What is your best piece of advice for pregnant women?

Talking to a friend at work - it's overwhelming all the different things you are told to do, or not to do - I thought maybe we could just ask for 1-5 'must know' tips for someone?





(I told her not to eat 'runny' cheeses and not to clean the cat box - LOL. Not really great advice, but that got the discussion started because she'd been told TO eat cheese because of the calcium!)





What is your advice?What is your best piece of advice for pregnant women?
She needs the calcium from dairy. She could substitute eating cheese to drinking milk and eating yogurt. Soft cheeses are a big NO-NO.





Everything in moderation, we are pregnant - not sick. I am tired of all these research freaking out pregnant women about how unhealthy simple things are. She needs to avoid, tile fish, shark (any fish that has a lot of mercury - basically the longer the lifespan and the higher up the food chain they are, such fish that eats other fish, they have more concentration of mercury). Deli meat and hot dogs needs to be heated through to avoid listeria. Litter box was a great advice to avoid toxoplasmosis. Avoid strenuous work-outs until her doctor said it is ok.





Common sense, what can hurt you will more than likely hurt your unborn child. No OTC drugs without her doctor's advice and of course no illegal drugs or alcohol.What is your best piece of advice for pregnant women?
I ate lots of cheese when I was pregnant - and I ate Ceasar Salads - and cleaned the cat box. And my kids turned out....ok. :)





My best advice for pregnant women is to listen to your doctor and not your friends. Definitely get a body pillow for sleeping - it really helps. Go to lamaze class and take as many parenting classes that you can. Read two books: ';The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy'; and ';What to Expect When Your Expecting';. Take pictures of your belly each month - just for fun later. Keep up with your prenatal vitamins and walk, walk, walk - excercise is great. But always talk to your doctor first.
Rest as much as you can now. You won't be resting once the baby comes!





I would also say to develop support systems as much as you can. If you plan to return to work, get a good babysitter and a back up. Connect with people you can swap babysitting with so you can have time off with your spouse. Connect with people you can swap advice with and talk baby talk (co-workers just aren't that interested, unless they have kids themselves).





If you're going to stay home with kids, especially develop a network of stay at home moms you can talk with and support each other.





It takes a village--not necessarily for the kid but for the parent!!
My advice to your friend is to ignore the 'advice' given by the general public and invest in a couple of good pregnancy books that go over those topics, such as what to eat, what to avoid, etc.





During my pregnancy, I cannot tell you how many people said the absolute stupidest things to me, not to mention dragged out every old wife's tale they could think of.





The more she's armed with correct information, the better off she'll be.
Eating certain cheese is good for you and recommended, eating anything that is not pasteurized is not good. The calcium is a must during pregnancy because if she doesn't get enough of it for the baby, the baby will start taking it from her bones. Eat lots of dairy!





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You are right about the kitty litter, also stay away from paint and stain fumes. After about 5 months, she should not sleep on her back, she should sleep on her left side. Eating cheese is fine, she can eat anything that doesn't make her nauseous. She should rub her stomach everyday with lotion... she will not get stretch marks. I did that with both of my pregnancies and never got one stretch mark. She should also be taking prenatal vitamins everyday. Eat healthy and get plenty of rest. Read the book '; What to Expect When You're Expecting.';
You can do just about anything you want while pregnant as long as it's in moderation.





Listen to all the baby/pregnancy advice you can and remember it because what sounds like horrible advice today, might sound like pretty good advice next month.
get a maternity pillow and extra large/extra comfy Pj's.
always keep condoms handy so this doesnt happen again lol
get a big pillow b/c eventually it will be difficult to sleep comfortable