Healthy Meal Ideas for Pregnancy

Pregnancy is the time in a woman's life to truly pay attention to her diet, but with morning sickness, food cravings and insatiable hunger, getting the nutrition you need can be tricky. Some take pregnancy as a license to eat with abandon, but in reality, you only need about an extra 300 calories a day to support the life growing inside of you. Make all your calories count with a healthy meal plan that keeps you satisfied. Talk with your obstetrician or a dietitian if you have diet-related questions.

A Satisfying Breakfast
Throughout the day, you should aim for two to four servings of fruit, at least four servings of vegetables, four servings of dairy, three servings of protein and six to 11 servings of breads and grains. Get started on a healthy day by eating breakfast -- though that's easier said than done if you have morning sickness. If you feel OK, combine low-fat protein, such as eggs or lean meat, with a complex carb. A healthy breakfast idea is scrambled eggs on top of a piece of whole-grain toast and an orange on the side for a dose of vitamin C, of which you need 70 milligrams a day. Make sure you cook those eggs thoroughly to reduce the risk of salmonella. If coffee is your No. 1 priority in the morning, keep it to a total of 200 milligrams of caffeine, or about two cups. Better yet, gradually switch over to decaf. If you feel ill in the morning, try to get anything in your stomach that you can keep down, whether it's whole-grain crackers, a grilled cheese sandwich or dry whole-wheat toast.

An Easy Lunch
Use your midday meal to get in plenty of the nutrients you need to support your growing baby, including iron and calcium. A lunch featuring products rich in these nutrients includes a leafy green salad topped with lean meat or poultry and cheese, along with a side of yogurt. If you're craving Mexican food, registered dietitian Frances Largeman-Roth, author of "Feed the Belly: The Pregnant Mom's Healthy Eating Guide," recommends making it a taco salad with lean sirloin and black beans. But if you're dealing with heartburn -- a common pregnancy problem -- keep the spice to a minimum and pair the taco salad with a glass of low-fat milk. Other lunch ideas that help can help keep nausea at bay -- because morning sickness can truly be an all-day affair -- are cold foods such as sandwiches, properly prepared to prevent listeria in the deli meat, or fruit, raw vegetables and salads.

Healthy Dinners
To promote your baby's neural tube development, you need to eat at least 0.4 milligram of folic acid each day. Get that in at dinnertime by basing your meal around legumes, such as lima beans, black beans, black-eyed peas and chickpeas, which will also help with the protein your body needs. Add a side of vitamin A in the form of sweet potatoes or carrots and a healthy green salad for a well-rounded vegetarian meal. If you want a meat-based meal, Largeman-Roth recommends iron-, fiber- and protein-rich turkey burgers. avoid spicy, greasy foods to help with nausea and heartburn, however. If you really need some hearty comfort food, add vitamin-rich broccoli to a helping of homemade macaroni and cheese, which will boost your consumption of calcium for the day.

Filling Snacks
Eating small snacks throughout the day can help combat morning sickness and heartburn. Snacks that may help with nausea include pretzels, popsicles and mint tea. Nutritious snacks include whole-grain crackers and cheese, a smoothie made with fruit and low-fat yogurt or trail mix. If you're craving chocolate, try chocolate pudding made with low-fat milk or chocolate-dipped strawberries or almonds.

Weight loss before pregnancy

Talking to a woman about her weight during pregnancy — without putting her off from all future pregnancy checkups — is an art. Hopefully I have learned it, but undoubtedly I have offended a few women.

Of course, the reason health care providers stress appropriate weight gain during pregnancy is because it's good for mom and baby — not out of vanity. Recommended weight gain during pregnancy is based on your pre-pregnancy BMI, so let’s start our discussion there. Part of having a healthy pregnancy is focusing on your health before you see those life-changing little pink lines.

As obesity has risen in the U.S., so have pregnancy complications. Having a BMI of 30 or more (and especially 40 or more), puts your pregnancy at risk for a long list of complications, including diabetes, high blood pressure and pregnancy loss. Benefits of achieving a healthy pre-pregnancy weight include:

• You'll feel amazing
• Getting pregnant might be easier
• You'll minimize your risk for pregnancy complications

In addition, excess weight is often easier to lose before pregnancy than afterward, when you're busy healing and caring for your baby.

So how do you do it?

• Educate yourself by meeting with a dietitian or nutritionist
• Choose fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains
• Burn calories by getting moving outside or by joining a gym
• Make sure loved ones and friends understand and support your goals

Optimal health before pregnancy involves getting chronic illnesses under control, quitting smoking and seeking preconception counseling. Weight management should be on the list, too. Best of all, you can motivate yourself by visualizing a fit, healthy pregnancy!

How to Get Pregnant With A Baby Boy The Easy Way

A lot of mothers are having difficulty conceiving a baby boy. They just keep trying with no success even after visiting a fertility clinic. If you are trying to get pregnant with a baby boy, this article will teach you natural ways you can use to accomplish your goal without spending money going to an expensive gender clinic. Here are some tips on how to get pregnant with a baby boy.

Female (x) chromosome are slower but stronger than a male (Y) chromosome. A male chromosome however, are faster but die quicker than girl chromosomes. To make the male chromosome last longer and get a higher chance to get pregnant with a baby boy, you need to condition your body into having a low pH environment for your male chromosomes because they easily die in a high pH level body. To do this, you need to eat certain foods that are high in potassium and sodium like nuts, figs, raisins and apricots. Avoid foods high in calcium like cheese and yogurt. To make your vagina Base or Alkalytic it would also be a good idea to consume a lot of vegetables with the exception of corn.

To become pregnant with a baby boy, you need to have sex during the time of ovulation. Normally ovulation should take place 12-14 days between your 28 day menstrual cycle. Because male sperms' life expectancy are short, having intercourse earlier than the aforementioned ovulation days the male sperm won't survive.

When having sexual intercourse, use sexual positions that allow deep penetration to place the sperm very close to the egg such as rear entry or missionary position with the legs all the way up. Because the male sperm die quick, you need to make the sperms' travel short for their survival and may lead to being pregnant with a baby boy.

After ejaculation, keep your legs up with the help of a pillow underneath your lower back. This also help the male sperm travel faster to the egg. If you want to become pregnant with a baby boy, this technique will sure increase your chance.