"Water" You Drinking?

Pregnant women should drink at least six eight-ounce glasses of water per day. Plus, pregnant women should drink another glass of water for each hour of activity. Water carries the nutrients from the food you eat to your baby. It also helps prevent constipation, hemorrhoids, excessive swelling, and urinary tract or bladder infections. Drinking enough water, especially in your last trimester, prevents you from becoming dehydrated. Not getting enough water can lead to premature or early labor. Juices also contain water. But juice also has a lot of calories that can cause you to gain extra weight. Coffee, soft drinks, and teas with caffeine actually reduce the amount of fluid in your body. So caffeinated drinks do not count towards the total amount of water you need every day.

Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Fruits and vegetables with vitamin C help you and your baby to have healthy gums and other tissues. Vitamin C also helps your body to heal wounds and to absorb iron. Vitamin C items include strawberries, melons, oranges, papaya, tomatoes, peppers, greens, cabbage, and broccoli. Dark green vegetables have vitamin A, iron, and folate, which are important nutrients during pregnancy.

• One Serving Fruit = 1 medium apple, 1 medium banana, 1/2 cup of chopped fruit, 3/4 cup of fruit juice
• One Serving Vegetable = 1 cup raw leafy vegetables, 1/2 cup of other vegetables (raw or cooked), 3/4 cup vegetable juice

Reservations For Two

You will need additional nutrients to keep you and your baby healthy. But, that does not mean you need to eat twice as much. A pregnant woman needs only 300 calories a day more than she did before she got pregnant. The American Dietetic Association (ADA) recommends that pregnant women eat a total of 2,500 to 2,700 calories every day. These calories should come from a variety of healthy foods. What pregnant women eat is more important than how much she eats. A pregnant woman needs more of many important vitamins, minerals and nutrients than she did pre-pregnancy. Make sure not to restrict your diet because your unborn baby might not get the right amounts of protein, vitamins, and minerals. Low-calorie diets can break down a pregnant woman's stored fat. This can lead to the production of substances called ketones. Constant production of ketones can result in a mentally retarded child.