OK! Exclusive: Gretchen Rossi Shares Her My Baby-Making Menu And Healthy Eating Habits!

Gretchen Rossi exclusively shared with OKMagazine.com her menu for staying in shape and increasing her odds of getting pregnant with partner Slade Smiley. The Real Housewives of Orange County star, 37, can't wait to become a mother!

Gretchen told OK!, "If you saw the episode of The Doctors, then you know that Slade had a vasectomy reversal as a big birthday surprise to me this year! So we have officially started our journey of trying to conceive naturally. I’ve always known that I wanted to be a mother and I’m excited to share this experience with everyone. I made a video to share what I’ve researched was the best things to start eating pre-pregnancy in order to help your body get ready to conceive. I also share what pre-natal vitamins I choose and why. I’m not saying this is what you need to do or what you’re supposed to do by any means, but many of you ask how I stay in shape and if it has been different since now I am trying to get pregnant, so I am sharing that journey with you. Some things definitely changed in my everyday diet. Here is a look into my pre-pregnancy menu that will hopefully help me get pregnant. I’ve been doing a lot of research on foods that can improve your ability to make a baby and based on that I made a menu of fertility-boosting foods to help us get closer to starting a family."

Lunch: "My go to right now is a Nicoise salad with tuna, red potatoes, green beans, olives, chives, onions and my favorite leafy greens like spinach, romaine and arugula. I read that foods high in B vitamin and folate improve ovulation so I’ve been increasing my intake and even making Slade eat these foods with me since men with higher levels of folate in their system make healthier sperm. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish also promote fetal brain and nervous system development. They contribute to a healthy pregnancy by lowering the risk of preeclampsia, low birth weight and preterm birth (but make sure the fish is low in Mercury, like Salmon)."

Snack: "I love celery with almond butter, nuts, dried fruit, and apple, or a piece of whole-wheat whole grain bread with the almond butter on top. I find it really helps carve my cravings mid afternoon."

Dinner: "For dinner we love lean meat and veggies in Palm Oil (which Dr. Oz says is a superfood) or a Turkey burger on a whole-wheat bun with homemade sweet potato fries. Although I have read that eating more yams and sweet potatoes could possibly make you have twins. Not sure if that’s true but they’re great for you regardless since complex carbs take longer to digest and help stabilize blood sugar and insulin levels."

After-dinner treat for my sweet tooth at nighttime: "I need to have something sweet after dinner so I have Brookside dark chocolate acai with blueberry as a little after dinner snack. This is probably not really good for a baby making but it’s the perfect sweet treat!"

Gretchen added, "Of course they say you should start taking prenatal vitamins as soon as you know you want to conceive.  This was a little harder decision because there is sooo much on the market but I choose Nature Made Prenatal + DHA because you only have to take one pill a day and it comes with the Iron and DHA in there and a lot of prenatal vitamins don’t have those two important ingredients.  I’m also having Slade take Men’s one a day vitamin because it has folic acid and he is half the baby-making process so it makes sense that he has to have all this stuff too! Here we go…here’s hopefully to conceiving naturally and to a healthy Mom and Baby!"