Books I'm Reading During Pregnancy

There is an overwhelming amount of books, articles, podcast and general information when it comes to pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and raising a family. I’m trying to be strategic about what I’m consuming, and have been loving select books written by doctors and experts. My top 2 books that I’ve been reading summarized below, let me know in the comments if there are any books that you loved during this phase of life!

Real Food For Pregnancy

“Author and specialist in prenatal nutrition, Lily Nichols, RDN, CDE, has taken a long and hard look at the science and discovered a wide gap between current prenatal nutrition recommendations and what foods are required for optimal health in pregnancy and for your baby’s development. There has never been a more comprehensive and well-referenced resource on prenatal nutrition.” Click here for Real Food Pregnancy.

As a dietitian myself, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is currently pregnant or wanting to get pregnant in the future. I’ve been recommending it for years and it’s fun to re-read it going through the process myself. I feel so confident about where I was nutritionally before getting pregnant and reading this book has helped me to remember that it is possible to have an enjoyable pregnancy. If you’ve been with me for a few years, you know that I’ve been eating a real, whole-food based diet with an emphasis on high-protein. You can checkout my go-to high-protein grocery list here, but I truly feel like eating well has helped me so much during my pregnancy.

I fully believe that building your nutrient stores before conception can help set you up for an easier pregnancy. I’m so thankful to be feeling healthy and energized and grateful that I can lean on my same whole food and consistent exercise approach.

My cookbook, Rachael’s Good Eats, is actually centered around my entire nutrition philosophy regarding how to FUEL your body, while staying satisfied and energized. They’re the recipes I’ve been eating for years and what I would recommend to anyone wanting to start living a healthier lifestyle. Click HERE for 110 gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free recipes for every occasion.

Babywise

“Practical discussions focus on broad and niche topics including feeding philosophies, baby sleep problems, baby scheduling challenges, nap routines, sleep training multiples, baby sleeping props, Colic and Reflux and many other dimensions which impact breast feeding schedules, bottle feeding tips, and baby sleeping training.” Click here for Babywise.

Sleep is so important to me (I mean, it’s crucial), and baby sleep patterns will be one thing I know will take some getting use to. My sister recommended this book to me as her doctor recommended it for a good sleep routine for both parents and baby. It’s actually one of the only books they read around having our niece and they implemented a schedule right around 4 months… Margaux, our niece, has been sleeping 11-13 hours every night for months, which I know is MAJOR. Of course, not all babies are the same, but I’m hoping to learn all the tips behind getting baby on a good sleep schedule from this book so that I can also be on a positive sleep schedule. But I’m also not naive in knowing that nothing will ever be perfect and to learn and grow as we go. I’m going into this new chapter knowing that everything is a phase.