I sat down with Stephanie Lauri, registered dietitian, also known as the Pregnancy Nutritionist, to talk about something almost all of us experience in some form: nausea, food aversions, and that first-trimester question of whether we'll ever feel like ourselves again. Stephanie started this work while pregnant with her second daughter, after realizing just how little nutrition guidance actually gets offered during prenatal care, and she's since helped thousands of moms-to-be manage their symptoms, feel more confident in their food choices, and head into delivery and postpartum recovery feeling supported. We talked through what's actually "normal" across that first trimester spectrum, why symptoms don't magically disappear at 12 weeks for most people, and how blood sugar balance, timing, and small additions (not restrictions) can make a real difference even when you can't control the hormones driving it all.

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We also got into what to eat when nothing sounds good, how to build a more balanced version of the carby, bland foods you're already craving, the role of electrolytes and hydration, and when medication might genuinely be the right and non-guilty answer. Stephanie's whole philosophy is about addition over restriction: instead of a list of what to avoid, focusing on what you can add to support yourself and your baby, wherever you're starting from. If you've ever felt like "just survive it" was the only advice on offer for how you're feeling, this conversation is the permission slip to expect more and try a little more, too.

More from Stephanie Lauri, RD:

Follow her on Instagram @pregnancy_nutritionist

Check out her meal plans:

• Pregnancy Symptom Management Meal Plan
• 2nd & 3rd Trimester Meal Plan
• Postpartum Meal Plan

Helpful Timestamps:

• 00:00 Meet Stephanie, RD
• 06:19 Dietitian Vs Nutritionist
• 11:42 Common First Trimester Struggles
• 16:41 Blood Sugar & Nausea Fixes
• 22:49 Meal Ideas That Work
• 26:55 Meds, Ginger, Electrolytes
• 35:26 Bad Advice To Ignore
• 41:42 Where To Find Stephanie

About your host:

Lo Mansfield, MSN, RNC-OB, CLC is a registered nurse, mama of 4, and a birth, baby, and motherhood enthusiast. She is both the host of the Lo & Behold podcast and the founder of The Labor Mama.

For more education, support and “me too” from Lo, please visit her website and check out her online courses and digital guides for birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum/newborns. You can also follow @thelabormama and @loandbehold_thepodcast on Instagram and join her email list here.

For more pregnancy, birth, postpartum and motherhood conversation each week, be sure to subscribe to The Lo & Behold podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you prefer to listen!

A request: If this episode meant something to you, would you consider a 5 star rating and leaving us a review? Yes, we read them, and yes, they help keep L & B going! ♥️

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Disclaimer

Opinions shared by guests of this show are their own, and do not always reflect those of The Labor Mama platform. Additionally, the information you hear on this podcast or that you receive via any linked resources should not be considered medical advice. Please see our full disclaimer here.

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Mentioned in this episode:

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We are talking about something in this episode that I feel pretty confident saying that all of us are going to experience and kind of have some sort of relationship with inside of our pregnancies, and that is that nausea, the morning sickness, just that question of how are we going to feel in that first, second trimester, and will we ever feel better when we are one of the many who just aren't feeling exceptional during those first 12, 13, 14 weeks.

I have Stephanie with me from Pregnancy Nutritionist today.

She's a registered dietician nutritionist, so that's that RD credential you'll see after her name.

She has been an RD since 2011.

She's a certified lactation education counselor, and she has spent the last 13 years working primarily with infants, pediatrics, and then that pregnant and postpartum population.

She is also a mom to three.

She has two girls, and she has a little boy.

So Stephanie started her business when she was pregnant with that second daughter after realizing that the guidance on nutrition that you get during pregnancy is basically nonexistent.

And if you've been pregnant before or you're pregnant right now, you can probably affirm that that is true.

I know that I definitely can.

So she knew she had the knowledge and the background as a dietician to do this well, right, or to ask the right questions or to figure out what resources were available to her.

But she could not help wondering, what about the moms who don't have this nutrition science education?

Where are they getting their information?

How are they receiving this information, right?

And so she decided that she could step in and she could fill that gap, and that is what she is doing today.

She has supported thousands of moms-to-be in improving their pregnancy symptoms, gaining confidence in their nutrition, feeling empowered with their food choices, and then going on to deliver healthy babies, feeling like they're in a really good place regarding their health and their nutrition for that delivery, and then also leading into their healing and the recovery for their postpartums.

Stephanie, thank you so much for joining me today.

Why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself kind of however you wanna introduce?

I know I already introduced you.

Let us know who you are, what you do, those babies that you're home with, and then we'll just go from there.

Yeah.

Sounds great.

So my name is Stephanie.

I am a registered dietician, and I am a mom of three.

I have an eight-year-old, six-year-old, and a one-year-old.

And I started working with pregnant women during my second pregnancy in 2020 when I realized that there was little to no nutrition discussion throughout my own prenatal care.

I had a lot of friends who were also pregnant at the same time asking me questions about, you know, their nutrition during pregnancy, and then it just kind of clicked that there was a gap that, really needed a lot of attention for such a vulnerable population and such a pivotal time in our lives when you're going through pregnancy.

And so that's where, this business and I kind of started, on Instagram educating and working with clients, and I started to then see a lot of very similar topics among many, many different women.

And so that's kind of when I started leaning into focusing on symptom management because it seemed like no one was really talking about it.

And so that's just been a big focus of mine over the last few years.

Okay, we're putting a pin in some really big topics that, like, kept coming up because I wanna know what those are.

I wanna talk about some of them.

The other thing that I always think is funny is so… not funny, just interesting, but also makes sense, so many people started in 2020 or 2021.

You know, it's like that season.

It's just, it's w- it's wild to think where would some of us be if 2020, 2021 COVID hadn't happened.

Would we have done this?

Would we have built this?

Was it a forcing function?

I'm sure the answer to all of that is yes and nuance and all that.

But every time I hear 2020, I'm like, "Oh yeah, just, like, add another one to the list."

It's really interesting to hear.

It is.

I think for me, like, I had gone back to work full-time in a hospital when my f- like, I- when I had my first daughter, and then when I was pregnant with my second in 2020, I was like, "I, I can't do this with two kids at home," like, trying to work full-time.

I was like, "I need to find a way to"…

Like, I still wanted to work, but I just wanted more flexibility.

And, a huge career path for dieticians in general is in a hospital or clinical-type setting.

And I discovered in 2020 that dieticians were starting to be seeing clients virtually online.

And so I don't know.

I mean, it's probably, yeah, all related, to the era, but I had no idea that that was even happening online, like, in my profession until that time period.

So, yeah.

I was similar.

I mean- Yeah … I looked around and missed talking about birth.

I didn't work through the pandemic either, and was also pregnant, so we were probably… You probably had your second when I was having my third is my guess, and it was similar.

I thought, "I just miss this," and I kind of went to the online space and, and started looking around saying, "Is anyone talking about birth, or is everyone just sharing, you know, photographs and stuff like that?"

And then I realized, oh, people are talking about stuff.

Maybe I can do that, and then it kind of went from there, but it was the same.

Like, none of my friends were utilizing virtual consults or online birth education or anything up to that point, and so there was this more- almost this unveiling, like, " I didn't know people were doing this.

Maybe I could do this," just like you're saying as well.

Yeah.

So very, very, very similar.

And again, origin story, I think of a lot of those of us who were pregnant during that time, worked in these niches that are, you know, related to this population, and just all realized, oh, we can, we can help online as well.

It's just, just cool.

I mean, I would- So cool … I'm sh- I'm sure everyone would choose not to have gone through that, but it's interesting to see how it's impacted the different people that I get to speak to on here, ' cause it's definitely changed lives and helped generate careers and stuff like that for a lot of the people that I'm talking to on the podcast, come across online, all that's pretty just interesting lemonade out of lemons type thing.

I don't know.

Yeah.

Well, and I think it's really cool because, you know, you get to help s- so many more people than you probably ever thought possible than if you were just, you know, working with someone in person or limiting to local.

Mm-hmm.

So I think that's what's so amazing about this opportunity to be online, is just the amount of people that you can reach and, and help and change lives.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

100%. Love

it.

All right.

So you mentioned you're a dietician.

I feel like sometimes the word diet or pregnancy, people are like, "Ugh, why would… Like, I don't want to diet," or, "I'm- want to be healthy," and so that can be a little bit of a word that people try to get away from related to pregnancy.

So will you just quickly say, like, what's the difference between dietician versus nutritionist?

Like, what does that work look like inside of pregnancy?

'Cause obviously it's valuable.

And to go back to your intro, too, as well, nobody talks about nutrition during prenatal appointments ever.

I mean, it's like, "Don't eat too much mercury" or whatever, and, and that's kind of all you get, unless you have gestational diabetes, you know, separate conversation, you might hopefully ideally get more.

So what is that difference of kind of nutritionist versus dietician, just 'cause I'm curious about that education.

And then kind of like baseline, what type of education can someone like yourself really… Like, what are those things that people are looking for that you're coming back to saying, "Oh yeah, like, this is the work I can do.

This is how I can support you"?

Yeah.

So, becoming a registered dietician, which is my title, you have to go through an undergrad.

Actually, they changed it.

Now you have to have a master's degree, and then you have to do an accredited internship, which is usually about a year, where you have different rotations in all different areas of the field of nutrition and dietetics, and then you have to take a state board exam.

And then beyond that, every five years, we have continuing, like a certain number of continuing education that we have to maintain, to maintain our- RD, or registered dietician.

Whereas, so that's, you know, at least five years of schooling, and then ongoing education to make sure that we're staying up to date with current, research.

And nutrition is so nuanced because it's constantly changing with new research development.

Whereas there are no, at least in the US, there's no regulatory, like nothing is regulating to be called a nutritionist, so anyone can really title themselves as a nutritionist.

So that's really the difference.

So there's no,

like, governing body, there's no licensure- Exactly … et cetera, et cetera.

Yeah.

Okay.

Exactly.

Okay.

So they actually recently changed, so instead of just being registered dietician, it's now RDN, registered dietician- I've seen that … nutritionist.

Mm-hmm.

I think more people resonate with the term nutritionist.

So, like, on Instagram, my name is Pregnancy Nutritionist- Right … but, like- Right … I have, like, RD. I'm a registered dietician.

But yeah, so

That, I feel like that might go back to that idea, though, of if someone's trying to stay away from diet culture, and I may be recording here right, but just that, like some people, that word is not a word that they're pursuing, right?

Or… And so obviously you are well, you know, educated in this entire field, but I wonder if that's part of it, if people like the idea of nutrition, right?

Like, "I want healthy nutrition," versus, "I wanna have a healthy diet," 'cause then there's this weird nuance in our own brains about some of even just that vocabulary, so.

Yeah, and I think people probably think it's more like restriction and like someone telling me what I can't or shouldn't be eating, whereas that's not the case at all.

But I think mentally that's probably where that term goes and someone's like, "I don't, I don't wanna be told what not to do."

Exactly.

Exactly.

Yeah.

So you've obviously niched down.

You're doing pregnancy, prenatal we can say, or perinatal if you kind of encompass after as well.

I know you really focus on pregnancy and prenatal.

Do most of y'all niche down like that or are there more, are there nutrition dieticians… Look, see, I don't even know what to say.

Are there also dieticians who kind of do full spectrum or does, do you guys typically kind of niche down with a certain population, certain age demographic, that kind of thing?

I think it could be a total variety.

Like, before I started doing, like pregnancy and postpartum, even pre-pregnancy, I still do work in pediatrics from newborns all the way till like age 18, you know?

So, some people can get very niched, and some can work with a broad spectrum.

I think it just kind of depends.

So when I first started out, I was really tackling from those who are trying to conceive and focusing on nutrition all the way through postpartum and breastfeeding, and I still do touch on those, but I just- when I was working with people directly, the same types of topics were coming up and I was like, "Okay, here's where I can really hone in on helping people," and that's what kind of helped me to niche a little bit further.

But I feel like they're, it's all related, so, you know, I touch on throughout the spectrum of Perinatal postpartum

And I als- I often feel like nutrition, expectations or suggestions, whatever you wanna call them, for pregnancy often still apply postpartum when we're recovering.

Absolutely.

You know, it's like, "Hey, you still need protein.

Hey, you still need fiber.

Hey, choline is helpful." You know, like it, it doesn't really change, and so I mean, it makes sense, right?

That the volume of information, it's so nice to be able to say, "I am such an expert in this space, like, let me help you," without, you know, trying to be the, the jack of all trades.

But it also doesn't seem like it changes too, too much across the full perinatal spectrum as well- Exactly … like you're saying, so yeah.

Yeah.

Okay, so you just mentioned again, people keep coming to you, and it was the same type of topics.

What are some of those things that keep coming up over and over in your conversations, your DMs when you were growing this, to kind of give you those ideas of let's lean in here?

Yeah.

I mean, the biggest thing was just people often came to me in their first trimester, like, " I wanna eat healthy for this baby, but I don't know where to start." A lot of people were struggling with food aversions.

Like, I, you know, used to eat… Like, these are all my favorite foods, and now I can't even look at them.

I don't know what to eat.

All I want is, like a big common thing is like sour candy, or just plain, bland carbs pretty much, you know?

And like that's all I can eat, or I'm too nauseous to even eat, and when I go to eat, then I just like feel more sick, so I don't eat altogether.

So a lot of it was just symptom related, and struggling through that with guilt, you know, that maybe they're not providing the right, the right nutrition for baby or, you know, just struggling with how they're feeling, exhaustion, feeling so bad that they feel nauseous, not being able to make it through their workday because they're so sick, and just wanting to try to feel better.

So that was just like a recurring theme is just kind of that first trimester shock in how, you know, they were sort of like anticipating pregnancy would go to then reality and not really knowing what to do with it.

S-

so let's talk about that because you just talked about reality or what they thought.

So what are some expectations that you would kind of lay out for someone?

Because obviously, we know that there's a full spectrum here of how good or bad you feel, even if we're talking just first trimester.

So how do you kind of set people up for, you know, this may be what you experience, this may be how it feels, this is what this spectrum looks like before you even address, "All right.

Now, let's talk about how you are feeling, and this is what we're gonna do about it." What do those kind of normals look like for you that you would tell someone?

So typically, around the six-week mark is when many people Start feeling symptoms or it kind of like starts to go peak.

So some people find out they're pregnant and they're like, "Oh, I'm feeling great.

This is gonna be great." And then, you know, the six week, six week mark hits, and they start to notice some symptoms arise.

I think another expectation is, like, that if they do have symptoms, by 12 weeks it's just gonna disappear the second they head into that second trimester, and the reality is that doesn't happen for most people.

It could linger to 20 weeks.

It could linger all pregnancy.

You just don't know.

You know, everyone is so different.

And I think another thing too is while your hormones and genetics do play a big role in your symptoms, there are ways to help manage them that are in your control.

Because we can't control our hormones, we can't control, you know, the genetics that come into play here, but there are things that we can try to help improve.

May not alleviate 100%, but if you can even feel 50% better, you know, totally worth it to, to try.

Everyone is gonna have different triggers, but there's so many little adjustments that you can make to try to feel better from your- Do you- … exhaustion, heartburn, intense cravings, and, and your nausea.

you feel like people experience it the same way with all their babies, or it really can be night and day difference that first, you know, second trimester and potentially onwards?

It totally can be different.

So every pregnancy, person to person, and every pregnancy, same person, can really be different, which is challenging.

Annoying.

Yeah.

That's a better

way to put it.

I mean, that's like birth as well though, right?

You think like, "Oh, I'm an expert." And I, like, I was very humbled with my fourth baby 'cause I thought, "Oh," like, "I know what I'm doing.

We're pretty good at this," you know, speaking for me and my husband, and we were just so humbled with the just… It's just different every time, right?

Who the child is, how breastfeeding might go, how the pregnancy might go, how the birth might go.

It's just, like, universally true if we're talking about expectations, is just to hold, I think, things so loosely, including this, right?

How this first trimester might go, how you're gonna feel, how sick you may or may not be or feel.

Like, we just can't know, which I think is why it's so helpful to kind of have this, like, steady foundation of information that you can then pull from depending on how your experience is going.

Exactly, and that's why I try to, like, tell people that as soon as you find out you're pregnant, here are some things that you can start doing now while you're feeling good to hopefully help as your symptoms may start to arise.

So-

What are a couple of those things?

Are you willing to share?

Well, yeah.

One of the biggest- … things that I emphasize is eating balanced to support your blood sugar Because, and I learned this the hard way, I had a rough first pregnancy.

This was before I was really studying pregnancy nutrition and working with clients.

I, quote unquote, "did all the wrong things." I didn't do anything to really help my symptoms.

I was just surviving, which I think a lot of people, that that's what they're doing, and they're doing all they know how to do to, to survive and get through it.

I was living off, like, bagels and cream cheese, bean and cheese burritos.

Like, I love eggs.

Couldn't look at them, you know, in my first pregnancy.

and really was not doing anything to support my blood sugar.

I would wait till I felt hungry to start to think about what to eat, and by that point it was too late.

I was too nauseous to even eat anything.

And so when I was pregnant with my second, I did things so differently, and immediately saw changes in how I was feeling.

So balancing blood sugars, instead of focusing on only carbs, adding in protein, fat, and fiber to help stabilize your blood sugar.

And that can be tricky when you're gravitating towards carbs or plain foods.

So what I help and try to emphasize is you can still, you know, gravitate towards those carbs, but what can we add to it to make it a little more balanced?

Or what can we swap to have, like, a better choice?

So instead of saltine crackers, maybe nibbling on a seed-based cracker, which is made from, you know, nuts and seeds, and it's gonna have more protein, fat, and fiber to balance out the blood sugars a little bit better than just a saltine cracker.

Or instead of waiting until you feel hungry to eat- Eat before you get to that point, like even if it's just a little something.

Oftentimes the feelings of hunger and nausea can really be intertwined, and so if you wait too long, it can kind of be past the point of no return.

You're already nauseous, nothing sounds good, like you can't even get anything down.

Some people need to eat every 30 minutes to an hour in early pregnancy, and that's great.

Y- you know, do what you need to do to kind of help yourself.

All right.

I have a question about… Tell me… I forget where I heard this.

There- this idea of eating a higher protein snack as well at night before you go to bed, like a Greek yogurt and fruit or something so that you don't wake up.

You know, naturally our blood sugar falls overnight.

Y- we're not eating for eight hours or however long we're sleeping.

Is there value in that, idea as well where so you don't wake up where you ate some sort of carby something before and your blood sugar's super low right when you wake up as well?

Exactly.

Right?

Because we also- Exactly

we always hear like, "Eat some crackers right before you wake up," so I'm assuming that's all tied together, right?

100%.

And a lot of times too, I'll recommend to people to keep a snack at their bedside.

Some people wake up in the middle of the night like feeling that hunger or, you know, yeah, for some people who wake up in the morning with like immediate nausea, I'll actually recommend like setting a, a timer in the middle of the night to like eat something at their bedside, and keeping like a little snack there to, to nibble on because going so long without eating can create some instability in your blood sugars.

I mean, naturally that's gonna happen anyways overnight, but it could be a little more drastic for some.

Well, it feels like, yeah, if you are the person waking up feeling horrific, you know, the moment your eyes open, if there's something you could do even the night before that could help that, it's like, I don't know that we think about that, right?

You're thinking, "That's ten, 11 hours behind me," but what if it did kinda help set us up for the morning?

You know, I think we just look at immediate fixes like you've talked about, or that's kind of how we've-- I don't wanna say trained, but that's just the information out there is, you know, try to do what you can when you can, to help yourself feel better.

But I love the idea of actually, what if the night before you did these little, made these little choices that then made the morning a little bit easier.

And of course, going back to that initial idea you said as well of just having expectations, you might not feel incredible.

That might not actually be the goal, but if we can do fifty percent better too, like here's some ways to do that 'cause I think that is a valuable thing to hold in our heads as well is if you get to fifty percent better, that's success versus feeling h- one hundred percent horrific, you know?

That our expectations there are right too.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

I think-

reach out to me and they're second-time parents, so they have a toddler, and they just feel so guilty because they can't, you know, give that child their full energy or attention because they're just struggling so much.

So, you know, if you're able to now just feel better enough to support your other kids, I think that's such a win.

So little, little changes can make a big difference for you.

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Okay, let's get you back to the episode

Okay.

So we've mentioned obviously some of these basic ones that we're, we're all supposed to be trying to do, right?

Eating before you feel sick, right?

Eating small little things throughout the day instead of, you know, going every four hours and having the big meal.

I know you've kind of talked about, oh, we really love carbs versus, we still need to get our proteins and our fibers and the other things.

Is there kind of specific meals, this is a really b- it could be a really broad question, but some specific things that you find, like you suggest, "Hey, try these for some breakfasts."

I think lunch is super hard.

Are there some simple lunches that you do feel like when you suggest them, sometimes people are like, "Yeah, that worked for me," if we're talking about those who are feeling pretty bad in the first, you know, the first 12, 15, 16 weeks.

Just give us some- Yeah … basic ideas.

I don't know that I've seen patterns on specific meals helping, you know, a- Big group of people, per se A big group, yeah But like, I think also saying that, like lunch, you know, feels like harder to come up with ideas.

I think we can also get away from the typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner idea, and even if you're having like, like we said, smaller but more frequent eating as opposed to like larger meals, you know, even if you have…

I love like a loaded cereal as an option.

Cereal's a big pregnancy kinda like craving or something easy to tolerate.

Oftentimes they're higher carb, they're less balanced.

So what I like to do is, you know, take your favorite cereal base.

For some reason, this last pregnancy I craved, Heritage Flakes.

It's just like a bran flake cereal.

And I added hemp seeds, chia seeds, ground flax, some pumpkin seeds, granola with, you know, some whole milk.

And that ended up being like super high fiber, high protein for literally just a cereal, and that could be a lunch, you know, or a meal, that's easier to take in, but that gives you more nutrition, not only to balance your blood sugars, but provides more nutrition, nutrients for supporting you and your developing baby.

Even if you make like muffins, you know?

Have a muffin with some peanut butter on it, and that could be a lunch, or maybe a couple muffins, if that's something easier to tolerate.

Sandwiches, smoothies tend to be a pretty easy, tolerable food or, you know, meal for people to get down, even if you're not sucking down a full smoothie, even if you're just taking sips.

It's a really easy way to optimize nutrition.

I would stay away from just like pure blended fruit because that's gonna be higher carb and not support your blood sugars.

But if you can make a balanced smoothie, that's a great option really for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks.

So- Kind of just figuring out what sounds good to you, and then how can you kind of add to it to make it more balanced to provide that extra nutrition.

That's perfect.

I-- before you said that right there at the end, I was thinking, "Oh, all of this goes back to this idea of just adding things to what you are able to tolerate," and that idea, which you mentioned as well, of, like, release yourself from breakfast, lunch, dinner, and that having to be those three things.

And maybe it's a smoothie, and then an hour later it's a muffin with peanut butter, and then an hour later, you know, it's Greek yogurt with granola on top.

And saying, "Yeah, maybe I didn't sit down and eat a full lunch that was, you know, a protein and a carb and all of that," but you're doing that in these smaller doses.

'Cause I think it is easy to just think, "Oh, I didn't eat lunch today." But it's like if you had a decent snack every 60 minutes, you did.

You just, you just spread it out, and that's okay.

And honestly, if you have toddlers and other kids, that's very much what life might look like anyway.

And so I think it's good to release yourself from that expectation too.

And so it's not just this "don't worry about it" mentality, but it more it might look different, and that's-- and that part is more than okay, so.

Okay, I have a question.

You know, in this conversation, of course meds come up or, you know, the vitamin combos you can do, ginger, peppermint.

Like, what are your suggestions for adding those in?

When?

Should we wait?

I mean, this-- I know this is different for everyone.

How do those things kind of play a role when you're also trying to make healthier food choices as well, like we're talking about?

Yeah.

I, I don't want anyone to think that by needing a medication they're failing because ultimately the goal is to feel better.

If medication works for you and you're able to now eat and get in more nutrition for yourself, for your baby, that's truly a win.

So I think some people kind of feel guilty if they need a medication, and I don't think-- I don't see it that way at all.

But I think, you know, a lot of the times you're not even able to get an appointment with your provider till you're eight, sometimes even more weeks, and so that can be really tricky to, you know, get a prescription for a medication when you haven't even seen a provider yet and you're really struggling.

So, you know, if you could try some of these modalities first, see if that helps give you some relief, and then when you're finally able to, you know, meet with your provider and get a prescription if you're truly suffering, you know, medication might be needed.

They'll sometimes, recommend, like you said, vitamin B6 and Unisom.

That tends to be a combination that is very effective for some people.

You know, that can be great.

Ginger and peppermint are the common options, that can help too.

So like some people, if you have like a peppermint essential oil, like sniffing that or, you know, having like fresh ginger in, in your water or ginger lollipops, those can, can help too.

Sour tends to be helpful, so like Having like ice cold lemon water.

Greek yogurt was a huge… Like, I could eat that every day in my pregnancy.

So it's like sour, you know, that plain Greek yogurt.

I really liked that.

You know, so that-

That is a very good craving to have in a pregnancy.

I know.

Dairy was really- I mean, that's great

big for me.

Yeah.

So if you can do that.

But you know, there's so many things to try.

And you know what actually really has helped me and like thousands of women that reach out to me too is, electrolytes.

So, having electrolytes throughout the day, I would drink it like one to two times a day.

That really helped, not only like my nausea, but headaches was a big one for me in early pregnancy.

You know, our mineral needs are just higher.

We have… If you're vomiting, you're having more losses of minerals from that, and so just replenishing can make a really big difference.

Okay.

Talk to me a little bit more about electrolytes, 'cause I feel like they're very popular now.

I drink them every day, so I'm on the train too.

But you know, when I had my first nine years ago, no- I didn't really hear people talking about electrolytes.

Yeah.

But they always say, "Hey, consult your provider if you're pregnant, if you're breastfeeding." You know, they often have that on there.

So what do people really…

I mean, I'm not saying don't consult your providers, but what do people need to know about that if they are pregnant?

Can they do two packs a day 'cause they love how it tastes and it helps them drink water?

Is there some sort of concern there beyond the initial, "Hey, is it cool if I drink these?" What are, what, why is that on those packages?

Well, there's always gonna be… Like, any time you're supplementing with anything, you just never know what someone's medical or health history is.

And so I, I would, yeah, recommend chatting with your provider.

You know, one thing when it comes to electrolytes is making sure there's not any like added, herbs in there or any added supplementation, because when it comes to supplementing, you can overdo it.

So like same with like protein powders.

You wanna make sure that you're not getting a protein powder that has added supplements, especially if you're taking a prenatal.

You can't like overdo it when you're eating foods.

Your body digests differently from food than if you're just taking a supplement.

On its own.

But, like, my favorite electrolyte mixture is really just coconut water 'cause it naturally has potassium.

That's one of the, the nutrients that you're seeing in, in your electrolyte packets.

And then I'll add in a sprinkle of, like, sea salt or Celtic salt for the sodium.

And then, I'll do, like, a squeeze of lemon or lime or orange juice.

That provides vitamin C, and that's, you know, a great kind of more whole food form of electrolyte supplementation.

S- the packets just vary widely with the amounts, and so, like, some are very high in sodium, so if you are taking two a day, that might be, you know, a little bit more than what you need, especially if you are eating sodium in your foods throughout the day, which you are.

It's just unavoidable.

So I think it just kind of depends on, on which packet you're using.

it sounds like you just laid out something called an adrenal cocktail- Yes … which I only know about, like, it … That's what you were just describing, right?

Yes.

But what you just mentioned that you do for an easy one, no electrolyte powder or additives.

You're saying you just do the coconut water, the sea salt, some sort of citrus, and that's your-

Mm-hmm

… Lo: drink.

Okay.

Yeah.

Just double-checking 'cause I've seen people talk about making that and then adding in their electrolyte, you know, packet, whatever one they use, and then it's this full … Again, adrenal cocktail is the word that I see tossed around for that.

We don't have to get into that.

It's probably a whole other topic, but, it sounded familiar.

Yeah.

Exactly.

Nope.

Y- yeah, exactly 'cause well, ultimately, like, sodium, potassium, chloride are gonna be your big, , electrolytes, and then some of the powders are gonna have additional things, like maybe magnesium.

So I … Magnesium is super important, and especially in pregnancy, most people aren't getting enough of it.

I personally love recommending, like, eating pumpkin seeds regularly because they're a really good magnesium source.

But I guess it just, yeah, kind of depends on each individual's, individual's needs.

Yeah.

And- But I don't want people thinking they have to go out and purchase, like, you know, electrolytes because it can be easily made at home- Yeah.

Well- … I mean, if you get coconut water

… Lo: I've spoken to another dietician on here, Lily Nichols- Oh, yeah … or nutritionist, and she … You know, it's just making me think too of, like, this idea you don't have to go out and buy things.

You can eat the foods, right?

Like, the … You just described this cocktail that is real or whole foods, however you want to say that.

Like, you can make it too, and so I think sometimes we think, "Oh, I better go buy a magnesium supplement. I better go buy electrolytes. Like, this protein powder's gonna help me."

And yes, like, some of these things can Can, but also that reminder of you can get a lot in food, which of course is why people end up in front of you, right?

'Cause then they're like, "Well, what foods?" 'Cause th- we're not getting this education.

Think the overwhelm really does set in when you think, "I wanna do XYZ right, and maybe I'm having XYZ symptom, and this thing is gonna help me," but it just starts to feel like, "I have to buy eight different supplements, plus I don't feel like eating."

I guess I'm just saying this, I get why people do feel really lost in this, because it starts to seem expensive as well.

Like, you have to find some sort of miracle thing to buy while you're also just trying to eat what's available to you in your home.

So it's pretty-- It is definitely kind of a black hole, I think, in pregnancy for sure.

We treat the gestational diabetic or we put them in front of a nutritionist, but it's like anyone else is just, "Do the best you can," and it doesn't really always feel good to go home with that advice and wonder, "Well, how do I do that?" So…

Yeah, and Speaking of like too the gestational diabetes, like I hear from people all the time who are like, "Oh, I was told no, like I can't eat any carbs."

You know?

So it's like I don't really know.

That is not the case actually.

So it's just hard when there's so much information out there.

It's great because we have more, you know, more people talking about these things and more information, but that can also, on the other end, be more overwhelming because people don't know which way to go and what to follow.

So yeah, it, it's all a challenge.

It's a black hole, but it's also, yeah, just tons of information thrown at you and not knowing what to do with it.

Okay.

That brings me to my last question because you had a post a while ago, I told you this before we started, where you said it was basically pregnancy advice or pregnancy nutrition advice that you want gone from the internet.

I'm gonna make sure I read some of this right.

And then you dropped in a couple, so it was the concept of you'll survive, worry about nutrition later, or just eat whatever you can.

And I've definitely been guilty of saying those sentiments or something along those lines, right?

Of like, "It's fine.

You're just gonna get through it.

Just put your head down." So explain why you want that stuff gone or what's the nuance of that that you're trying to get people to understand?

Yeah.

It, it is so nuanced because on the one hand, you do… Like, this is such a hard time for so many people.

Also in that first trime- trimester, people feel so alone because a lot of, a lot of people haven't told their family and friends yet, you know, with that wait till you're 12 weeks to start sharing the news.

So it can be a really isolating time.

So on the one hand, yes, like, you know, do the best you can.

Eating something is always going to be better than eating nothing at all.

However, the reason I said I kind of want this stuff gone is because people then just get in that mindset of like, okay, like I, this is all I'm going…

You know, I'm just gonna survive this time.

That's the only option, and that's not the case.

I don't want people to think that's the only thing that they can do.

Or, you know, feeling like, I mean, I think the eating for two that we grew up hearing has probably left.

It's worked its way out now, but it's kind of in that same sentiment.

Like- We're not eating for two.

This isn't the time to just, like, eat whatever you want because you're pregnant.

Yes, of course, you should enjoy, and that's a good place to start, like, what do you want?

But also, it's such a crucial time for setting up your next generation.

You know, so much of your nutrition during pregnancy plays a role in the long-term health of your baby.

So I think just also having that mentality to focus on, okay, like, what can I add here?

I'm, I'm very much more addition rather than takeaway.

Like, I don't… The whole do not eat foods list, like, I want that gone too.

I don't think we should be focusing on what to avoid or stay away from in pregnancy.

I think it should be like, what can I add to this meal that will help support me and my, and my developing baby?

I

like it.

It makes me think of the, the birth world as well, or I'm, I'm thinking actually pregnancy specific as well, the kind of my back hurts so bad, you know, and you get the, "Oh, that's normal. You know, you're holding…" And it's like, yes, these things are normal for pregnancy, and here's some things you can do.

Here's some stretches you can do.

Here's a belt you could wear.

Kind of what you're saying, here's some things to add in as opposed to just saying, "Yes, this is a normal spot on this spectrum, and we can also do this" And so, you know, as you're explaining all that, that's what I hear is just this idea, yeah, it's normal to feel gross.

Also, this could help too.

Like, let's not just say you have to survive feeling gross for 16 weeks.

Maybe you could, maybe this could help you as well, and I do think that gets lost, right?

And so it's more of just put your head down and power through whatever it might be without saying, "This might help you along the way, and wouldn't that be great too?"

I love how you put that.

Yeah.

I think the, you know, the former just is sort of more dismissive, whereas what we are trying to accomplish here is like, hey, these are some things that actually might help you feel a little bit better, might help you not just, survive through the first trimester, but, enjoy it a little bit.

You know?

Like, enjoy this time or make it through You know, feeling somewhat better than you do now.

Yeah, exactly.

Back to expectations too.

No one's promising that you're gonna feel incredible.

Like, pregnancy is a trying time.

You're growing an entire human, right?

But we can also do what we can to support you, make it feel better, make you feel, you know, more seen, heard, and all of it, right, by offering suggestion and not just the grin and bear it, you can do this.

We've been doing it forever, you know?

That's not the… It's, it's, it's like a bur- it's a burden to be pregnant under, right?

'Cause you think, "Ugh, but I would love… Like, can nothing help me?" Like, nobody… It's not fun to feel that way, so no one wants that.

Right, and, and like kind of going back to the medications, like a lot of people think that that's the only thing that will help them.

So yeah, there's other tricks of the trade that it's always… And what I say too is, it's trial and error because each person is gonna be affected by something differently.

But they're, like the timing of when you're eating, what you're eating, Drinking, you know, hydration.

You know, there's just so many factors that can come into play.

Yeah.

It really feels like a, like a, there's a lot of different puzzle pieces, and they fit together differently for all of us.

So we're not all gonna, you know, this sounds cheesy, get the same picture at the end when we put the pieces together.

Like, you're gonna do something different, I'm gonna do something different, but there are these options and these different pieces available to us.

We just gotta figure out which ones fit together for us, and yeah, which ones make sense.

Yeah.

It reminds me, I was working with this one woman one years ago, and she was like, doing all the things, and she's like, "You know, I'm feeling so much better, but, specifically, like, on, you know, on my way to work it's just I feel so nauseous."

And we were like, "Okay, what, what are you doing around then?" And, we came to the conclusion that she was just very thirsty in early pregnancy, and she would chug water with her… Like, at all times, with her meals, on her way to work.

She just was so thirsty, and the chugging of the water, we discovered, is what was triggering her nausea.

I said, " Let's not chug.

Let's do, like, smaller sips, and instead of having it, like, with your meals, space it out in between." Because when your stomach is super full, if you have food in there and you're chugging water and, like, it's happening quickly, that was, like, a trigger for her.

So literally it was something as simple as, like, spacing out drinking her water and, you know, in between her meals and not so quickly, and that made a huge difference for her.

So, you know, a lot of it too is, trying to figure out what you're doing around the timing.

You know, it's a puzzle piece, just like you mentioned.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, I know you mentioned your Instagram account once, but tell people where they can find you.

I'm not even pregnant, and I like when you share recipes and ways to sneak in, like, protein and stuff.

So any of you guys could follow, and you're gonna get all of that kind of stuff.

But where can they find you online and connect with you for more too?

My Instagram handle is pregnancy_nutritionist.

Okay.

Pregnancy_nutritionist we'll put in show notes, but there's other ones that are similar to yours too- There are.

There's a lot … so guys make sure.

There's, like, some dots and stuff for other ones.

So this is the one.

Okay, last question I ask everyone before they go.

What is something in your life right now that is bringing you a ton of joy?

Oh, my, my baby, he's 14 months, is just starting to walk, and he's, like, getting his, some teeth, and it just…

It's such a… I just love it, like all the, the new stages again.

I mean, he's my third, but it feels new, all over again.

And so I'm just love- loving watching him kind of develop, and his sisters are obsessed with him.

So it's just, it's so fun to, to witness.

The sibling dynamic's really fun.

When they get a little older and then if you do add another baby, it's really fun to watch that.

I think it feels new sometimes too, because you're experiencing it through them in a new way.

And so seeing, you know, that big sister get to do it with the baby is like a whole… It is a whole new thing for you too, so it's super sweet.

It's really fun.

And

you, you have one boy too.

I do.

So I have one boy, and my girls are just like, "Why are baby boys just the cutest?"

Like, they think that, you know, it's different 'cause he's a boy and- A

different thing, yep

… Stephanie: yeah, it's so

funny.

And I did, I had just like you, two girls and then a boy, and then we did have another girl.

But it was a very similar setup, and it was fun to watch you, be pregnant and you know, it's always fun when you watch someone online live out what they educate, right?

Like, when I'm pregnant and I'm online, it's interesting.

When you're pregnant and you're in your first, second trimester, it's interesting.

So it was fun to watch you do that and share from such a personal place last year too, so.

Yeah, it was fun.

Well, thank you for joining me.

Thanks for coming on.

Thanks for chatting about all this.

And then again, you guys, pregnancy_nutritionist.

It's just a lot of really practical stuff every day from what I've seen when, when I'm checking in and seeing what you're doing.

So thanks for what you're doing.

Aw, thank you.