Editor’s Note: As of February 26, Daphne has welcomed her baby–Philomena–into the world. We wish her sincerest congratulations!
For more on Daphne Oz, check out our feature story and her top nursery picks from Bellini.
In her 2013 book, Relish: An Adventure in Food, Style, and Everyday Fun, Daphne Oz offers advice on how to live a happy and healthy life—she includes everything from recipes to home-decorating and relationship tips. New York Family decided to tap Oz’s savvy, so we asked her for a few pearls of wisdom on both maintaining wellness during pregnancy and dressing for a bump. Here are her thoughts in her own words.
How to Maintain Wellness During Pregnancy:
- Try to find a balance in your cravings. If you’re gunning for something sweet, see if the natural sugar found in an apple or other fresh fruit—or even a sweet potato—will suffice. If not, treat yourself to a small portion of whatever it is you’re really craving.
- Indulge for a good cause. Don’t cave for the junk that’s just going to satisfy you in the moment because it’s convenient, but is made from artificial ingredients or is a couple of days old. Treat yourself to something really fresh, decadent, and homemade! That way, you know exactly what is going into your body, and your little one’s. A plus: laziness is a huge deterrent, so if you have to make the thing you want to indulge in from scratch, chances are you won’t do it too often.
- Drink more water than you thought humanly possible. When pregnant, your blood volume basically doubles, plus it’s doing the filtering work of two bodies, so you want to make sure you stay hydrated with plenty of water to help flush toxins away and provide plenty of fluid to move all the essential nutrients you’re eating to your baby.
- Sleep when you need to. It was really hard for me to get into the habit of napping, but I stopped being able to sleep well through the night, so I started making sure I’d sleep whenever my body felt it was the right time. That way, even if I could only get comfortable for six or so hours at night, I made up some time with a 30-minute—or two hour!—siesta in the afternoon. Yes, things had to fall off my to-do list to accommodate this new need for sleep. But the health of my baby was worth delaying getting back to a few emails and re-prioritizing how I spent my time efficiently.
How to Dress for Pregnancy:
- Stay sexy. You don’t have to wear spandex all the time, but muumuus aren’t the only option either. Things that remind you of your femininity and changing shape are best. Remember, pregnancy is beauty, but it’s also pure power: you’re growing a human! So flaunt that incredible body with confidence.
- Don’t stock up on pregnancy clothes. By month five, I was happily enjoying my high-waisted, elastic band jeans, but I paired them with sweaters or blouses that I could also wear post-pregnancy. You don’t want to get too comfortable in clothes that are too large for you, or overwhelm your wardrobe with them, or you may lose the incentive to get back into fighting form post-baby. That being said, it took nine blissful months to grow your beautiful bump, so give yourself nine months to get back in shape!
- Patterns on top, solids on bottom. I’m a New Yorker, so black and neutrals are often my “color” of choice, but I like to get bright and colorful for “The Chew.” I found the most flattering outfits to be the ones where I had a bright, fun pattern on top—not too busy—and then kept it sleek and simple in a muted tone or solid on bottom. I also opted for a lot of high-waisted, stretchy items, like leggings and skirts, and then I would tuck in chiffon blouses or pair them with a simple top and a cute blazer to keep the look polished, easy, and most of all, comfortable.
