Do's & Dont's

Made special for u future mother, we found this interesting facts as your guideline.

DO's

1. Make every bite count

It takes about 55,000 extra calories to make a healthy baby. That might seem like a lot, but it’s only 300 extra calories a day (the equivalent of a glass of low-fat milk, a slice of bread and an apple), and that’s only in the last two trimesters. Calorie needs don’t budge an inch in the first trimester when your baby grows no longer than a green bean. Your vitamin and mineral needs, however, have skyrocketed. For example, folic acid, the B vitamin that helps prevent birth defects, is more important than ever. That means: 1) Focus on “real” foods — colorful fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nonfat milk; 2) Little room for extra chocolate cake; and 3) Take a moderate-dose multivitamin AND mineral that contains at least 400mcg of folic acid to cover your bases on the days when you don’t eat perfectly.

2. Consume ample calcium-rich foods

As most people know, calcium helps build bones in the baby and prevent bone loss in the mom. Calcium also helps prevent pregnancy-induced high blood pressure and is important for normal functioning of nerves and muscles.

The pregnant mom needs 3 or more glasses of low-fat or nonfat milk or fortified soymilk every day before, during, and after pregnancy if she plans to nurse her little one. You can cook your rice or oatmeal in milk instead of water to sneak more calcium into your diet. Also, look for non-conventional sources of calcium, such as foods fortified with calcium. Aim for at least 1,000mg a day.

DONT's

3. Follow fad diets, like a low-carb diet

This is not the time to experiment with unbalanced diets. You need 40+ nutrients in the proper proportion to build a healthy baby today and in the future. The developing baby is much more sensitive to the mother’s nutritional status than previously thought, and some health consequences don’t show up until much later in life. So skip the low-carb or food-combining diets and stick to tried-and-true healthy eating.

We already stated some of the info. Thanks to

Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D., who is the author of “Nutrition for a Healthy Pregnancy.”

Feel free to visit  http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21676984 for more.