Stressful. That was the word that best captured Jessica’s diagnosis with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM). The 35-year-old’s first pregnancy had proceeded uneventfully until her glucose tolerance test. When, at 28 weeks, her test results came back positive. The positive result came on a Friday. She could not see her doctor until after the weekend. The […]

In addition to weird aches and discomforts (sciatica, anyone?), weight gain, and puking, pregnancy can make routine decisions—what should I eat right now?—annoyingly complex. For every meal, it’s a series of questions. Does this contains any “no-nos” like soft cheese or deli meats? Is it healthy enough? Did I get at least two servings of […]

Call me naive, but I went into my first pregnancy expecting that after having my baby, the extra pounds would more or less fall off on their own. It was a huge wake up call, when a year out, I was still a steady 5 lbs above my pre-baby weight. My son was finally sleeping […]

When you’re pregnant, it’s hard to escape the eat fish, don’t eat fish dilemma. On the one hand, pregnant women are told that fish–rich in iodine, selenium, and omega-3 fatty acids, and other vital nutrients–is good for our babies’ rapidly growing brains. Recent studies have linked fish consumption during pregnancy with faster processing times and […]

Last month, the measles outbreak in Washington State prompted its governor to declare a state of emergency. Some parents have wised up and finally vaccinated their kids. But others have dug in, even gathering to protest universal vaccine policies. As a researcher who knows how thoroughly the autism-vaccine hypothesis has been debunked*, it’s hard to watch […]

Vitamin D—The magical vitamin that our body makes when we bask in the sunshine. In an ideal world, every pregnant woman would soak up vitamin D by relaxing her nine months away somewhere tropical and warm. But if you can’t pass your pregnancy at the beach and, like most of us, only manage to squeeze […]

Your baby’s gut microbiome may shape her later health…   Here’s what you can do to give her the best start possible. Ah, the gut microbiome, that teeming collection of fungi, viruses and bacteria that lives inside our intestines. We hear so much about it nowadays, that you could almost believe a healthy gut was […]

DHA WEEK 31 weight: 3.31 lbs.  |   length: 16.18″     WHAT’S GOING ON IN THERE? Baby is preparing for rapid weight gain.   What do I need and why? Some good fatty fats! It started in week 24, but now baby’s fat storage is really hitting its stride – over the next two months, deposits […]

  STEP 1: MENTAL PREPARATION “As I prepare for a major competition, I dial in my mantras, I will myself to believe I can overcome the challenge that lay ahead and that I can handle it. This is a daily practice. So for me, as I prepare for childbirth it makes sense that I prepare […]

VITAMIN D WEEK 32 weight: 3.75 lbs.  |   length: 16.69″     WHAT’S GOING ON IN THERE? Baby’s bones have fully developed but they are still a bit soft. From week 32 onward, they’ll be getting stronger and stronger and preparing for life on the outside.   What do I need and why? VITAMIN D is […]

Would you rather know if baby is the size of an orange or that the vitamin C in an orange helps lung development in week 8? For the nerds like us, we present The Baby Building Blocks Newsletter - the What, When, Why, and How of Prenatal Nutrition.