DH wants me to eat meat!

[ElizabethForever]

I have been a vegan my entire life. My parents are vegans and my siblings are. My husband is mainly vegan as I do the food shopping and cooking. I have never stopped him eating the food he wants to eat however anything containing animal products in the garage (we have a fridge/freezer out there).
I am in the very very early stages of pregnancy and since we found our DH keeps making hints that I should be eating meat to keep the baby healthy. I have never had any problems with my iron levels etc but I have never been pregnant before. DH has upset me by suggesting I go against something which is obviously a huge part of my life but I don’t know if I’m being unreasonable to be upset or if hormones are making me think more of it? Thanks

You physically won't have the right microbes in your gut to allow you to eat meat. If you do it will make you ill.

Rubbish.

There are many ways of getting all the nutrients you need in pregnancy. As long as you’re careful to cover them all, nobody needs to eat meat/dairy/eggs.

Please look at this link & educate yourself about B12 deficiency & pregnancy & Labour. As a vegan you are very high risk fir deficiency & the resulting serious health issues it can bring for you & baby. Unfortunately high Folate/Folic Acid, which you've likely been advised to take, can mask a B12 deficiency

www.b12deficiency.info/b12-and-pregnancy/

I don't think he's unreasonable to suggest it. He would be unreasonable to force you.

How come it’s controlling to ask someone to keep meat in a separate fridge but not controlling to insist that you keep meat in the same fridge?

As a lifelong vegan, I’m sure the op is aware of b12 deficiency.

rollercoaster but she chose to marry someone who isn't vegan. It's unfair for one person to impose their views on another to the extent they have to keep food in the garage.

He shouldn't be suggesting she eat meat but in the same respect he should be allowed to keep all of his food in the house.

Please look at this link & educate yourself about B12 deficiency & pregnancy & Labour.

How pompous.

Are you planning on raising the baby as a vegan? As nuts are not recommended for very small children as a choking hazard, it might be quite restrictive?

but she chose to marry someone who isn't vegan.

And he chose to marry someone who is vegan, what’s your point here?

I am a meat eater and I had to take iron supplements in pregnancy, so your DH should really butt out. As long as you are monitored and responsible nutritionally then it’s your choice.

No one should force you to do anything you're not comfortable with

But it's okay for her to make her DH keep his food in the garage?

Where has the OP said he isn't happy with this arrangement? The OP is a lifelong vegan, this was a part of her when they met. She has compromised by tolerating his eating meat, keeping animal products stored seperately from other food is a pretty small compromise on his part.

Seperate containers or crockery for different food types is neither unusual nor controlling. Some people and some religions do this as part of standard dietary practice or convenience. Why does it matter (and of course OP hasn't said they do this, it was a random assumption by a pp)?

OP be prepared for bucketloads of nutritionally dubious advice, including from some HCPs. This will multiply if you raise your children vegan.
If you want to get dietary advice speak to a properly qualified dietician, ideally one with knowledge of vegetarian/vegan diets and possibly raise this question in the vegan topic.

I am not sure that B12 website is very reputable - I would use NHS sources if wanting to play Dr Google.

I was vegan for seven years through two pregnancies and breastfeeding

So it's ok for vegans to breastfeed their babies but not for them to have milk from an animal source. What's that about ?

family not what I meant at all. If I imposed my very limited diet on my son I would potentially be setting him up for a lifetime of social anxiety around food. I wasn't suggesting that vegetarianism would cause that - I was suggesting my diet would.
The rest of our family eats meat and I have no issue with that so that's the path we've taken for our son.

Are your iron levels good? are the being monitored?
I actually think your DH is not B that U, as your own iron levels will dictate your baby's iron stores.

If your iron levels are low, your baby's iron stores will be low - and if they're so low as to be deficient then it could have poor outcomes for your baby.

I strongly suggest you read up on this before you condemn your DH out of hand - here are a few articles that might help to start:
academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/71/5/1280S/4729385
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1071909106001033
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-10-5178-4_7

Hibu
However I would want to have blood tests. You can get them done cheaply privately via online providers if unable from the nhs.

I agree with reframing your ideas on not wanting animal products in the fridge you are incase you are unable to breastfeed for some reason.

So it's ok for vegans to breastfeed their babies but not for them to have milk from an animal source. What's that about ?

So it's ok for vegans to breastfeed their babies but not for them to have milk from an animal source. What's that about ?

Ding, ding, ding, we have the stupid post winner! Honestly, are some people just incapable of thinking?

Please look at this link & educate yourself about B12 deficiency & pregnancy & Labour

If I want information about b12 I'll look at a site containing scientific research not a site flogging b12 pills.

Your husband is a caveman.
As for talking to the midwife, all they will offer is an opinion, probably an biased one from a meat eater perspective.
This idea that we somehow need meat is like something from the dark ages.

thumb

Are you medically qualified? Otherwise I wouldn’t be recommending articles for the OP to read. As PP said, better to consult actual medically qualified people on this one, rather than google.

And probably better not to assume that a lifelong vegan is ignorant about her health.

And he chose to marry someone who is vegan, what’s your point here?

That compromises should work both ways. I wonder how the op would feel if she had to keep her food in the garage because the fridge inside the house for for animal products? I can imagine the responses that would get on here!

So it's ok for vegans to breastfeed their babies but not for them to have milk from an animal source. What's that about ?

Truly the thread that just keeps on giving.

There is a lot of NHS (and other health authority) information out there about this, @ElizabethForever

In the main, it all seems to be saying 'no problem' and the NHS also gives what seems to be a concise list of sources of dietary needs during pregnancy, aimed at vegans and vegetarians.

Looks straightforward: www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/vegetarian-and-vegan-mums-to-be/

Cannot believe the shit about the freezer, fuck off with your controlling comments, it's pathetic! We've got 2 freezers, the one outside is a chest freezer so most of the stuff is out there. It's such a hardship to go out there and get something...not. It might be the husband's choice to put stuff put there out of respect for his wife but no, because the wife is vegan it's obviously her fault