Hey, guys! I'm newly pregnant and have been a vegetarian for 2 years now. I'm really almost vegan, the only thing I have non-vegan is yogurt and kefir for digestion. Hubby is newly vegan and loving it. We're planning on raising our kids vegan (+yogurt) and then have them decide what they'd like to do later on.
Anyone has gone through pregnancy vegan/vegetarian? Any advice? I heard that MS isn't that bad for vegans. Is that true?
First of all- CONGRATULATIONS!!
This is my second vegetarian (almost vegan) pregnancy. My son has a diet very similar to the one you and your husband agreed on, and he is the healthiest child I know.
My morning sickness this go was much worse than my first pregnancy, but not nearly as bad as some women. It was mostly feeling constant intense nausea but not actually needing to make a trip to the bathroom. Food aversions are much worse now than with my first (no tomatoes or onions. I miss pasta & pizza
).
Guessing that right now at 9 weeks you are in the midst of your peak- MS, I hope it isn't very bad for you.
My advice: Take a daily iron supplement to keep your levels up (I take Jarrow Formulas Ironsorb veggie caps (the link goes to my favorite online US vitamin retailer.) It is once a day and it's the only iron supplement I've ever had that didn't cause constipation. We DON'T need more of that! LOL
Best prenatal I've EVER had - Buried Treasure, Prenatal Plus DHA Complete. It is ok for vegetarians/vegans and has alot of DHA and folic acid. I've tried other vegan prenatals but they are all HUGE pills and are not fun to take. Plus they didn't absorb near as well as the liquid prenatals (liquid abosbs easier into your system than capsules or pills). Mixed with juice, this tastes like a liquid Flintstones vitamin.
To bump your intake of folic acid, try encorporating nutritional yeast into your foods. You can usually find it at natural foods stores in the bulk section. I love to add it to my mac & cheese (you can just use the yeast instead of the package of cheese), on salads, soups, popcorn. It's GOOD.
Later in pregnancy you might get bad leg cramps. My midwife recommended taking a liquid calcium magnesium supplement and after I started to do that, I didn't have any more charley horses. (And they can be
BAD. I woke up in the middle of the night with a leg cramp that wouldn't go away on more than one occasion pre-supplement.) I took Life Time's Piña Colada Flavor Liquid Calcium Magnesium Citrate. I loved the flavor and it worked. I think this time, I'll start taking it before I have leg cramps- hopefully I'll avoid them all together!
After all that, just listen to your body. If you have a craving, act on it. Or if it's meat-related, look up the nutritional facts of that meat and see what it is really high in (i.e. craving salmon probably means you are craving some omega fatty acids). Your body knows best.
Wishing you a happy & healthy pregnancy!
EDIT: Enter coupon code BUY123 during checkout and save $5 on your first order. That's like getting the whole bottle of ironsorb for $1!
