Vegan - please help!

[ScurfyTwiglet]

I could really do with some help and reassurance, please. A bit of background: I was raised eating meat but I became vegetarian at the ago of about 13, when I decided I could not justify animal slaughter when I could quite happily do without meat. A few years later with the advent of the Internet and the ability to access more information, I learned more about about egg and dairy farming, was suitably appalled and at the ago of 19, went full on vegan.

I'm now nearly 34 years old, and I am 34 weeks pregnant with my first child. It was an unplanned pregnancy but very much wanted and loved already. My husband and I got married in September (I was already ~16 weeks pregnant at the time) after quite a short whirlwind romance. Since moving in together, he has been nothing but hugely supportive of my lifestyle choices. Seriously, I am so lucky. Me being tired, irritable, tired and pregnant, studying part-time, (and did I mention tired?), he has taken over the cooking in the house, bringing me a fresh fruit salad in bed every morning, packing me a lunch to bring to work/college every day, and cooking a lovely vegan meal every night. All this despite not being vegan/veggie himself, and he has never even brought non-vegan food into our house. He learned to cook vegan meals and adapt recipes very quickly and we have a repertoire of about 8-10 meals that we rotate throughout the week. I am very lucky to have someone who is so supportive and caring.

But now, I'm really worried. I never went vegan for health reasons, and have never really cared too much or looked into that side of things. As far as I was concerned, I was only ever simply eliminating things from my lifestyle that didn't fit my principles/ethics. BUT now that my husband is eating 90% vegan, I'm really concerned that he gets everything he needs, and ultimately my child, too. Since finding out I'm pregnant, I'm taking prenatal vitamins, as well as supplementing with vegan omega 3/6/9s. My last blood tests from a few weeks ago did show that my iron stores were a bit depleted, so I've been taking the odd iron tablet too.

I do buy a lot of junk, crisps, cereal, sweets etc., especially since the pregnancy cravings set in. I'm the queen of carbs, I eat a lot of bread. I couldn't ever justify going back to meat and dairy, so that will never happen, but at the same time I'm worried that my choices are going to negatively impact my husband and my child. Does anyone have any suggestions for planning meals so that I can rest assured that we've got everything we need?

If your diet is adequate for you in pregnancy it will certainly be adequate for your husband. Your needs will be higher than his.

A balanced vegan diet for a small child is a different matter though. Your child is going to be on milk to begin with anyway, but from about age 1 on if you intend your child to be vegan you are going to need to do your own research to ensure that you are meeting their nutritional needs.

I would suggest The Daily Dozen. veganuary.com/starter-kit/dr-gregers-daily-dozen-checklist/ which was put together by a doctor. There are vegan dieticians (cannot remember their name) who essentially say the same thing but get into grams of servings etc. I would look up how any grams of beans etc makes a serving on the Vegan Society website. The important thing to is get enough iron (easily done with leafy greens, but not suprised you need the supplement given you're pregnant) and to take a b12 supplement. If you follow the daily dozen you'll get all the nutrients you need including calcium. Do not skimp out on getting servings of nuts, they have healthy fats and minerals like zinc.

Just to add, do your own research on nutrition. After a few weeks when I first went vegan I know what is in every sort of food, vitamins, minerals, calories, macros. It just sort of gets sucked into your brain after a bit. If you're concerned you can use Chronometer for a couple of weeks to get you in the swing of things and check up on if you're missing anything.