The difference between my vegetarian and vegan pregnancy…. just one year apart.

I feel very blessed to have experienced these two totally different pregnancies. I 100% understand that every pregnancy is different regardless, but I full believe that the diet changes I made for pregnancy #2 directly impacted the outcome.

Here’s more of that story….

During my first pregnancy I followed a mostly balanced ( when I wasn’t throwing up and only wanting KFC mashed potatoes or cheese quesadillas) vegetarian diet and exercised almost daily throughout the entire 9 months. Even with that, I gained nearly 60lbs, ended up being diagnosed with preeclampsia, and was induced two weeks early. The labor was difficult, my body wasn’t ready, but it was necessary. Thankfully, my son had no issues at all during labor/delivery, was born healthy as can be at 7lbs, and is still thriving.

For some reason my first pregnancy puffed me up like a balloon….

My second pregnancy (less than a year later) I decided to adopt a whole food plant based diet (after watching What The Health on Netflix at 4 months pregnant) and the changes my body saw were INCREDIBLE. (My husband and toddler changed their diets too and my little ones Eczema FINALLY went away after a LONG 5 month battle…. #EggsWereTheCulprit — more info hear about eczema and diet)

I honestly had never felt better about myself, my body, and my health. No issues with my blood pressure, delivered totally natural in about 1 hour after active labor started, and recovered amazing! During this pregnancy I gained around 35lbs and no signs of water weight or preeclampsia. (Oh and baby was 9lbs and perfectly healthy!)

There are a million reasons that my pregnancies could have been different but mindset and diet were huge contributing factors to my story.

All this to say, if people tell you that you HAVE to eat meat or dairy to have a healthy pregnancy, know that they are wrong. You CAN have a healthy & thriving Plant-based pregnancy if that’s what your heart desires. ❤️❤️