Okay, now I feel fat

Sorry to all the people out there who are like, “SARA!! You are NOT fat! You are 8 months pregnant and still skinny! You are skinny enough that if you wanted to you could easily hide your pregnancy with clothes and people would never know!” But I think I just passed the number which is the most I have ever weighed pre-pregnancy, and I feel big. My boobs are big. My stomach feels huge and is constantly moving around. This baby is gonna love a jumparoo or other rocking/bouncy toys…actually, it won’t even need them.  It can do it all on its own.  All of a sudden, I feel arms and legs, not just lumps. And my innie went from a snaggletooth to an outie – or, at least, it does every time the baby pokes it, which is pretty often.  Let’s just all agree that fatness, or even just “feeling fat,” is subjective, okay?

LOTS to update about! I am waaay behind and I know it. A recent lack of motivation has stalled me. Two weeks ago was my shower in Seattle. It was so amazing! First of all, because I love visiting Seattle. Second of all, because my auntie and closest friends FLEW UP FROM CALIFORNIA to attend. Third of all, it was great seeing my family – my Mom and Dad looked great, Alex and Steve are looking forward to moving into their own home later this summer, Linus is big (!) and walking (!!), and Hannah has amazing stories from her trip to Botswana and South Africa. I got to see a lot of people that I wish I could see a lot more often.

The shower was lots of fun! We got a ton of super-cute outfits, a moby wrap, a bassinet/changer/bedside sleeper, books, toys, and generous gift certificates, among other things. Plus a whole lot of love and vegan goodies. My Aunt Susie wrote a poem for the occasion which was very special. I will reprint it here:

I will never ever forget the day
That Sara Weisman came into this world
She was the first child to really ever come into my life
This beautiful baby girl!

I remember Karen sitting breastfeeding her
Both blissfully happy with no cares or woes
I couldn’t wait until they were finished
So I could play with her cute little fingers and toes

As a child, Sara was friendly and happy and always had a smile
She was the most fun and spirited little girl
She loved to listen to music
And always loved to dance and twirl

Grandma Betty was so in love with Sara
And proud as she could be
She would always share the exciting updates with me and Ettie
Having Sara for a granddaughter made her extremely happy!

Sisters came and life did change
No longer the only center of attention
But Sara coped and the girls grew close
With Karen, Mark, Lily, Val and Diane’s support and love, I must mention

And then Sara connected with Kelly
What a wonderful connection that turned out to be
They have been having a beautiful life together
And now a new chapter we all will see

Sara is going to be a mommy
Kelly a dad
Life is coming full circle
And for both of them we are so very glad

Picturing sweet Sara, at four
Twirling her blankie on the dance floor
Whoever would have thought
The daughter of my brother
Would be sitting with us today
About to be a mother!

So congratulations to Sara and Kelly
We know awesome parents you will surely be
We love and adore you both
And wish you all the best of life, love, health and most of all
To be happy!

All My Love,
Aunt Susie

How special is that, huh?  We also got Linus’s almost entire first year layette (clothes and diaper covers), which in addition to the huge box of baby clothes Glenda sent us and the stuff we have received at the showers means that we are basically all set up on the baby clothes front.

It was really nice to be pampered and “showered” with so much love during the trip.  Kelly and I have also been very much in love lately, and it was nice to get away from home with him.

Last week at work I had a second baby shower, this one with Tufts people.  That was also nice, although in a different way.  It made me appreciate how much community I have with the people I work with.  Pam was the life of the party with stories about raising her infant in Cairo, and other mothers had lots of advice and jokes.  We even got a strawberry vanilla cake from Whole Foods!  Pictures from this shower are up here.  (I have pictures from the other shower as well, and will share a web album soon.)  We received lots more cute clothes and a baby bath set which is very practical and useful.

I have been doing lots of research on cloth diapers.  I googled “cloth diaper Somerville” and was floored to find out that the store which carries cloth diapers is ONE BLOCK AWAY from me.  Seriously, I just walked across the street the other day and spent 2 hours with the proprietor fingering all the goods.  I will write another post solely on diapering because I have that much to say about it!!!

This past weekend, I had planned to drive to Rochester with Kelly for his youngest brother Casey’s high school graduation.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been sleeping well and I was completely knocked out by Friday, so Kelly ended up taking the bus alone and I stayed home all weekend.  To all the people who keep saying “Sleep now, while you can”: that is completely useless advice!  I only WISH I could sleep through the night!  I usually get up twice to pee, and fall right back asleep the first time but lay awake in bed after the second time.  And it can be very hard to get comfortable, so I toss and turn for a long time.  Oh, body pillow, why does your magic fail me?

Anyway, I was disappointed to not see Kelly’s family, to miss the graduation, to not get to cruise Rochester neighborhoods, and to miss out on the first apartment viewing that I orchestrated.  Kelly said of the apartment that I would have hated it and found it totally unacceptable.  I believe him!  Too smelly.  But I console myself with the idea that in two months I will be residing there, so I will have plenty of time with the fam and to get to know the city.  In the meantime, I spent the weekend culling more books for sale (I blew past my goal of 10 grocery bags and am now up to 14).  I also emptied one set of floor to ceiling shelves in the bedroom so Kelly and I could move it into the hallway last night.  We will do the same with the other set and then have plenty of room to create a baby corner, which I am raring to do.  Also we need to sell our bedroom chairs on craigslist.  Anyone local want some comfy, slightly bouncy chairs for a good price?

I am feeling ready to quit work and just be at home bring productive.  It takes a ton of time to declutter and get rid of stuff, which is what I really want to do before the move.  Not only am I great at tucking an amazing quantity of stuff into spaces you wouldn’t think could hold that much, but once you have gone through it and decided to give it away or sell it, you still have to do the work of hauling or posting it!  We gave away our vacuum, which is great.  I am so happy to not ever have to think about that again.  We also got a swiffer, which I enjoy using because it is easy and effective, but I wonder if there are chemicals even on the dry sweeping cloths – they smell funny to me.  The internet was not forthcoming.  Since I kicked up a lot of dust moving all those books and cleaning shelves, I ended up using a lot of dusting cloths.

I am nesting!!

The Best Vegan Diet and Nutrition Pregnancy Resources

The Importance of Diet During Pregnancy

While there is a lot of pressure on vegan mothers to eat well during pregnancy, this pressure is not unique to vegan women. All women need to reevaluate their diets when pregnant to make sure that they are getting enough of what they need. Both pregnancy and breastfeeding are very physically taxing on the body. You can imaging that if you were going to begin an intense muscle-building program you would probably need to change your diet. Well, you are going to begin an intense muscle-building program…along with building bones, ligaments, organs, and all the other tissues that make up a human being!

Talking to your Prenatal Medical Provider

It is important to find a medical practitioner who is supportive of your vegan diet. I would definitely look for someone who knows or is willing to learn what a vegan is and is comfortable with it. Sometimes I explain that “I am a strict vegetarian and eat no animal products” to doctors who are unfamiliar with the term “vegan.” Anyone can understand what a strict vegetarian is, and vegetarianism is generally more known and accepted than veganism.

I wouldn’t necessarily expect your medical practitioner to understand the ins and outs of vegan nutrition. For instance, he or she may not be aware that B12 deficiency is a concern to vegans or that omega 3 fatty acids are rare in a vegan diet and that vegans must take care to supplement with both. If you become anemic during your pregnancy, which is relatively common, your practitioner may not test to see whether it stems from iron deficiency or B vitamin deficiency. You may need to do some research on your own and remind your doctor to request appropriate tests.

My experience with doctors is that they are generally neutral or supportive of veganism, as long as I have presented my choice with confidence backed up by information. Showing a lack of confidence in one’s diet, while completely normal for any pregnant woman, encourages doctors to give you their standard advice to eat according to the FDA food guide, which is not appropriate for vegetarians. Having information from a reliable source like the American Dietetic Association – a source that doctors and nutritionists trust – can be invaluable when talking to your doctor. You could also make a copy of the chapter on pregnancy from Becoming Vegan and bring it in to an appointment to discuss.

I recommend asking specific rather than open-ended questions. For instance, rather than the very open-ended “What should I eat?”, instead ask “How can I get enough protein from plant foods?” or “I am having trouble including enough sources of calcium in my diet. What are some high-calcium vegan foods I can eat?” or “I lead a very busy life and rarely have time to make myself a lunch. Do you have any tips on buying a healthy lunch?”

I’ve read about other vegan women online who recommend not bringing up your diet with your doctor. I do not recommend this. Since your fetus/baby is living entirely off of your body’s resources, a healthy diet and exercise are probably the two most important factors in any pregnancy. Lies by omission to your medical provider prevent him or her from offering you the best care possible.

It Can Be Difficult to Make Dietary Changes

I have been a vegan for about 10 years now, and I tend to eat a very low-fat, low-sugar, high-fiber diet. I was very surprised when I started looking closely at my average intake of specific nutrients after I became pregnant. I had no idea that my diet was so low in protein and iron! Like most people, my husband and I have 5-10 standard dinners that we make 95% of the time. When I realized that many of our standards, while tasty, were not supplying enough nutrition during pregnancy, it was quite a hassle to find new recipes we both liked and wanted to eat regularly.

Food aversions can make this process even harder. I was very averse to garlic and onions until about 20 weeks into my pregnancy, and those formed the base for most of the dishes we usually made.

Despite being being vegan and so looking more closely at ingredients than most people, my husband and I had not before looked closely at the nutritional value of our food, believing the vegan community hype that vegan diets are ideal and combat cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and other diseases. It was hard for me to get support from friends and family about changing my diet because it meant admitting that the vegan diet I had promoted as very healthy was actually not as healthy as I had thought. I certainly don’t want to give people the idea that it is very difficult to be vegan, but now I also realize that the vegan diet holds more challenges than I had thought.

It is important to make sure that your vegan meal is “balanced.” An easy rule of thumb for lunch and dinner is that your plate should be approximately 1/4 protein such as beans, legumes, seitan, or tofu (containing at least 14g), 1/4 green and yellow vegetables, and 1/2 grains such as brown rice or pasta.

Do Not Assume That Taste Substitutes Are Also Nutritional Substitutes

I think the biggest lie that vegan perpetuate is the idea of meat and dairy “substitutes.” Unfortunately, many vegan meat and dairy substitutes do not contain an equivalent amount of nutrients as the item they are substituting for, and are really only tasty placeholders that can be quite nutritionally empty. For example, what follows is a list of protein values in meat and dairy products (found at the USDA National Nutrient Database) and in the equivalent vegan substitute (found at the various manufacturer websites using the nutrition facts information).

• 79 grams of hard-boiled egg contains 10 g of protein but the same quantity of refrigerated Nasoya organic firm tofu contains just 7 g.
• 14 grams of cheddar cheese contains 4 g of protein but the same quantity of Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet cheddar cheese alternative contains no protein at all.
• 2 tablespoons of cream cheese contains 2 g of protein but the same quantity of Tofutti Plain Better Than Cream Cheese imitation cream cheese contains just 1 g.
• 71 grams of broiled frozen ground beef patty contains 16 g of protein but the same quantity of Gardenburger Flame Grilled veggie burger contains just 11 g.
• 1 8-ounce cup of 2% milk contains 8 g of protein but the same quantity of Soy Dream original enriched soymilk has only 7 g and Rice Dream original enriched ricemilk has just 1 g.
• 100 grams of Breyers all natural light vanilla ice cream contains 5 g of protein but the same quantity of It’s So Delicious Purely Decadent Purely Vanilla non-dairy frozen dessert contains just 1 g.
• 1 6-ounce container of lowfat fruit-flavored yogurt contains 7 g of protein while Silk Live! fruit-flavored soy yogurt contains just 4 g.

In other words, you need to eat a larger amount of soy products than meat or dairy products to get the same amount of protein. This doesn’t mean that you can’t get enough protein from a vegan diet, but it does mean that you can’t assume that taste substitutes are also nutritional substitutes and that you pay attention to the protein content of foods to make sure you are getting an adequate intake.

I compared protein values above, but the same comparison can easily be done with iron and calcium. Vegan foods are just not as rich in minerals as meat and dairy foods. Again, that is not a problem if you pay attention to the nutrients in what you eat and/or supplement.

It was sooo frustrating to go through my kitchen and realize that the soy cheese I was piling on added little more than fat and salt to my diet, whereas if I were piling on dairy cheese I would be getting more protein and calcium as well. As an ethical vegan, I would not go back to eating cheese, but I have to say that I was pissed off to find out that all these supposedly vegan-friendly companies and products were giving vegans flavor but stiffing us on the nutrients.

Dietary Areas to Focus On

Pregnant women should eat 3-4 servings of protein a day (at least 1 serving with each meal), with a single serving being 14g. It can be challenging to get that 14g in one meal, but including high-protein vegan foods like seitan and some brands of vegan soy crumbles or strips with each dinner have made it easier. In addition to protein, I have had to focus on getting enough calcium (I started taking a calcium supplement with vitamin D), iron and B12 (now supplied by my Floradix supplement), and omega-3 fatty acids (still figuring out how to integrate this one into my diet consistently).

The other area to focus on is caloric intake. Since most vegan foods are not very calorically dense, it’s important to include some fatty and high-calorie foods like nuts, dried fruits, and avocados, and to make sure that you are getting lots of beans, grains, and root vegetables and a variety of oils. Shakes and smoothies with banana, soy protein powder, flax or canola oil, and fresh or frozen fruit are a great way to bump up the calories and nutrients.

It Can Be Done

A vegan pregnancy can be done, and successfully, but it may take some lifestyle changes. While I went into my pregnancy feeling confident that I could remain vegan and healthy, I was discouraged to find it would take more work than I had originally thought. Now that I have learned a bit more about nutrition and my husband and I have adjusted the way we eat together, it has become easy again. It’s routine now to take our supplements with breakfast and to think about combining calcium with vitamin D or iron with vitamin C to improve absorption. When we talk about what’s for dinner or shop for our lunches, we make sure that each meal includes enough protein.

I feel that the time I have spent researching vegan nutrition and changing my diet during pregnancy will reward me in the long term when I breastfeed and plan meals for my family in the future.

WEB RESOURCES

The American Dietetic Association has a new food guide for North American vegetarians that includes a vegan food guide pyramid. A great resource to print out and give to your prenatal medical provider.
http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/governance_5105_ENU_HTML.htm

The Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association has a web article on vegetarian diets during pregnancy. Another great resource to print out and give to your prenatal medical provider.
http://www.vegetariannutrition.net/articles/Vegetarian-Diets-During-Pregnancy.php

The Vegetarian Resource Group is the next place to go. They have articles on the vegan diet during pregnancy and lactation and vegan nutrition in pregnancy and childhood, as well as specific articles on getting protein, iron, calcium, and B12 in a vegan diet. They also have the ADA’s food guide in PDF format, which is unavailable through the ADA website unless you are a member.
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition

A great article on high-calorie vegetarian foods is available on the Toronto Vegetarian Association website.
http://veg.ca/content/view/170/112/

VegFamily, the magazine for vegan family living, has an archive of articles on Vegan Pregnancy.
http://www.vegfamily.com/vegan-pregnancy/index.htm

DEVA Nutrition makes a prenatal vitamin formulated specifically for vegans. The website lists online retailers under the distribution link.
http://www.devanutrition.com/vegan_prenatal_multivitamin.html

PRINT RESOURCES

Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina is the absolute best book on the topic of vegan nutrition, and the only one you will truly need. There is an entire chapter on diet needs during pregnancy, perfect for copying and discussing with your prenatal medical provider. There is also a helpful chart showing how to achieve a high-calorie vegan diet.

Vegetarian Pregnancy by Sharon Yntema has reliable nutrition information, and specifically includes vegan diets.

The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook by Cathe Olson has a lot of easy, nutritious recipes if you are looking to eat healthier. Not all are vegan, but most are easily adaptable or include vegan versions.

Note: You do not need Pregnancy Children and the Vegan Diet by Michael Klaper. The information is way out of date and much less useful than that in Becoming Vegan.

VIDEO RESOURCE

Bellydance: Prenatal Fitness & Dance Instruction Program DVD with Naia is a fun way to keep in shape throughout your pregnancy. Unlike most prenatal videos, you do not need any accessories – no weights, balls, blocks, ropes, chairs, or floor mats. Any time I experienced physical discomfort during pregnancy, doing this video helped immensely. Bellydance works on the muscles you need most for pregnancy and delivery.