31 Weeks and Low Iron

Day two on blackstrap molasses.

We got a call from our obstetrician shortly after our family doctor made the referral, and ended up having an appointment with her just two weeks later. She seemed really great; easy to talk to, asking lots of questions and interested in the answers to them.  We hadn’t even yet finished seeing our family doctor, but as we’ll be seeing our obstetrician every two weeks from now on, we gladly cancelled our last appointment with her. One of the main things that happened from this new appointment was that I got another blood work requisition because my haemoglobin levels hadn’t been checked as they routinely should at 28 weeks (Just one more reason to never go back to this doctor).  Two days after I completed the blood work, my obstetrician called and told me that my blood count was low.  I felt this was a very helpful discovery, as it helps explain the exhaustion I’ve felt the last few weeks. Another symptom I’ve felt a little nervous about is the heart palpitations I seem to get a few times a day, notably when sitting down and without physical activity. It’s a strange feeling of too little oxygen in my blood and an acute awareness of my heartbeat, which is very fast these days.  So I’ve yet to really find out if it’s the low iron levels that’s causing that or not. It’s a little weird when I can’t get to sleep at night because I feel like I’m out of oxygen. Hopefully after a week or two of taking blackstrap molasses (two tablespoons of this will provide 70% of your usual daily need) and orange juice (vitamin c improves iron uptake) in the morning, consciously eating more iron-rich foods, and taking a ferrous gluconate supplement, I will start to see a difference in these symptoms.

Iron rich foods include:

-fortified cereals

-Oatmeal

-Tofu

-Soybeans

-Kidney beans

-Sea vegetables

-Lentils

-Spinach

-Chickpeas

-Blackstrap molasses

-Raisins

Besides that, the prenatal classes have been great. We’ve had three so far and they are very comprehensive and the public health nurse who teaches it is great. The classes have me thinking much more about labour and what will work best for us. Sometimes I get stressed, as there’s a lot of information out there, but then I remember that the baby is the only thing that matters.  For the second prenatal class Patrick and I brought the snacks, as there was only a budget for snacks for the first session. I made white bean hummus with roasted garlic and dill with a lots of veggies, and mini cinnamon coffee cake muffins.

I feel a little chaotic as there’s much more I want to think and write about, but I have to go to work. Only four days to go, though, and then three days off to rest and nest. :)

Pretty Purple Vegan Coleslaw

There’s something about making a salad, even a simple one, that seems like a ton of extra work. Even though I love salad and want it all the time, I can rarely find real motivation to make one.  Maybe it has to do with needing to wash all the lettuce and everything else, not to mention all the chopping… Let’s just say that when a salad that someone else made is put in front of me I am completely and utterly delighted.

Yesterday I had red cabbage in my fridge, though, and got an idea for a really quick salad- Coleslaw! Somehow this one didn’t seem as daunting a task as making a garden salad; I don’t know why. I figured out a basic dressing recipe after consulting a couple different slaw recipes.

1 ½ cups shredded red cabbage

1 medium carrot, grated

½ red pepper, thinly sliced

Dressing:

¼ cup vegenaise or other vegan mayonnaise

2 tbsp red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

1 ½ tsp sugar

Salt and pepper

Combine veggies in a medium bowl. Whisk dressing together, adding a little water to thin if necessary, and toss with slaw. Enjoy your pretty salad!

I had this with roasted sweet potato fries, and it was the perfect lunch. Don’t, however, eat an apple just before consuming this. I knew it was a bad idea to combine fruit (very easily and quickly digested) with high-fiber cabbage (very slow to digest); I was just desperately hungry waiting for the sweet potatoes to finish baking. It later resulted in a terrible belly ache lasting all evening. I’m still not recovered from it this morning. While I would usually try and use the belly-massage technique Patrick learned from a massage therapist once to help dispel the problem, it’s relatively impossible to do when there’s a baby on your intestines.  Plus, belly massage is something that should be avoided during pregnancy.

Next time, I’ll know better.

18th week

17 weeks and counting! Wish I could have been more constant with writing but there’s been a lot going on.  We moved into a new apartment two weeks ago and I spent a week or more of that furiously unpacking, cleaning, and attempting to get some cooking done, both on days off and work days. It’s left me feeling pretty tired! Slowly, we are on our way to settling in here, i.e. having a place to sit down in the living room.  And the baby keeps growing, even if I don’t notice it. Sometimes a few days go by and I feel a little desperate to look up what stage the little thing is at in its development. 

Two weeks until the 2^nd trimester ultrasound! So two weeks till we find out whether it’s a boy or girl.

Perhaps a little cliché, one of my biggest symptoms so far has been forgetfulness. I am more than a little absentminded these days. Yesterday I was enjoying a day off, not knowing I was actually on the schedule at work, until an hour into my shift when I got a phone call (yes, I cried a little). I have had every Monday off since I began working there, though, so who knows if that mistake is really related to the pregnancy. I will walk out of the house with my keys, though, or my wallet or my phone, at any given time.  At work I will start one task and quickly abandon it for another task, remembering later on what I had originally set out to do.  And if you gathered from the above comment that I frequently get weepy, then you are bang on.  It takes almost nothing to make me cry these days.

Appetite wise, I’ve continued to be really hungry very frequently, although I also seem to get full pretty quickly.  I can’t really say I have strong cravings right now, only a very strong urge to just eat something! I do love juice these days, though, and I’ve probably had more juice (100% fruit juice or unpasteurized apple cider) while I’ve been pregnant than I drank in the last couple of years.

I have been eating pretty simply this month, without using many elaborate recipes. Usually once I need to eat, it has to be ready fast, so we’ve had rice and veggies just thrown in a frying pan a few times. I’ve also made a few different soups, and also eat a lot of sandwiches with Tofurkey and vegan mayo, which are very convenient for taking to work.  I’ve been mindful of protein (not that I usually think about that but just to make sure I’m gaining enough weight) and a few times I made this very delicious side dish using beans:

1 serving canned black eyed peas (refrigerate the rest in a container)

1 tsp coconut cream, rehydrated with a little hot water

½ garlic clove, minced

Pinch thyme

Little splash of Braggs

You just throw the garlic in the frying pan, add the beans a minute later, then toss with the coconut cream and thyme. Let simmer in the pan a bit till the liquid absorbs.  The coconut and black eyed peas taste very Caribbean together!

More Pregnancy Snacks and Scrumptious Tofu Scramble

13 weeks.

Visible belly beginning.

Nausea at all-time-low!

3 pounds gained.

Little bitty one is the size of a small apple or a peach. 

I can’t believe how hungry I’ve been! It’s magical, how one’s body works. I need to eat every two hours, at least. I have never put so much effort into diversifying my snack repertoire. 

I love being a vegan. Not that I feel I can discuss it with the average individual, but inwardly, all day long, whatever I happen to be doing, I love and adore pondering over the food I eat, considering which vitamins I could use more of or how much protein, iron or fibre this and that contains.  As a meat eater, I was not one to think about where I got my B12 or iron, but now I can list sources of the stuff and know that I am getting it on a regular basis from food. 

Sugar cookie cutouts

Cravings have lost some extremity because I am now able to eat things even if I don’t enjoy them so much. For instance, the smoothie I made today containing strawberries, blueberries, banana, kale, orange juice, water and Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer (protein powder) made my health-food-nerd radar (and perhaps the baby)come alive with high-nutrition rapture, even though my taste buds had no inspiration to drink such a thing. That and certain other things remind me I’m pregnant, an example being a newfound preference for either salty or purely sweet foods. While my dessert cravings used to be based on a love for gooey, dark chocolate overload, I now dream instead of light, simple desserts such as sugar cookies with icing (today’s day off project)  or chocolate pudding or cinnamon pinwheels. Also, having been a regular coffee drinker for several years, I have not had a coffee since the day I found out, and it has stayed that way almost entirely due to taste aversion.

One of the more exciting snacks I’ve had lately was a tofu scramble I concocted after getting home from work one evening. I’ve used several recipes for this type of thing before, and they vary, but I began this short journey knowing I had no cumin or turmeric, which is usually used to flavour tofu scramble. My mission was to create a meal that was flavourful enough to make up for not having those ingredients on hand.  Trust me, there was no flavour missing from this and it is useful for me to jot it down now as I will want to make it again. One of the most awesome things about cooking like this, though, is the realization that once you have a good understanding of flavour combinations and common ingredients you work with, the kitchen is your artist’s palette.  

This contains a nice dose of protein with the tofu, mushrooms, and Bragg’s; the nutritional yeast, if fortified, gives you a little helping of B12; and you can never go wrong with the handful of veggies. This makes a single serving; double the recipe if you’re sharing. I have no photo but will upload one if (when) I make it again!

Tofu Scramble

Olive oil

½ small onion, chopped

5-6 mushrooms, sliced (I used cremini)

1/4 block firm tofu, crumbled to your liking (I like to leave it in chunkier pieces)

1 Tbsp Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (or tamari/soy sauce)

1-2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp mustard

Garlic powder

Italian (or your favourite) seasoning

1 ½ -2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

Salt and pepper

Handful of chopped tomatoes and green peppers (or spinach; whatever you like!)

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.  Add onions and mushrooms, frying till onions are translucent and mushrooms are browned a little.  Add tofu, Bragg’s, cider vinegar, mustard, garlic powder, spices and nutritional yeast, and let it cook, stirring occasionally, till some of the liquid evaporates, the tofu turns golden and everything smells divine.  Toss in the chopped tomatoes and peppers and turn off the heat, get your toast and jam ready, and enjoy your scrumptious breakfast-style snack.