But better late than never, I wanted to say hi. I’m an almost-but-not-quite midwife and longtime veggie, planning to cater to vegan and vegetarian clients. My goal is to be the most up-to-date midwife in Portland when it comes to veggie nutrition for pregnancy.

Anyway, I wanted to write because I appreciate how you listened to your body and your baby. You mentioned some ways in which this was hard for you; I hope your support system was, well, supportive! It sometimes seems that everyone feels entitled to judge pregnant mamas for how they eat, and I’ve seen vegan clients get it from both directions: folks (even care providers) who think a vegan diet is unhealthy for developing babies, and then if the mama decides to broaden her eating choices, some in the veggie community get down on her for doing so.

So it’s really nice for me to read stories of mamas (both of you!) being so open about their diet during pregnancy, without negative posts in the comments, and without a disclaimer apology. Thanks for sharing.

I know exactly what you mean about falling off the “vegan wagon.” I planned homebirths for both of my children and had very supportive midwives who encouraged me to maintain any dietary habits that seemed beneficial. I was a lackluster vegetarian before my first pregnancy and I ended up basically on a fast-food diet by the end. That was a terrible experience and I really regretted that, but I just could not convince myself to eat anything else.

When my daughter came along two years later, I’d just finished my first very healthy, wonderful year as a vegan and I really wanted to have a healthier pregnancy. I didn’t manage to stay vegan, though. I don’t know what it is about pregnancy, but anything the least bit healthy turns me right off. Greens, beans, grains, tomatoes, most fruit – all of these things grossed me out during both pregnancies. It was infuriating to know what I SHOULD be eating and be so completely incapable of doing it! I might have been convinced that I needed whatever I was craving, except that most of my cravings were for things that NOBODY should be eating, not arguably healthy in any way. I still got through that pregnancy much better than the first, but I went through a few weeks of eating almost nothing but cheese and grapes. Hang in there! As you are soon to discover, babies are amazingly resilient.

Green smoothies are a terrific idea. I wish I’d known about them during my pregnancies. I also had terrible nausea for both pregnancies and crippling exhaustion with my second. Nothing seemed to help. After I had my second baby (after, of course!), I did a lot of research and found that B vitamins get depleted very quickly in pregnancy, especially B-6, which is strongly connected to fatigue and nausea. I’m not having more kids, but if I were, I would plan to take a multi-B complex with high levels of B-6 and B-12 to plan for that nausea and exhaustion.

Good luck with your pregnancy! I hope you’ll share more details as you progress.