So you're thinking about starting a family — congratulations! But before the stork arrives, there's one crucial step to a healthy pregnancy: prenatal vitamins. And here's the secret sauce: the earlier you start, the better.

Why the 3-Month Rule? It's all about that critical first trimester. This is when your baby's neural tube, brain, and heart develop at lightning speed. Folic acid, a B vitamin superhero, is your baby's armor against birth defects during this vulnerable stage. But here's the catch: most women don't have enough stored folate to meet the demand.

That's where Ritual's Essential Prenatal steps in. It's packed with the good stuff: easily absorbed folate (not folic acid), plus iron for energy, choline for brain development, and vitamin D for strong bones. It's like a tiny cheerleader squad for your little one, right from the get-go.

But wait, there's more! Starting your 3-Month Glow Up with Ritual isn't just about the baby. It's about you, mama. Ritual Prenatal is gentle on your tummy, even if morning sickness is your unwelcome guest. It helps combat fatigue, so you can conquer those pregnancy to-do lists with a spring in your step. And let's not forget the mood-boosting power of essential vitamins—hello, pregnancy glow!

Think of Ritual as your secret weapon for a head start on a healthy pregnancy. It's not just about popping pills; it's about proactive care for both you and your tiny miracle.

Here's why Ritual is your Glow partner:

• Science-backed: Formulated with the latest research and high-quality ingredients, your body gets the nutrients it craves, not just fillers.
• Personalized approach: Take our quiz and discover the perfect blend for your unique needs, whether you're vegan, have MTHFR concerns, or simply want a little extra TLC.
• Community connection: Join our tribe of mamas who get it. Share your joys, worries, and cravings in a supportive space where you're never alone.

Remember, mamas, the 3-Month Glow Up is all about giving your body and your baby the best possible chance to thrive. Ritual makes it simple, effective, and even dare we say, enjoyable. So ditch the confusion and embrace the power of early prenatal care. Your future self (and your future mini-you) will thank you for it. Head over to Ritual today and start your 3-Month Glow Up. You deserve it, mama!

The post The 3-Month Glow Up: Why Starting Prenatals Early Matters first appeared on Glow.

Folate and folic acid are two forms of vitamin B9, which is essential for pregnant women and their developing babies. While they may seem like the same thing, some key differences between them can impact your prenatal health.

What is folate?

Folate is the natural form of vitamin B9 found in leafy green vegetables, beans, and nuts. It is the form that our bodies can use most easily.

What is folic acid?

Folic acid is a synthetic form of vitamin B9 that is added to many foods, including cereals, breads, and pastas. It is also found in most prenatal vitamins. While folic acid helps prevent birth defects, it needs to be converted into folate by the body. This conversion process can be slow and inefficient, and some people have genetic variations that make it even more difficult.

Why is folate better for pregnancy?

There are several reasons why folate is a better choice for pregnancy than folic acid:

• It is more bioavailable. Folate is more readily absorbed and used by the body than folic acid. This is especially important for pregnant women, who need a higher intake of vitamin B9.
• It is safer for women with MTHFR mutations. MTHFR is a gene that is involved in the conversion of folic acid to folate. Some people have mutations in this gene that make it difficult for them to convert folic acid efficiently. These women may be at risk of birth defects if they take folic acid supplements. Folate, on the other hand, does not need to be converted, so it is a safe choice for women with MTHFR mutations.

How can Ritual Prenatal Vitamins help?

Ritual Prenatal Vitamin is a comprehensive prenatal vitamin that contains folate, as well as other essential nutrients for pregnancy. It is made with high-quality ingredients and is gentle on the stomach.

Ritual Prenatal Vitamin can help you:

• Reduce your risk of birth defects
• Support your baby's healthy growth and development
• Improve your energy levels
• Maintain a healthy pregnancy

Ritual Prenatal Vitamin is a great choice for pregnant women who are looking for a safe and effective way to get the folate they need.

In addition to the benefits listed above, Ritual Prenatal Vitamin also contains other important nutrients for pregnancy, such as iron, choline, and vitamin D. These nutrients are essential for the development of your baby's brain, bones, and nervous system.

Ritual Prenatal Vitamin is also made with gentle ingredients that are easy on the stomach. This is important for pregnant women who may be experiencing nausea or morning sickness.

If you are looking for a prenatal vitamin that can help you have a healthy and happy pregnancy, Ritual Prenatal Vitamin is a great option.

Disclaimer: Glow is not a medical professional and this article is not intended to be medical advice. Please consult with your doctor before taking any supplements, including Ritual Prenatal Vitamin.

The post Folic Acid vs. Folate: Understanding the Difference During Pregnancy first appeared on Glow.

If fertility improvement is topping your list of New Year’s resolutions, there is no time like now to start building your tool kit. There are plenty of products and resources out there to assist in making your fertility a priority: ovulation prediction tools to help you identify those few days in your cycle when you are fertile; fertility-friendly lubricants to keep sex pleasurable without harming sperm and your chances of conceiving; healthy diet and exercise plans; and, the star of this show, fertility supplements. When you have plans for a family, fertility supplements can help you reach your goals by supporting the quality of your eggs and getting your cycles on track.

Help, please! There are Just So Many Fertility Supplements

Yes, we hear you, the virtual and real-life store shelves are bursting with supplements these days – it is easy to become overwhelmed with the choices. The last thing you need is more decision fatigue, so here are some tips for choosing the fertility supplement that is right for you.

Start with the Basics

If you aren’t already taking a prenatal vitamin, go ahead and start yesterday. Even if you are eating your vegetables and avoiding the junk food aisle, chances are your diet isn’t meeting the mark in all the important ways. Taking a daily preconception vitamin will help you fill in the gaps in those vitamin and mineral gaps. Choose a prenatal with the key nutrients for pregnancy wellness, such as iron, iodine, vitamin D, and folic acid in its most bioavailable form of methylfolate.

Add in Antioxidants

You’ve probably heard about antioxidants. That’s because, for at least a couple of decades now, researchers have been warning us about the health impacts of free radicals and oxidative stress, and pointing to certain nutrients – antioxidants – that might provide some protection.

Free radicals are the MVPs of certain physiological processes – for example, the immune system depends greatly on free radicals to help fight off infections. And, ironically, free radicals play a role in normal ovulation. But, for many people, keeping up with the rat race means we are stressed to the max, we eat too much of the wrong kinds of foods, we are exposed to toxins all around us, and we exercise too little, all of which leads to excessive production of free radicals, setting the stage for a chronic state of oxidative stress in the body, a physiological condition which can ultimately lead to cellular damage.

Oxidative stress can pose a problem for both male and female fertility because sperm and egg cells are both highly susceptible to free radical damage. For women, this means a reduction in egg quality, which is problematic because we are born with all of the eggs we will ever have, so keeping them healthy for as long as possible is a key to fertility. For men, free radical damage to sperm cells has the potential to reduce sperm count and sperm motility, as well as increase DNA fragmentation, all of which spells trouble when it comes to the prospects of fertilizing an egg.

Turns out antioxidant nutrients are the heroes of this story. Antioxidant nutrients, like CoQ10, vitamin E, Vitamin C, and alpha lipoic acid to name a few, neutralize free radicals before they can harm egg and sperm cells. To help bolster your body’s antioxidant defense systems and protect your egg cells from free radical damage, look for a fertility supplement with a spectrum of nutrients with antioxidant activity. And, don’t let your partner off the hook – there are antioxidant-based fertility supplements for men too.

Inositols are Important

Do your cycles run like the German train system – always on time – or are they more likely to arrive fashionably late? When you are trying to conceive, being able to accurately predict ovulation is key so that you can plan to have sex when you are most fertile. Wait, did you just say, “Plan to have sex”? Yep, we did. Welcome to your new TTC (trying-to-conceive) life. Simply put, if you don’t have sex during your fertile window – those 3-5 days just before you ovulate – you can’t get pregnant. Pinpointing ovulation is a relatively straightforward task when your cycles are like clockwork, but, if you have irregular cycles, ovulation prediction is a challenge, to say the least.

Myo-inositol and d-chiroinositol are carbohydrate compounds that support a balance of the hormones, including testosterone and insulin, that make ovulation happen. Getting these hormones in the right balance helps you ovulate predictably and keep your menstrual cycle on track. A bonus feature is that myo-inositol is also an antioxidant, which means helps to support the health of your eggs. Look for a fertility supplement that includes both myo-inositol and d-chiro inositol.

The Herb or Not To Herb?

So glad you asked, this truly is a question. Herbs have long been used in dietary supplements to support health and well-being, and certain herbs like Vitex and Red Clover are often used to support female fertility. However, herbs don’t agree with everyone, and there are certainly times when you might want to go herb-free with your fertility supplement, like, for instance, if you are also taking a prescription fertility medication.

The Final Challenge

The last hurdle is figuring out how to incorporate these prenatal and fertility nutrients into your daily routine without blowing up your budget or cluttering up your counter with dozens of pill bottles. No worries, we’ve got you covered here too. Check out FH PRO for Women from Fairhaven Health – this convenient and affordable all-in-one fertility supplement will help you get a jump start on your goals.

Learn more about FH PRO and other antioxidant supplements.

The post The Real Story on Fertility Supplements first appeared on Glow.

Stay strong.  You are not alone.  

Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPKs)

Ovulation predictor kits, or OPKs, help women identify when they’re ovulating. Used together with the Glow app, an OPK can pinpoint the ovulation window and help maximize a couple’s chances of conceiving naturally. OPKs, look and work like pregnancy tests (so if you like to pee on things, boy are you in luck) by detecting a surge in the luteinizing hormone (LH), which tends to occur roughly 36 hours prior to ovulation. If you have sex just as LH surges, then you greatly increase your odds of having sperm present in time to meet the egg and fertilize it--leaving you pregnant.  This helps you have sex strategically, as opposed to just having sex every time you check your Instagram feed (causing you to have sex 400 times a day, which is tiring). 

OPKs can help teach you a lot about how your body works. Do you ovulate late? Ovulate too early? Don’t ovulate at all? OPKs will help you answer these questions, and the results can be an important starting point for any conversations you may start with a fertility specialist down the line.  

OPKs can be purchased at your local drugstore or online; it’s ~$40 for 20 tests, but varies by brand. Digital OPK tests tend to be more expensive.

Fertility Friendly Lubricants

Fact: The American Society for Reproductive Medicine says that normal lubricants, like the KY Jelly you have on your nightstand right now, could be killing up to 60% of your partner's sperm. Talk about a buzz kill!  (Although this is really good information to pass along to your friends who are trying to avoid becoming pregnant, maybe?)That’s why when you’re trying to conceive (TTC), you should only use fertility friendly lubricants, such a Pre-seed (which, agreed, sounds like you’d find it in the lawn and garden section of Home Depot) and Astroglide. Other natural lubricants like mineral oil or canola oil can also be conducive to fertility, canola oil being particularly useful for any woman who was hoping to have extremely fertile sex but was also hoping to stir fry vegetables later. Any local drug store should carry fertility friendly lubricants, you can also buy them online for ~$20 per 9 applications.   

BBT Thermometers

Your basal body temperature (BBT), which is the temperature when your body is completely at rest, rises ever so slightly just after ovulation. Three days of a continued rise in BBT confirms that ovulation did indeed take place. Knowing when ovulation is likely to occur is key to maximizing your chances of conceiving.  If your BBT drops you are either not pregnant this month (booo) or are Elsa from Frozen (yaaaaay!) with the power to build elaborate ice castles/freeze huge swaths of Scandinavia by taking off your gloves.To measure your BBT, you’re going to need a BBT thermometer.  This is simply a very sensitive thermometer that is able to identify even the tiniest temperature changes, usually to the one-hundredth (0.01) of a degree Fahrenheit. A BBT thermometer can be purchased at your local drugstore or online for around $15.

STORK OTC

This is a really smart in-home insemination device. Here is how it works: The male partner wears a condom-like collector to contain the semen in a cervical-cap-like repository.  Then the couple uses a neatly designed applicator to insert the cap with the semen all the way into the vagina and up to the cervix.  Next the woman keeps the cervical cap there for about 6 hours.   

It’s like a DIY IUI. The Stork OTC can be purchased online for around $150 for 2 applications and is way more effective and less hassle than buying/caring for an actual stork.  

The post 4 awesome fertility products that women swear by to get pregnant 🙌 first appeared on Glow.

Stop using birth control.

Get off anything long term or hormone based and give your body time to adjust.  You’ve probably spent a lot of years going out of your way to NOT have a baby, so getting ready to try to have one is both a mental and physical adjustment.  Welcome to the weird transition from “please please don’t let me be pregnant” to “please please let me get pregnant.”  It takes getting used to.

Do “responsible healthy person things”

After sometimes a decade of occasionally treating your body like a $8 skirt from H&M, why not take care of the thing that you’re hoping will carry another human being into existence?  If you smoke?  Maybe don’t do that anymore.  If you haven’t been to a doctor in 3 years, maybe you should get on that.  If you drink your bodyweight in caffeine every day, bad news-- there’s a chance that may lower your ability to conceive in addition to making you totally wired. You know how to be healthy. Now is a great time to start!

Count the Days of Your Menstrual Cycle

We’re not asking for the radius of a circle or the Pythagorean Theorem but get ready to do some basic math.  In a 28 day cycle you ovulate (most likely) on day 14.  Mark down the first day of your next period.  Count back 16 days from that day.  Have that date in your head?  Great.  You’ll probably ovulate up to five days after that day.  Now find the square root of 49 and the area of a rectangle and if a train leaves Chicago traveling at 100 mph and another train leaves New York at the same time traveling at 130 mph, you will get pregnant (hopefully) someday, minus 31 times 6, plus infinity.  Let us check our math. Alternatively, use Glow. We have proprietary algorithms that do all the lifting for you and pinpoint your fertile window with amazing accuracy.  

Check Your Cervical Mucus

Yes, there’s a purpose to that stuff.  When you’re ovulating your cervical mucus turns your vagina into a beautifully lush sperm Biodome where those tadpoles can live for up to five days.  Test it with your hands to see if it’s stretchy like an egg white, which means you’re probably fertile.  Then wash your hands because touching it will feel like the grownup, reproductive equivalent of picking your nose.  (The things we do to get pregnant, amirite??)

The Tons of Sex Step

If you plan on getting pregnant via a male partner - have tons of sex!  Tons!  What’s that, you have a full time job and your vagina is getting sore?  Ok, here’s some help.

• Have sex before you start ovulating. Sperm can survive for up to five days in there so when your egg shows up the sperm will already be there like one of those guys in the airport with your last name on a sign.  
• Skip the lube.  Lube can kill sperm.  Tell your partner to skip the hot tubs.  Hot tubs can kill sperm. Tell your partner not to keep his laptop on his lap or his cell phone in his front pocket. Tell your partner not to keep his laptop on his lap during sex as that kills the mood and is also kind of weird/acrobatically challenging.  
• Bring on the romance. Seriously, try not to schedule sex, schedule romance instead. See a movie. Go for a night stroll. Have dinner with candle light. Do all the things you will never again have time for when you actually do have a baby!

Try Not to Stress Out About Getting Pregnant

Stress rarely helps anything.  Will you sometimes get stressed out about not being pregnant when you’re trying?  OF COURSE, YOU WILL.  But if you have things in your life that help you manage stress (massage, yoga, Netflix binges, herbal teas) do whatever helps keep you sane.

The post 6 things to do RN if you want to get pregnant! 👀 first appeared on Glow.

Why: Look, even if you regularly paint your plate with fruits, veggies, and proteins that would put Martha Stewart’s fall line to shame, you still need prenatal vitamins. Prenatal vitamins provide two super-important nutrients, folic acid and iron, which are near impossible to obtain in adequate supply from food alone. What’s more, your baby will need these nutrients to grow strong and healthy; the extra nutrition will help prevent birth defects.

Where: Purchase prenatal vitamins online, at a pharmacy, or at a health food store. They come in all sorts of varieties. Some claim that the gummy vitamins are easier on the stomach. Regardless, decide what type makes the most sense in consultation with a doctor or OB-GYN. Some doctors will even give prescriptions for prenatal vitamins, which can end up being cheaper than an OTC version would have been.

Who: Every woman who is trying to conceive, is currently pregnant, or is postpartum should be taking a vitamin daily. Vitamins are especially important  for vegetarians and vegans, and for women with other health or dietary constraints that prevent them from eating a wide variety of foods.

When: Take prenatal vitamins everyday. We mean it! Taking these pills every single day is of the utmost importance for keeping you and your baby healthy. According to a recent Glow poll taken by over 255,000  prospective Glow mamas, 7% of women do not take prenatal vitamins. Another 18% forget to do so occasionally. This is not good!

If you are part of this forgetful minority, know that Glow can help. The Glow app lets you set daily vitamin reminders, and can even set you up with community groups that will support you in your efforts to establish a regular regimen and find brands that do not make you queasy. According to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, taking prenatal vitamins is crucial. No more excuses!

The post Prenatal Vitamins first appeared on Glow.