How can I prepare my body for pregnancy?

[BeUmberRaven]

I am a 30 year old women, planning to have a baby in the next 2/3 years. I understand that pregnancy is a marathon, not a sprint - so, I want to know what I can do between now and then to prepare my body and mind for a healthy pregnancy. There seems to be hoards of info out there for during or after, but not much for preparing for pregnancy.

What did you wish you did ahead of pregnancy? Any podcasts/books/articles welcome. I find I am best when I have digested all the info and can move forward in a way that works best for me. All the wacky and wonderful advice welcome! Appreciate it, thank you :)

Eat well, exercise, get laid.

Nothing specific - ate and drank normally. Got the tube to work, lots of business travel, gym routine was the same for years.

Exercise and strenght, and getting your hormones balanced. Anecdotal but almost everyone I know who was active before pregnancy - swimming, cycling, running, etc - and she to keep some of it up had significantly easier pregnancies and labours.

If you have a smart watch, you can sync it to one of the cycle tracking apps and it makes an attempt at ‘temping’ which can help identifying if you’re ovulating etc. I am long past trying to conceive but I find it useful.

Definitely exercise. I also took pregnacare conception and proceive omega three conception (make sure not to take fish oil, take pregnancy specific) and gave up alcohol in the 3 months before we started trying. I also weaned myself off caffeine gradually in that time. I used free premom app to track LH and basal body temp to ensure we tried at the right time. Obviously it's different for everyone but I'm 36 and got pregnant first go. I also got my smear test and checked I had had full course of mmr because they are on the list for people starting IVF so I figured they might be important. If you are looking for a book people recommend it starts with an egg, but I was pregnant by the time I started so I didn't read it.

Reduce alcohol, caffeine, and endocrine disruptors. (We gradually replaced plastic boxes with glass ones for food that is hot or will be heated, reduced use of non-stick cookware, switched to unfragranced products when they needed replacing. We've never switched back!) Eat healthily. Start good-quality vitamins a few months before.

We read 'It Starts With the Egg', which informed all this. I would recommend it.

Pregnancy - healthy body, healthy mind
Newborn and baby - healthy relationships

More importantly - sort out your living space! Do any of the little jobs that irk you and improve your storage!