BFP yesterday & vegetarian advice!

[mybundleofjoy]

Hi! I got my BFP yesterday afternoon, I'm over the moon!! Any supplements I should be taking apart from folic acid, being vegetarian now I'm worried that baby won't be getting the protein etc it needs to grow. Any advice or meal ideas will be great!!

 

[RaspberryK]

I was vegetarian when pregnant with ds, I had the pregnacare with omega plus I had to have iron tablets too as I got slightly anaemic.
I wouldn't take anything not specifically for pregnancy.
How's your diet? Are you good at replacing your proteinetc as I wanwasn't.
I also ate fish by the time I add pregnant which helped.
Xx

 

[Blueskydreams]

Hello,

I was vegetarian for 13 years and vegan now for one year. I bought a vegan pregnancy book to help and read a lot online. It really depends on your diet choices. Are you eating a well balanced diet full of leafy greens, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, beans and grains? If so you should be healthy! I am also taking a whole food prenatal vitamin. Protein isn't the biggest concern for vegans and vegetarians as it's in everything.
B12 and iron are often more deficient. A good prenatal will take care of that. And dark leafy greens have a lot of iron and calcium. Two complete protiens (all 9 essential amino acids) are avocado and quinoa.

I have been doing terrible with a varied diet due to nausea and laziness! Now I am almost 12 weeks and feeling much better. I am able to eat salad again =).

 

[LadyHutch]

if you are vegetarian and not vegan, I'd say eggs should be your best friend. Make omelets, quiche, egg salad, souffles...

 

[Pix]

There is some amazing advice here!!

I'm mostly pescatarian but I don't eat dairy or eggs. Because of this the dr put me on 5 different vitamins including my prenatals. Due to the counts in my blood work.
Basically an assed Dha, folic acid, calcium, and iron. The iron was needed and I'm hoping it kicks in soon!!

But if you can get all of that with diet definitely do so!! For me it's easier with summer and the farmers markets.

 

[BunnyN]

If you eat a balanced varied diet it really shouldn't be a problem. Of course if you eat only junk food or a very small range of foods it could cause you some problems but that is true for people who eat meat too. Infact a vegetarian diet tends to be higher in nutrients like folic acid. Eggs, cheese, mushrooms and beans are all high in protein but almost any food has some protein. Vit B12 is mostly found in meat products but your body can actually manufacture it from other vitamines found in common vegtables. It is also added to many cereal and bread products.

I have been vegetarian for over 20 years. I was a bit anemic in my last pregnancy but I think that had more to do with terrible morning sickness which left me not eating (and keeping down) much of anything for weeks. My levels for iron in the beggining of pregnancy were excillent. Once the sickness passed I took iron for a few weeks and it soon improved. LO was born healthy at 9lbs 5oz .

 

[OmarsMum]

Vitamin cod prenatal is a raw vegetarian multivit, they also have a good omega 3 supplement for pregnancy,

https://www.gardenoflife.com/Products-for-Life/Vitamin-Code/Multivitamin-Formulas/RAW-Prenatal.aspx

 

[bcos21]

I am vegetarian and didn't do anything special during pregnancy, just prenatal vitamins. In fact the thought of any green vegetables made me feel sick lol. My pregnancy was healthy and my son is 8 months happy and healthy.

 

[Blueskydreams]

OmarsMum, those are the ones I take too =). Not the dha though bc they are fish based.

 

[StranjeGirl]

I have been vegetarian for 23 years. No problems at all in last pregnancy, or this one so far. I eat dairy, so I ate a plain greek yogurt most days which had 20g of protein, and ate a lot of egg salad. Honestly protein is usually not a problem...everything has some protein. I've never had a prob with anemia, but I do eat a lot of leafy greens and beets. Potatoes also have iron. Just make sure you get a form of dha in a supplement. I take dr furhman's liquid dha/epa, but there are other veggie brands too. Some prenatals have them. I take vitamin code raw prenatal and it does not have dha. Extra b-12 won't hurt either as we get less of it as vegetarians...and most people in general have problems absorbing it. As for iron, check with your dr before taking anything more than what is in your prenatal. People gave me a hard time about iron, saying I would become anemic in pregnancy etc...I asked my dr and he told me not to take an additional supplement because he had tested my blood and I wasn't even close to being low....you don't want to take more than you have to. Congrats on your pregnancy!!