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Virtual Counseling for Reproductive Nutrition

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Supporting women and couples throughout their reproductive years.

Providing nutrition guidance for fertility, pregnancy, postpartum & breastfeeding.

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Location: Virtual Practice based in Chicago, IL

Email: hello@rachellemallik.com

Phone: (415) 640-6148 - Fax: (855) 781-4098

Father and son preparing for baby #2. We don’t think Arjuna understands what it will mean to have a newborn around (I don’t think we really did the first time!), but this book is a very sweet and beautifully illustrated way to share what’s happening inside mommy’s belly. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads and father figures!

18-weeks today and woke up nauseous 😫. Though the nausea has improved a lot since my first trimester, it still shows up sometimes. It can seem counterintuitive, but eating something when you have pregnancy-related nausea can really help. And one study has found consuming protein with meals (rather than just simple carbs like saltines) can reduce nausea symptoms. Sourdough miche toast with peanut butter and jam is my go-to. (I felt much better after eating *2* slices of this.) Peanut butter is an easy way to get in a serving of the nuts that have been associated with improved neurodevelopment in children up to 8 years old, especially when consumed by mothers in the first trimester!

Sometimes I use jarred jam (like Bionaturae organic fruit spread), other times I make my own simple one like this ☝🏼 with frozen berries, a little sugar and chia seeds (to thicken and boost fiber/omega-3s!). On a related note, a *food safety warning* especially for expecting mamas: 4 US illness outbreaks in the past 2 decades have been linked to frozen berries so the FDA has recently started testing them for norovirus and hepatitis A 😳. To be on the safe side, I’m cooking my frozen berries in compotes/jams or muffins, and sticking to fresh berries (or ones I’ve popped in my freezer) for smoothies.
#prenatal #prenatalnutrition #pregnancy #foodsafety #lowfodmap #first1000days #peanuts #berries #reproductivehealth #dietitian

Enjoying some warm weather this week (finally!) with our first meal on the BBQ this season. In these early months of pregnancy, a few things have helped manage my nausea, burping, bloating, aversions and fatigue:
1. It’s best to keep flavors simple and go easy on garlic and onions (which make frequent burping much more unpleasant and tend to trigger heartburn for me). 2. Shortcuts/prepped ingredients make getting dinner on the table more manageable when cooking feels like a lot of work. (With a toddler, I can’t lay on the couch and have an ice pop for dinner like I sometimes did in my first first trimester!) 3. Having someone else do the cooking when possible limits exposure to triggering smells and conserves my energy for eating 😬. 4. Sometimes food aversions are related to the way a food is prepared. I much prefer raw veggies to cooked during pregnancy. Roasted broccoli or sweet potato, yuck 😝. Crunchy salads and tangy slaw are my jam!
5. FODMAPs definitely exacerbate my GI symptoms, but the low FODMAP diet is not recommended during pregnancy, so I try to reduce overall intake of high FODMAP foods and make substitutes with comparable foods. For example, cabbage instead of Brussels sprouts, sourdough instead of regular wheat bread, strawberries instead of peaches, or lactose-free ice cream! I also don’t follow the diet strictly (see full ear of corn, although I knew Arjuna would steal half from me anyway. We bought 4 ears for 3 of us and he ate 2.5 🤣). Here’s what we ate: chicken kabobs (pre-made *and* on sale @wholefoods) rubbed with EVOO, S+P and oregano, corn on the cob, and cole slaw from @traderjoes (I skipped the accompanying sweet dressing and made a simple one with mayo, apple cider vinegar, S+P). #mdw #prenatal #pregnancy #firsttrimester #nutrition #dietitian #reproductivenutrition #lowfodmapdiet

I asked Arjuna to show me where the baby is 🥰. LaCroix Mallik baby #2 due in early November! I’ve been a bit quieter on social media the last 9 weeks or so not because I’ve been hiding the news, but because I’ve been too nauseous and tired to be bothered with posting. I plan to share how I’ve managed first trimester challenges (with a toddler no less) in upcoming posts!

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