Of Your Self

Balancing Your Diet. Try to follow these tips:

Eat complex carbohydrates, such as pasta, potatoes, or legumes (beans and lentils), for energy.

Eat fish, poultry, dairy products, whole grain cereals, seeds, legumes for protein, for the baby's growth.

Don't cut out fat altogether, but don't eat too much, either.

Get vitamin C daily from raw fruit and vegetables, and the B complex from whole grains, nuts, legumes, green vegetables, dairy products, eggs, oily fish, and meat.

Eat red meat, fish, egg yolks, apricots, and cereals for iron, to maintain red blood cells.

Food Safety

Take extra care with food hygiene:

Listeria is a rare bacterium found in products made with unpasteurized milk, liver, pre cooked meals, and undercooked meat. Avoid these infection may result in miscarriage or still birth.

Salmonella is a bacterial infection found in eggs and chicken that causes fever, severe diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Cook food thoroughly to destroy it.

Toxoplasmosis is caused by a parasite in cat and dog feces, and in raw meat. It can cause birth defects. Cook meat thoroughly, wash hands after handling pets, and wear gloves when gardening.

Pregnancy is natural and women's bodies are designed to accommodate it. However, your body does have to work hard, so it's important to eat well and keep active to help it to cope.

Weight And Diet

Your body uses up a lot of energy during pregnancy, and you need to eat well to fuel your requirements and those of your growing baby. You could reasonably increase your in take of food by 200-300 calories a day and expect to put on 20-30 1b (9-15 kg) in weight, much of which is accounted for by the baby, uterus, and amniotic fluid. Pregnancy is not a time to go on a diet, but you should also forget the myth about eating for two, the rule is to eat to satisfy your hunger, and no more. Later in pregnancy, you may find you simply can't take in much food at any one time, so eat little and often. Keep healthy snacks, such as dried fruit, rice cakes, crisp breads, and hard fruits in your bag, car, or office.

Body Maintenance

The pregnancy hormones have profound effects on teeth, hair, nails, and skin, so don't be surprised by some temporary changes.

Teeth

Progester one makes the gums soft, so they may bleed more easily. Take care of your teeth and gums, and visit your dentist at the start of your pregnancy. Make sure you tell him you are pregnant, in case he wants to take x-rays, these may be dangerous to the developing embryo. If x-rays are necessary, however, special shielding is used to protect the embryo.

Hair and nails

Straight hair can become curly, and vice versa. Hair grows and falls in phases pregnancy often prolongs the growth phase, making thin hair thick and glossy, whereas thick hair may become dry and unmanageable. The down side is that you'll experience hair loss after the birth, although it'll grow back eventually. Although they grow faster, nails also become brittle. Keep them short and use creams to keep them moist.

Skin

Estrogen gives your skin the legendary bloom of pregnancy, but dry skin becomes drier and greasy skin more oily. Patches of brown pigment (chloasma) may appear on your face and neck but will eventually fade. All skins deepen in color with browning of the nipples and a line down the abdomen. Tiny dilated capillaries (spider naevi) on the face are common but disappear later. Stretch marks on the breasts, thighs, and abdomen are very common. But most marks will fade after the birth.