Plant-based Baby Number Two Coming Soon!
Some of you may have noticed that things have been very quiet at Nourished Elephant over the past few months. I wanted to touch base and fill you in on why. And yes there is a very good reason, I’m pregnant and expecting another plant-based baby boy early September! My first trimester was quite rough and the last thing I felt like doing was blogging about food. I felt tired and nauseous all the time, and pretty much lived on oats, cereal, and plain pasta. Nothing interesting to post about in that combo - beige food at its finest!
CONCEPTION
My husband and I deliberated for a long time about having a second child. He travels a lot for work and the first few months with Jensen were anything but straight forward (you can read about my struggles on a previous post here). We finally decided that, yes we did want to make our little plant-based brood bigger at the beginning of 2018, and got pregnant straight away. Unfortunately seven weeks in I miscarried and it really put things into perspective for us. We had been a bit naive in assuming that because we wanted a second child that it would happen. We are also older parents (I’m 39 and Jason is 41), so we had to come to grips with the fact that it might not actually happen. We kept trying and seven long months later, and completely unexpectedly, we conceived. Jensen and Jason both had chicken pox the month before so we really didn’t except to fall pregnant when we did! We were also almost at the point of giving up, funny how life works like that. I’m now just over half way and so far everything has been completely normal. It was also why I was a bit reluctant to share my pregnancy until things were well under way and going well. I pretty much pretended it wasn’t happening in the first trimester, a bit of a coping mechanism after the miscarriage.
MY FIRST PREGNANCY & BIRTH
When I fell pregnant with Jensen I had been a longtime vegetarian, but only plant-based for about a year. I was loving the lifestyle and feeling better than I had in years, and was nervous that I would be pressured into eating animals again. I found the complete opposite though, which was surprising and delightful. When I told my midwife she said that vegans tended to know more about nutrition than most people and wasn’t worried at all. I think I had one extra blood test during my first pregnancy to check iron and B12 levels and everything was completely normal. I supplemented throughout but nothing extra to what I would take on a normal daily basis. I also found a great video reference from Dr. John McDougall that put my mind at ease about having a healthy plant-based pregnancy.
I went into labour two weeks early and had Jensen naturally at a local birthing centre. I personally found the labour long and painful but in terms of birthing it was very straight forward. We arrived about lunchtime and he was born at 9pm that night. I used some gas towards the end as the contractions were overpowering but that was all. I tore a little and needed a few stitches, but I couldn’t actually feel it! Fingers crossed this time will be as smooth and straightforward too.
MY PLANT-BASED PREGNANCY DIET
As I mentioned above the beginning of this pregnancy was filled with beige food. A lot of oats and porridge, vegan dumplings, and plain pasta and potatoes. I’ve expanded my palate a bit more now but it’s still not great. Anything too spicy or flavourful gives me a bit of reflux which can be uncomfortable at times. Here’s a rough picture of what I’ve been growing this baby on:
Breakfast: A large bowl of berry porridge made with oat milk and topped with fresh seasonal fruit. I was having this with a decaf coffee with oat milk but in the last few weeks have switched to a plant-based hot chocolate (recipe here). It’s made with cashews, dates, and cacao so is a great vitamin and mineral boost, especially with the iron in it.
Vitamins:
Iron
Omega 3 (plant-based)
Multi-vitamin
Iodine (recommended for all expecting mothers in NZ as our environment is lacking in it).
B12
This may seem like a lot but is what I would normally take even when I’m not pregnant. I’m just much more diligent now and take them every morning instead of once or twice a week.
Snacks:
In my first trimester when I could barely stomach anything my brother left a OSM (One Square Meal) muesli bar in my car. It’s not something I would usually buy as it has quite a few ingredients and added sugar, but it agreed with my stomach and the baby, so they have been a daily staple since. On the up side they are high in calories and have extra vitamins and minerals added.
I also try and have a couple of pieces of fruit a day, but even that can be a struggle sometimes.
Lunch:
Lunch has become very boring! Toasted bread with peanut butter or as pictured some fruit split muffins with dairy free spread and a cold pressed juice to try and up the nutritional intake. I’ve completely gone off smoothies which is weird as I lived on them with Jensen.
Dinner:
Now I can stomach a bit more variety, dinner is where I try and get a load of fresh veggies in. We’ve been rotating The Happy Pear’s Pad Thai (recipe breakdown hopefully coming soon), mushroom pasta, veggie goulash, and our new favourite recipe is a veggie instapot soup. I think that is what we will be living on over winter! And I must also thank Jase because I cook about once a fortnight and he’s been the lead chef in the house for the last few months. I’m very grateful to have a husband who enjoys cooking!
So that’s me all up to date, I’ll keep you posted with how we are doing as the bump gets bigger and September gets closer!
Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or health professional. I have completed a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell and have done in-depth research about plant-based living. The information I trust is mostly sourced from medical professionals that are leading the way in this plant-based revolution. Check out my recommended page for more info.
