Myths ! DOs and DONTs in 1st Trimester of pregnancy

I am 3 months pregnant and want to do everything right for my unborn but at the same time overwhelmed with conflicting information. Now that I have gone through 3 months its just that each pregnancy is unique with unique challenges. I want to do everything to deliver a healthy baby and my health professionals are important resource. But its first time that too with Hypothyroid and PCOS so I cant just keep calling my doctor to double check everything ? I surveyed internet , my friends and families but you really get confused. 1st trimester is a very delicate period of pregnancy because its all about foundation and formation of vital organs of a fetus and at the same time challenging to a body which is facing a flush of hormones to deal with. All of us must be acknowledged with the small things that have to be taken care of during these 3 important months. Now that I have completed my three months I feel that we don’t have to worry of causing harm to fetus for nine months , especially when vast majority of routine pregnancies produce normal, healthy babies.

Although nausea and vomiting, gastritis, heart burn are the few things which make everything impossible but eating healthy would ensure your daily intake required.

Here are my specs:

The Right Start to Pregnancy

Prenatal vitamins
These are specially formulated vitamins needed that make up for any nutritional deficiencies in the mother's diet during pregnancy. While the supplements contain numerous vitamins and minerals, their folic acid, iron, and calcium content are especially important.

• Folic acid can reduce your risk of having a baby with a serious birth defect of the brain and spinal cord, called the "neural tube." A baby with spina bifida, the most common neural tube defect, is born with a spine that is not closed. The exposed nerves are damaged, leaving the child with varying degrees of paralysis, incontinence, and sometimes mental retardation. There are natural sources of folic acid: green leafy vegetables, nuts, beans and citrus fruits. It's also found in many fortified breakfast cereals and some vitamin supplements.
• Calcium during pregnancy can prevent a new mother from losing her own bone density as the fetus uses the mineral for bone growth.
• Iron helps both the mother and baby's blood carry oxygen.
  While a daily vitamin supplement is no substitute for a healthy diet, most women need supplements to make sure they get adequate levels of these minerals.

Look for one that contains approximately:
4,000 and 5,000 IU (international units) of vitamin A
800 and 1,000 mcg (1 mg) of folic acid
400 IU of vitamin D
200 to 300 mg of calcium
70 mg of vitamin C
1.5 mg of thiamine
1.6 mg of riboflavin
2.6 mg of pyridoxine
17 mg of niacinamide
2.2 mcg of vitamin B-12
10 mg of vitamin E
15 mg of zinc
30 mg of iron

Fruits & Vegetables
There are daily 5 recommended servings of fruit but you can make it to you at having a good proportion of apples, bananas, oranges, kiwi, peach, melons, grapes, pine apple, pomegranate, dates, lime, litchi etc. accordingly. The best approach is to eat different kind of fruits and vegetables and nuts to obtain nourishment. As you will progress you will hear a big no to Papaya. Although a fully ripe papaya is not considered dangerous, a papaya that is at all unripe contains a latex substance that acts like prostaglandin and oxytocin that triggers uterine contractions. Contractions of the uterus could lead to miscarriage .
Other healthy foods are coconut water, lettuce, honey, peanuts, almonds, green leafy vegetables etc.

Ingesting milk is one of the major problems faced during 1st trimester of pregnancy. High level of hormones or medications causes the stomach valves to remain open which brings back partially digested food back to oesophagus and thus vomit occurs. To prevent this, one may take alternative forms of milk eg Soy milk, curd, ice cream, milk shakes or cold milk whichever you feel your stomach can digest. As the pregnancy progresses you will get used to the needs of body and can make better choices for your eating habits. Eat small portions of food and drink lots of fluid. If you feel sick of water the best is lime water, rose water, juices. Make sure not to have much carbonated drinks ,spicy oily food because they tend to increase your heart burn.