Preparing Your Body for Pregnancy — and Nourishing It Once You're There

Let's talk, friend — because whether you're a few months out from trying, right in the thick of it, or you just stared at two little lines in disbelief, the work is beautifully the same: you're building a body that feels safe enough, resourced enough, and nourished enough to make and hold a whole new person.

I know how much noise there is out there. So I want to cut through it and give you the things that actually move the needle — the stuff I come back to again and again with my women. None of this is about doing it perfectly. It's about doing a handful of things consistently, and letting your body do what it was designed to do.

Grab your tea. Here's the whole map.

IN THIS GUIDE

1. The Foundation: Daily Habits That Set the Stage

2. Eating for Progesterone (Your "Hold the Pregnancy" Hormone)

3. My Three Non-Negotiable Supplements

4. Once You're Pregnant: Stress, Nourishment & Movement

5. A Gentle Word Before You Go

THE FOUNDATION: DAILY HABITS THAT SET THE STAGE

Before we ever talk supplements or fancy testing, we talk foundations — because they're free, they're powerful, and they're the soil everything else grows in. Fertility isn't a switch you flip; it's a message your body reads from how you live. Here's what tells your body it's a good time to make a baby.

Protect your sleep like it's your job

Sleep is where you make hormones, regulate stress, and repair. Aim for 7–9 hours on a fairly consistent schedule, and get morning sunlight in your eyes within an hour of waking — it sets your circadian rhythm, which quietly runs your whole hormonal show, including ovulation.

Steady your blood sugar

This one's sneaky-important. Big blood-sugar swings — from skipping meals, under-eating, or carb-only snacks — spike cortisol and disrupt ovulation and progesterone. The fix is gentle: anchor every meal with protein, fat, and fiber, and don't let yourself get to that shaky, ravenous place. Eating enough, and eating regularly, is one of the most fertility-supportive things you can do.

Move — but don't punish yourself

Your body loves consistent, feel-good movement: walking, strength training a few times a week, pilates, gentle cardio. What it doesn't love is being run into the ground. Chronic overtraining (especially paired with under-eating) reads as famine, and your body will quietly deprioritize reproduction. Move to feel strong and energized, not depleted.

Tend to your nervous system

Your body will not prioritize making a baby if it thinks you're being chased by a tiger all day. Chronic stress is a fertility and hormone disruptor — more on the why below. For now: build in real daily downshifts, even 10 minutes. Breathwork, a walk without your phone, prayer, a bath. Safety is a fertility signal.

Hydrate, and add your minerals

Cervical fluid, blood volume, cellular energy — it all runs on water plus the minerals that let your body use it. Steady hydration with electrolytes (more on that in my supplement picks) beats chugging plain water once a day.

Lower your load, gently

You don't need to bubble-wrap your life — but small swaps add up: filter your water, cook in less plastic, simplify your personal-care products, and support your body's natural elimination and drainage so it can clear what it doesn't need. Daily bowel movements matter here more than people realize — that's part of how excess estrogen leaves the body.

"Fertility isn't something you force. It's something you make room for."

EATING FOR PROGESTERONE (YOUR "HOLD THE PREGNANCY" HORMONE)

Progesterone is your "stay calm and hold the pregnancy" hormone. It's what your body makes after ovulation (and later, in abundance, from the placenta) — and it's the one that keeps a pregnancy cozy and secure in those early weeks. When it's low, you feel it: short cycles, spotting, PMS, anxiety, poor sleep.

Now — a little honesty, because you'll see "progesterone foods" everywhere: food doesn't contain progesterone. What food does — and this is the powerful part — is give your body the exact raw materials and cofactors it needs to make progesterone, protect it, and clear the excess estrogen that competes with it. That's the real game.

★ THE #1 PROGESTERONE RULE: EAT ENOUGH 

Under-eating and cutting carbs too low is one of the fastest ways to tank progesterone and stall ovulation. Your body reads scarcity as "not now." A nourished body — including quality carbohydrates — is a fertile body. Please eat the sweet potato.

Here's what I load a progesterone-loving plate with:

• Vitamin C foods — Citrus, bell peppers, kiwi, strawberries, broccoli. Directly supports the corpus luteum, the little gland that makes your progesterone after ovulation.

• Zinc-rich foods — Oysters, beef, pumpkin seeds, shellfish. Essential for ovulation and healthy progesterone output (and it's a fertility mineral for your partner, too).

• B6 foods — Salmon, poultry, bananas, potatoes, chickpeas. Supports the luteal phase and helps ease that premenstrual mood dip.

• Magnesium foods — Dark leafy greens, pumpkin seeds, avocado, a little dark chocolate. Calms the stress response that steals from progesterone.

• Healthy fats & cholesterol — Eggs (yolks!), salmon, grass-fed meat, olive oil, avocado. Cholesterol is the literal building block of all your sex hormones. Low-fat is not your friend here.

• Selenium — 1–2 Brazil nuts a day. Supports the thyroid and corpus luteum, both quietly essential for a healthy luteal phase.

• Cruciferous & fiber — Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, greens, ground flax. Helps clear excess estrogen so progesterone can actually shine.

• Quality carbs — Sweet potato, squash, oats, fruit, root veg. Supports progesterone and thyroid and keeps cortisol from hijacking the show.

Build most plates around a palm of protein, a generous drizzle of healthy fat, a fist of colorful veg, and a real serving of gentle carbs. Do that most of the time and you've done the big thing.

MY THREE NON-NEGOTIABLE SUPPLEMENTS

I'm a "quality over quantity" practitioner — I don't want you rattling with twelve bottles. If you're preparing for or nurturing a pregnancy, these are the three I come back to again and again. (As always, run your specifics past your own provider — especially with iron.)

1.A high-quality prenatal — with or without iron

This is your anchor, and I love a bioavailable, food-based prenatal (my go-to is Needed) with methylated folate, choline, and the real forms of your B vitamins and minerals. Start it before you conceive if you can — those first few weeks matter enormously and often happen before you even know.

With or without iron? Here's my simple rule of thumb: choose the with-iron version if you have heavier cycles or your iron reserves tend to run low. Choose the iron-free version if your iron stores are already solid, iron upsets your stomach, or you're getting iron elsewhere — and always confirm your iron status with your provider rather than guessing, because more is not always better.

2.An omega-3 (DHA + EPA) — egg quality & baby's brain

Omega-3s (again, Needed makes a beautiful one) are a fertility and pregnancy powerhouse: they support egg quality and healthy inflammation before conception, and then become critical raw material for your baby's brain and eye development. Bonus — they're wonderful for your mood, which matters through every stage of this.

3.Magnesium + electrolytes — my Magna pick

Magnesium is the mineral I wish every woman took. It supports progesterone, calms the nervous system, eases cramps and PMS, and helps you actually sleep — and paired with a full electrolyte blend, it keeps your hydration, energy, and nervous system steady (a lifesaver in the first trimester when everything feels tender). A quality magnesium + electrolyte blend is my daily non-negotiable.

A quick note on the "less is more" philosophy: You don't need a cabinet. You need the right few things, taken consistently, on top of a genuinely nourishing diet. Food first, foundations first — supplements fill the gaps, they don't replace the work.

ONCE YOU'RE PREGNANT: STRESS, NOURISHMENT & MOVEMENT

Two lines! Deep breath. Now the goal gently shifts from conceive to nourish and hold. The good news: you keep doing most of what you were already doing — just softer, more intuitive, and always in partnership with your provider. Three pillars carry you here.

Stress & your nervous system

Here's the piece I really want you to understand: your stress hormone, cortisol, and your progesterone are made from the same raw material. When you're in constant fight-or-flight, your body will preferentially make cortisol — which can leave less for the hormones a pregnancy leans on. Beyond the biochemistry, your nervous system is always asking one question: am I safe? The more you can answer "yes" — through rest, boundaries, breathwork, joy, and slowing down — the more your body can pour its energy into growing your baby. This isn't fluffy. It's physiology. Protecting your peace is prenatal care.

Nourishment

Pregnancy is not the time to restrict — it's the time to nourish generously. Keep anchoring meals with protein and fat, keep your blood sugar steady, and lean into the nutrient-dense foods above.

A few early-pregnancy notes from me:

→ Protein is your priority — it's the scaffolding your baby is literally built from. Aim for some at every meal and snack.

→ Honor the aversions. If the first trimester turns you off vegetables and all you can manage is toast and fruit, that's okay — eat what stays down, keep the prenatal going, and it passes. Fed is the foundation.

→ Ginger, small frequent meals, and protein at bedtime can take the edge off nausea and morning dips.

→ Keep hydrating with those electrolytes — blood volume rises significantly in pregnancy, and minerals help you keep up.

Movement

Unless your provider has advised otherwise, gentle, consistent movement is a gift in pregnancy — it supports mood, blood sugar, circulation, sleep, and even prepares your body for birth. Think walking, strength training, prenatal yoga or pilates, swimming. A few guardrails: this isn't the season to start an intense new program or chase personal records, listen closely to your energy (especially in the first and third trimesters), and modify as your body changes. If something feels off, rest — your body is doing the most important work there is.

"Preparing for a baby and holding a pregnancy run on the same fuel: nourishment, safety, and rest."

A GENTLE WORD BEFORE YOU GO

If you take one thing from all of this, let it be this: you do not have to do this perfectly. You don't need every food, every habit, every supplement dialed in on day one. Pick a few foundations, stay consistent, be kind to yourself on the hard days, and lean on your care team for the personal specifics.

Your body is not a problem to fix. It's a wise, capable thing that mostly needs to feel safe, fed, and supported enough to do what it already knows how to do. My job — and the whole heart of how I work — is simply to help you find your gaps and give your body exactly what it's asking for.

Wherever you are on this road, I'm cheering you on. Truly.

This article is for educational and wellness purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. It is not a substitute for care from your licensed medical or prenatal provider. Always consult your provider before starting or changing supplements, nutrition, or exercise — particularly during preconception, pregnancy, or nursing, and especially regarding iron. Individual needs vary.

© Her + Well · Dr. Monique Reynard-Boykins, DC, CHN, FBCA · herandwell.com