And the crowd says, "Duh!"

In May, I had a serious conversation with my husband. My thirtieth birthday was approaching, as was the adoption of our daughter, Ester. In addition to Ester being 'officially' part of the family, her teenage brother José would be coming to live with us. I felt that life was beginning to settle in a comfortable groove. I decided to go back to school full time, continue in my vegan lifestyle, and fully invest my attentions into learning to garden more prolifically and effectively. With all these decisions manifesting in my life, I told Jeremy I did not want to give birth to a child.

Two weeks later, the universe lol'd at me and we conceived.

I did not find out I was pregnant until almost two months later! Of course, I freaked a bit because during that time I had done a 10 day juice fast and been internally ingesting lemon and peppermint oil like a fiend. Thankfully, the baby was happy and healthy and developing normally. I was still scared.

Why? I had a previous miscarriage, which I allowed to completely traumatize me. I dug myself out of it, but even with all the self-work I had done and continued to do, it was a huge fight to embrace the growing life inside of me. I have been medication free since November '09 (yay!), so it was almost intriguing to feel the flow of depression attempt to wash over me. It never succeeded.

Anyways, I'm a sucker for authority. I'm an Air Force brat, raised southern Baptist - I listen to what I'm told to do. I went to my doctor and he gave me this morose, blank stare as he said, "You're a vegan? This won't do, you need to see a nutritionist." I went to the nutritionist dutifully, who convinced me to take in 4 servings of greek yogurt a day. Understand, I'm not a moral vegan, so I figured it wouldn't be a horrid idea to integrate just a little bit of animal protein back into my diet. What could it hurt?

Again, the universe lol'd at me.

It hurt. A friggin' lot. My migraines came back FULL FORCE, I felt so gross and icky. I started eating meat again, despite the fact it was bland and I just wasn't feeling it. My number two's were smelly, horrid, and sometimes painfully obstructed. I started breaking out HORRIBLY. My migraines would last for a week, completely incapacitating me. What could it hurt, indeed.

So many people said, "Oh, it's just your first trimester pregnancy woes!" I knew better. This is exactly how I felt before switching to raw vegan. I started to think, "Wait a minute. If eating these things made me feel like utter shit, how is this better for my baby?"

And the crowd says, "Duh!"

Immediately, I went back to eating vegan. I eat raw vegan for breakfast, usually a spinach-banana-orange smoothie. For lunch, it's generally a guac-stuffed red bell pepper. Dinner, I cook a vegan dish that includes beans for my family and eat with them. Immediately, I started feeling better. Immediately, my pimples disappeared. Immediately, my migraines vanished. Immediately, my energy came back. Immediately, my emotions stabilized.

And the crowd says, "Duh!"

I did have a weird craving to eat hamburgers, but I had enough sense to think, "Gee, is my body getting enough iron?" I did a bit of research and realized I needed a little citrus fruit to help me absorb the iron in the spinach. The cravings went away!

I am saturating my body and my beautiful baby boy with whole, vibrant vitamins and minerals. He is strong, healthy, and kicking. A LOT. I intend to stay vegan during and after this pregnancy, and continue to provide my family with a vegan environment. This was an amazing lesson, one I am thankful to learn.

I've been mostly a lurker on these boards recently, but I appreciate the informative blog and forum posts that keep me focused and strong. I can't wait to introduce you to my son in four months!