Vegan Pregnancy: April 2014 (weeks 8-12)

   April was serious time. We had March to vacation, eat without aversions, and relish in our shared secret. April wasn't as carefree. During this month, I started to experience the oh-so-dreaded sickness. Not in the morning, but rather a constant feeling of queasy unease. Definitely not the number one perk of carrying a baby. This feeling presented a debacle with how I address food. While I love sweet carbohydrates, I also love kale, collards, beans, etcetera. The baby didn't want any of that healthy stuff. I was lucky to eat a few spoonfuls of oatmeal and maybe suck down a banana-almond milk smoothie. I lost a few pounds during this time, but that is pretty common in this part of pregnancy. I decided to eat what sounded good, just to make sure I had something in me. I would sneak some kale into my smoothies and had a brief tryst with vegetable sandwiches--just with soft, white bread. These options were better than not eating at all.

    I started to let the secret slip to some friends in April. We had already told immediate family and were waiting to tell extended family in May, after taking a family trip to Portland. When you tell people you're pregnant, you find everyone has a strong connection/opinion regarding pregnancy. Especially the pregnancy of a vegan.

  " How will you get enough protein?"

  "Are you going to force your child to be vegan?"

 " Oh, you'll eat meat while you're pregnant. Everyone does."

    I've always hated the comments from the outside. The same comments every time, and I've been hearing some of them for thirteen years. Now, these comments had morphed into hyper-concern for my baby. Apparently these people forgot that. This baby wasn't theirs to raise, feed, or teach values to. That was our job, Eric's and mine. Even with raging pregnancy hormones, I didn't join in a futile debate. I just politely opposed these views and concerns, while doing my own research. I purchased Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven and The Everything Vegan Pregnancy Handbook. Both were decent reads, but, honestly, I had read all that nutritional stuff before. I scouted out the internet, joining online support groups, and becoming ecstatic when finding out my favorite recipe blogger, from Oh, She Glows, was also pregnant. She has been great support, even if only from a computer screen.

    And, you know what? I'm now 24 weeks pregnant and still find the thought of consuming animal products appalling. Take that, naysayers. 

Vegan Pregnancy: March 2014. (Weeks 4-7)

  I had a scheduled lady-doctor appointment on March 6th, scheduled perfectly as I suspected I was pregnant. There were no clues, but I just knew. The doctor performed her regular duties, with me constantly asking about doing a pregnancy test. The doctor confirmed what I felt, with "there's a faint positive." Eric thought that meant it wasn't certain, but there are no maybes in pregnancy.

 Following the "faint positive" I dealt with a series of blood tests--not my favorite thing. You see, back in October of 2011 I had an ectopic pregnancy. It was a terrifying experience that I had to deal with immediately. I was in school, studying for midterms, doubling over in excruciating pain. By the time I reached the doctor, I was at high risk for having a tube rupture. Like I said, terrifying. That past experience put me at risk for another ectopic pregnancy, and put my arm under the ruthlessness of needle after needle. When I had a blood test at work to test for our annual health screening, they had to take blood from my hand. I was out of ready veins.

 The blood tests were looking good, and Eric and I were preparing to take a trip to Chicago for Eric's 26th birthday. We weren't entirely out of the woods, but we left for our trip ready to enjoy it without too much worry and concern.

 Chicago was awesome. I wasn't really feeling pregnant, yet, and we ate our way through the bitter cold and formidable wind. We went to Karyns, Chicago Diner, and Second City. We drank mocktails. We froze. I learned two things from that trip: don't visit Chicago unless it's summer and don't take the Megabus. The latter lesson is a whole other story. Basically, it's a $25 bus ride. One that I had my first actual bout of pregnancy puking. The bus is filled with people that smell like stale cigarettes and other ungodly scents. Gross. Gross. Gross.

 March was monumental. I was newly pregnant, trying to keep it to myself, purchasing Barleans Flax with DHA and Garden of Life's prenatals in my best stealthy form. Enduring more blood tests. And more. And our first ultrasound! That was awesome--a little blob which the technician referred to as a "diamond ring." We were ready for April!

Meet Our Family

ASHLEY
 The expectant mother who started this page.

  I entered the world of vegetarianism in 1999, after my own mother brought home a pair of discounted steaks. These steaks had prominent veins. Those steaks were the last time I put meat in my mouth. I no longer could separate the animals I loved from the food on my plate. I went vegan two years later, after a high school friend loaned me Being Vegan by Joanne Stepaniak. I cried throughout the whole book. I thought I was doing all that I could for the animals by not eating them, but I realized that my choice to still consume dairy and eggs was doing just as much harm. I have made several bad choices in my life, choosing compassion was the best choice thus far. 

  In addition to being a vegan, I am also a writer. I have recently finished the first draft of my first novel--such a beautiful accomplishment. I can't wait to revise and see it to completion. 2014 is a year of creation for me, for sure. Before finishing that first draft, I found out I was creating another masterpiece: a tiny human. This tiny human inspired this blog, crafting a log of my own personal journey through vegan pregnancy and my impending future of vegan parenting. 

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ERIC

        He can whip up some sweet vegan buffalo sauce, cheeze balls, and jalapeño poppers. Eric has such infectious excitement over veganism. Sometimes you forget how awesome it is to live compassionately--the gleam in Eric's eyes when he tries a new Veg restaurant re-inspires me.  He went vegan in 2011, after lengthy interest in the lifestyle. His choice was based on a desire to live peacefully, artistically, and culturally. All while saving animals.

   Eric is a stellar musician. One day he will release an entire canon of revolutionary material, music the world needs. Music that matters.  I can't wait to have him co-tour with me once the book is ready for the world's eyes. We have planned an artistic collaboration, which will blend cinema, sound, and literature.   

   It is an understatement to say that I'm excited to co-parent with him. We are going to have an intellectual, creative, and conscientious child. I'm sure of it. 

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Pandora
The feline goddess of the house. My eternal feline muse.

January 2002, I walked into the Long Beach Humane Society with my grandmother, intent on finding a male, black cat. I found Pandora instead. She was all alone in a glass room. It was instantaneous love. I was further introduced to her in a small room, just us and a feather toy. That was it; we became best friends. We moved into our first apartment together, an experience in dealing with a feisty cat who snapped her teeth the entire move into her cat carrier. Pandora and I have now lived in two states, three cities, and three decades of my life together. 

Pandora enjoys eating, lounging, and the occasional window voyeurism. 

Gustav
Gustav came into our lives on October 13th, 2012. Earlier in the day I had attended the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, which is an annual event that every reader and writer within any radius of Nashville should attend. Anyway, that evening Eric and I were driving near our house and saw a German Shepherd running down the street, a nylon rope dangling from his neck. The rope coiled around a stop sign, and the dog let out a pitiful yelp. We pulled over without hesitation. 

The dog wouldn't come into the car, so we walked him home. We sought out his original home, scanned him for microchips, posted ads. Nobody claimed him. We came to a sorrowful conclusion: we weren't ready to take on a dog; we didn't have the funds or time to give him what he deserved. With tears in our eyes we found a rescue. They would find him a better life than he had surely had before we found him, probably tied up and left in a yard as a "protection" device. 

Everything happens for a reason, I hear. Gustav wasn't taken by the rescue. He bit a vet and was deemed unadoptable. He would certainly be euthanized. Against our initial resistance, we took him in. We gave him pure food and access indoors. We found a local trainer/behaviorist. Tonia, from the Training Spot, has been such an asset to our lives with Gustav. She has brought him from a recalcitrant hellion to the loyal friend we have today. He still has issues, but that comes with the rescue territory.

Baby

On her way!

Welcome

   I've always fancied myself a "real" writer. I compose plots, meaning, deep characters--I never thought I would be a blogger. Once I got over myself and my loftiness, I realized that blogging isn't the rival to fiction; it's just a different world. A more focused, literal world. Maybe that was my initial problem. I don't do focusing too well. 

    March 6th brought with it news that would--and currently does--transform my life. I found out I was pregnant that day. Which leads me to this blog. There are two things that I am most passionate about: writing and veganism. Now, I have a third to add to that list: raising a child. More specifically: raising a child that embraces compassion towards animals while loving and appreciating a great book. 

   This blog will focus on the raising the compassionate child part, while addressing my own vegan pregnancy. Hopefully, I'll create a wealth of knowledge for other vegan maternal types--or, at the very least, have documentation of my own journey to share with the soon-to-arrive child.

    I'm currently twenty-two weeks pregnant, so there's going to be some frenetic catch-up. Readers, enjoy the journey.