'I Maintained A Healthy Vegetarian Diet'

I've been a vegetarian for 7 years. When I found out I was pregnant in August of 2003, I started doing research right away to ensure both my baby and I were getting the proper nutrition. It's one thing to worry about your own diet, but there was a new life that I was responsible for and I wanted to be sure my baby wasn't missing out on any key areas of nutrition. As a vegetarian I am always worried about things like calcium, iron, protein, and vitamin B12. These are areas that can easily be lacking if I'm not watching my diet carefully.

I found Babyfit and couldn't be happier. Here was a site where I could keep track of all my nutritional goals in an easy and convenient matter. I started using the message boards as well. I really enjoyed talking with other moms and sharing stories about our pregnancies.

After we told our family, friends and co-workers about the pregnancy, people started questioning me about being a vegetarian and how it would affect the baby. I've always had people question me about why I'm a vegetarian and what foods I eat, but this situation was different. People would tell me I was jeopardizing the health of the baby by not eating meat. I knew this was ridiculous, but by using BabyFit, I was able to show people how I met the daily requirements for calories, fiber, iron, protein, etc.

It helped enormously that my husband has always supported my eating habits (he is not a vegetarian), and he was able to tell people that I knew what I was doing and to leave me alone. We went through a rough period at the end of my pregnancy when I suffered from anemia (low iron) and had to see a specialist. Even though I was eating plenty of iron in my diet and taking iron pills, my body wasn't absorbing it properly. According to the doctor this happens to some women during pregnancy, even those that eat plenty of meat. My husband stuck by my side and got angry with nurses that would shake their heads at me and tell me that I needed to improve my diet (they just heard the word "vegetarian" and assumed the worst, and never even asked me what I ate).

I also had a great midwife that supported me as well. With her help I finally found an iron supplement that my body could absorb easily. By the time I went into labor, my iron levels were almost within normal range.
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