18 Tips To Prepare Your Body For Pregnancy, According to a Pregnancy Coach

If you want to become pregnant, or have been trying for some time, there are a number of ways to set yourself up for success. As a pregnancy coach and doula, here are some tips I generally recommend to clients to help prepare the body, mind, and soul for the journey of bringing life into the world.

When I prepare someone for pregnancy, the first thing I do is remove unhealthy foods from her diet and add healthy options. Here's the way I look at it: A gardener always gets the soil as nourished as it can be before he plants precious seeds—the healthier the soil, the more vibrantly those seeds will grow. Our bodies are similar: the healthier we are physically before pregnancy, the better the environment to maintain a healthy pregnancy. Eat organic, hormone-free, GMO-free, whole foods that nourish you.

My go-to holistic nutritionist Elissa Goodman recommends that you take 50 to 80-billion-count probiotics, 4 to 8 ounces of aloe vera1, and 1,500 mg of L-Glutamine daily for a few months pre-pregnancy.

I asked a few of my acupuncturist friends what they recommend for fertility and they all said to eat warm foods like (lentil soup, or stir-fried veggies and brown rice). The holistic thinking is that a warm uterus is better for fertility.

Make this fertility-boosting smoothie. It's also great to ensure you're getting enough folic acid—best to take at least 400 iu, at least three months before conceiving to help prevent neural tube defects like spina bifda. If you hope to conceive sooner than within three months, keep in mind that the earlier you take folic acid, the better.

Stress can wreak havoc on your body by boosting cortisol levels, which can suppress ovulation and decrease sperm count and sex drive. Stress also tightens your body, which can stagnate energy and constrict blood flow.2 Things to help you manage your stress:

Often clients come to me with the hopes of wanting to bring something new into their lives. When our lives are too full, there is no room for anything new to enter. Too much space can make a person feel anxious, so we tend to busy ourselves with things that are no longer resonating or that we outgrew so we don't have to feel the discomfort that empty space brings. It's only by allowing for this space that something new can be birthed.

A great way I've found to prepare someone for pregnancy is for them to act as though they already are. Often, I've found that women will take better care of themselves during pregnancy for their baby's sake. I always ask people: "If you were pregnant right now, what would you be doing differently?" Whatever they answer back is what I tell them to start doing.

Acupuncture is a great way to get your body ready for pregnancy. I'm a huge fan of it. Not only can acupuncture improves ovarian function to produce better quality eggs but it also increases blood flow to the uterus and improves the success rate of IVF3. It also has the added benefit of decreasing your stress levels which is absolutely key–making a baby can get pretty taxing.

People with the best intentions will project their thoughts or stories onto you. I have seen countless women literally shut down their bodies from thinking that they were too old or it would be hard to get pregnant and have spent many hours helping them undo this toxic thinking. Our minds are powerful, so watch those thoughts! Turn negative thoughts into positive affirmations, for example: My body is strong and healthy for pregnancy or I get pregnant easily. Put them up them all over your house where you can see, read, and absorb them daily .

There is nothing more frustrating then wanting something so badly and it not happening when you want it to. For some, getting pregnant happens right away and for others it takes some time. All beings have their own divine timing; just because you are ready to have a baby doesn't mean that this child is ready to come into this world just yet. When you can surrender and trust God's timing, you understand that there is a reason why things don't always happen when you want. In time, answers will always be revealed.

That's right! Sex keeps the energy in your second chakra (reproductive area) moving and open.

As I said before, not all women get pregnant on the first try. If you count on that one window and it doesn't happen the first month, nor the next month, it tends to start an emotional downward spiral, which constricts your energy. I recommend carving a window for trying anywhere you feel good about, from 4 to 12 months. After that period of time, you can always open a new window of time for a different path of trying. It takes the pressure off and expands your energy.

Some options I often recommend to clients are: yams, eggs, asparagus, almonds, salmon, leafy greens, and organic grass-fed whole dairy.

If there are problems in your relationship, having a baby will just add salt to the wounds. Patch up what needs fixing before your baby comes, as your relationship with your partner will set the bar for your child's relationships down the road. We all have issues from childhood that shaped us into the people we are today—some good and some not so good...If we aren’t aware of our own wounds, we might unconsciously try to fix our childhood through our children.

When you count your cycle, always start on the first day of your period, which is Day 1. If you have a 28-day cycle, the fertile window is normally two weeks before your next suspected period, so that would be around day 14.

Pregnancy isn't a time to start a new exercise routine; the best time is months before you conceive. So don't be afraid to try something new or start working out for the first time all together. Not only does exercise give you more energy and reduce your stress, but it also helps you sleep better which are all important benefits when you're trying to conceive.

You should also get a pap smear and breast check. If you chose to vaccinate, make sure you're up to date on your vaccines. Checking in with your medical practitioner will help you have a health baseline for future pregnancy plans.