MONTH 1
Fertilization and Implantation
Weeks 1 Through 4
Welcome to your first month! Yeah! For most women, a home pregnancy test registers positive at Week 4—a time to celebrate and think about fun ways to share the news. That’s why we suggest using Month 1’s recipes (or any others) while you’re trying to get pregnant. That way, you’ll already be eating the right foods when the good news hits.
During these early weeks, your baby’s major organs and systems have begun to develop. Imagine a heart taking shape (and beating!), a brain developing new cells every second, a circulatory system forming, kidneys, liver and lungs growing, and a neural tube that will eventually become a spinal cord. These are just some of the totally wonderful things that happen in the first eight weeks. That gorgeous baby of yours is a bunch of microscopic cells developing rapidly into an embryo. By the end of Week 4, he or she is the size of a poppy seed.
YOUR BABY’S DEVELOPMENT
• This is the month when fertilization, the journey down the fallopian tubes, and implantation unfold. The total process takes about three weeks.
• Once implantation occurs, the placenta starts to develop and the amniotic sac forms and starts to fill with fluid. The purpose of the amniotic sac is to cushion the baby from bumps, to regulate temperature, and to enhance lung formation.
• As you approach Week 4, your baby’s neural tube starts to form.
CHANGES IN YOUR BODY
Some moms may experience some very early signs and symptoms of pregnancy in the first weeks, including fatigue, nausea, feeling sensitive to hot and cold, acute sense of smell, or light spotting when the egg implants. Breasts may feel full or tender, and areolas may get darker. Some women also experience bloating and gas, constipation, frequent urination and excess saliva. For other women, these symptoms may appear weeks later, and some may avoid them entirely. See here if you need tips for coping with morning sickness.
IDEAL NUTRITION
During Month 1, your nutrition focus is foods to optimize your baby’s cell structure and genetic material, and preventing neural tube defects. The following nutrients play major roles.
• B vitamins: cell division, brain formation, nervous system development, morning sickness (B6 for morning sickness)
• Folate: neural tube development
• Phosphorus: genetic material
• Selenium: cell structure
• Vitamin A: cell structure
• Vitamin E: cell structure and genetic material
• Zinc: cell structure and genetic material
PROTEIN
Eggs
Meats
Nuts: almonds, cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, walnuts, and nut butters
Pork
Poultry
Seafood (fish and shellfish): salmon, tuna, sardines in oil
Seeds: sunflower, pumpkin, chia, flaxseed
Tofu and tempeh
DAIRY
Cheese: goat and ricotta
Enriched plant-based milks (rice soy, and almond)
Fortified dairy milk
Yogurt
GRAINS/LEGUMES
All-bran cereal and other fortified breakfast cereals
Beans: black, navy, pinto, kidney, white, great northern, black-eyed, pink, cranberry, and cannellini
Chickpeas
Corn tortillas
Edamame
Folic acid–fortified products
Lentils
Oatmeal
Peanuts
Wheat germ
Whole grains: quinoa, barley, brown rice, bulgur, and whole wheat couscous
VEGETABLES
Artichokes
Asparagus
Avocados
Baked potato with skin on
Beets
Broccoli and broccoli rabe
Brussels sprouts
Butternut squash
Carrots
Dark, leafy greens: kale, collards, mustard, and Swiss chard
Mushrooms
Pumpkin
Red bell peppers
Romaine lettuce
Spinach
Sweet potatoes
FRUITS
Bananas
Cantaloupe
Citrus fruits: oranges, tangerines, grapefruit
Dried apricots
Mangoes
FATS/OTHER
Brewer’s or nutritional yeast
Olive oil
Omega-3s