Nutrition during the first trimester
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Nutrition should be one of your primary concerns during the first trimester, as well as throughout the entire rest of your pregnancy. Pregnancy, especially during the first trimester, is a critical time in terms of your baby’s development. It is during this time that your baby’s internal organs are forming, and your baby needs very specific nutrients to make things go together the way that they should.
The first step in maintaining good nutrition during the first trimester is taking your prenatal vitamin. The fact of the matter is that your baby needs specific things such as folate and iron. A lack of folate has been shown, for example, to lead to a whole host of birth defects. By talking your prenatal vitamin, you are helping to insure that your baby is getting the nutrition that she needs during the first trimester.
You should also keep an eye on what exactly you are eating during the first trimester. There are some very specific foods that you should make sure you are getting during pregnancy. Every day during the first trimester and beyond, you should get between 3 and 5 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables. Out of these, one should be of a dark orange vegetable, and two should be of leafy dark green vegetables. In addition, you should have two servings of extra-lean meats, chicken, fish, or cooked peas or dried beans daily. You should drink eight glasses of water. You should have six servings of grains, and three servings of nonfat or low fat milk products.
Keep in mind, as well, that you will need to take in more calories than you did before you were pregnant. However, you are not truly “eating for two” in terms of the amount of food you are eating. During the first trimester, your nutritional needs should increase by only about 300 calories per day over what you took in prior to becoming pregnant. Even later on in pregnant, you should only need about an extra 300 calories a day.
If you are especially concerned about your nutritional needs during the first trimester, you should speak with your health care provider. She may be able to help address concerns that are unique to your situation.
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