My Plant-Based Pregnancy

First off, let me just say I don’t subscribe to labels and I believe that whatever you think is working for you in your life, you should continue to do. I don’t take lightly the determination that mommas have ensuring the health of their growing little baby! But, I do highly recommend incorporating more plants in your diet and I believe that a healthy lifestyle is the best prevention medicine.

Taken by @Femme_Flora at Mckinney Falls - 26 weeks

No one has ever said, “No, I don’t want to be healthy” or “No, I don’t want to invest in my health.” Am I right? Plants provide us with the most abundant source of nutrients, vitamins, and essential minerals in the food supply, so for nutrient density, you really can’t beat a diverse, organic plant-based diet.

Any-who, this is me sharing information from my experience and how great it’s been for myself and my family. After 6+ years of living this healthy lifestyle, raising our little one vegan and still feeling great, I felt compelled to share my story with those of you who are curious to learn more about how our lives are powered by plants.

I was really nervous when I went to see my ob-gyn for the first time and dreaded telling him we were vegan. I was expecting the same “but your protein!” concern that everyone not familiar with eating plant-based can’t help but ask. But to our surprise, he lit up and said, “Oh that’s great! We’ll just want to make sure you’re adding some more calories in.” I had already been eating plant-based for 2+ years, but hearing him say that made me feel so much more confident with how my diet would be during my pregnancy. It’s those moments of encouragement that we need to keep going. That got me to thinking about how lucky we’ve been to have friends who were also vegan as well as friends & family who were very supportive and curious about it. I believe that community is the most important thing that propels you to success in anything. 

I am infinitely grateful to have had a stellar pregnancy! I experienced generally normal pregnancy woes, such as fatigue, nausea, and an occasional mood swing. My food cravings were pretty basic, like wanting watermelon or oranges in the middle of the night, and french fries and burritos always sounded amazing! I continued to stay active by surfing, weight lifting, doing yoga and spending 20-30 mins on the elliptical a few times per week. I gained a healthy 30 lbs and worked as a hairstylist behind the chair until I reached 39 weeks. Knox decided to make his debut a few days past our delivery date. I labored for about 11 hours (pushed for 3) and luckily birthed him naturally. He was a hefty 8 pounds 11 ounces and 21 inches. All of my tests throughout the pregnancy turned out great as well! So, I guess you could say all my research helped. I spent hours scouring webmd.com, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and of course Pinterest for any information I could find about proper nutrients for a healthy vegan pregnancy.

Lucky for us, the internet exists, and if you are interested, it’s so worth it to do your research and gain that knowledge. Having a true understanding of what your needs are is invaluable. I plan to share as much as I possibly can with you so that I can help support you in your journey.

Everyone becomes a nutrition expert when you get pregnant, and I’m sure that’s not exclusive to us eating plant-based. We are talking about decades of conditioning here, I’m sure they all mean well, but I would get questions like:

Are you going to stay vegan? …yes!

Have you craved any animal products? …negative, ghost rider

Is that safe? …uuuuh ya!

Will you be consuming enough protein? ….yep

What does your doctor say? …see above ;)

A question that I think we should be asking is, “Is it safe to consume meat and dairy products when pregnant?” The animals that most people eat are, well, mass produced. They are consuming all sorts of nasty things such as fertilizers, pesticides, and other pollutants. (Also, don’t Google how much pus is allowed into milk). Those toxins are stored in animal fat and make their way into your body and consequently into breastmilk. That is so freaking scary to me! 

The information is out there and I was really surprised at how much people don’t know about eating a plant-based diet, which is sort of why I decided to open up more about this subject. I am so much more cognizant about my daily nutrient values than I used to be before this lifestyle became a passion of mine. Becoming an expert in my health has been very eye opening to say the least!

Did you know 40% of Americans are B-12 deficient?

Or that too much protein can damage your kidneys, cause cancer, or raise your risk for heart disease?

So tell me, are you eating more plants or have you been vegan for awhile? I am so interested in meeting more mamas who are vegan or folks interested in veganism! I hope you found this blog inspiring and perhaps gave you some insight or motivation to try something new. If you’re at all curious about going vegan, stay tuned because I plan on sharing a lot more recipes and tips on how to stay healthy.

Stay healthy baby,

Chenoa xo