Raw Pregnancy: A Journey Through Disappointment to Peace

As many of you readers know, I have been following a raw food diet for almost 2 years. This has had tremendous positive results on my health in all areas: physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual. It is something that I love and am very passionate about. In December we found out that we are expecting another addition to our family. Filled with such wonderful news, I was excitedly looking forward to continuing on my raw food path as I created this life within me on the most nourishing, loving foods that I could provide. Thoughts of me munching juicy fruits with a beautiful big belly brought such a smile to my face and joy to my heart. So, you can imagine my dismay when my vision of a perfectly raw pregnancy started to blur.

We had had a potluck the night before finding out I was pregnant, and I had filled my family and friends with wonderful, tasty raw food creations that they all raved about. When I woke up in the morning I took a pregnancy test, as I had a suspicion that I might be pregnant. When those two lines showed up on the stick, I woke my husband up to share our good news. After which, I spoke to my dear friend who would be our midwife. After sharing my family’s good fortune, our conversation turned to other topics, such as what we were doing that day. I told her that I would have my smoothie and then run some errands. We made plans to have dinner at their home later that evening.

Following my usual routine, I had many days that first week where I continued to follow my raw diet without problem. Then, just when I started to think, “Hey, I am really doing this raw pregnancy thing!” it hit…morning sickness. Not just any morning sickness either. This was the all day, don’t let me see, smell, taste, or hear any food being made, or eaten. We’re talking serious morning sickness. My memory went back to my pregnancy with my daughter, Ivy. With her, I had 9 months of morning sickness HELL. I became quickly discouraged. I didn’t want to go through that again! Every thing I had read thus far on raw pregnancy said that women on a raw diet don’t get morning sickness. It was one of the main things I was looking forward to with this pregnancy. I tried to tell myself that maybe it was a fleeting thing and that it would go away soon. I just needed to stick to my raw diet.

For the next month I struggled with feelings of guilt and confusion as I tried everything I possibly could to get rid of my morning sickness with no success. I tried eating small amounts every few hours, in case it was a blood sugar thing; I tried Nux Vomicus and Pulsatilla homeopathics, and they didn’t work either. Ginger provided no relief, nor did lemon water, Chinese dried plums, or any of the other numerous things women have said alleviated morning sickness through the ages. I was so confused. Everything that was in my raw diet as a staple prior to pregnancy sent me running for the toilet as soon as I saw it, or sometimes even thought about it. No greens smoothies, salads, nuts or seeds. I was still able to eat fruit, but I felt I needed more. But what? I finally broke down and decided to try some cooked food. I started out with toast and brown rice. These were things I knew people ate if they had stomach problems (BRAT diet), so I thought they would be the best bet. They made me feel a little better, but still nothing like eating raw used to do for me before this pregnancy. I even tried bending the “raw rules” by going on the theory that raw doesn’t have to mean vegan. So, I tried some raw smoked salmon. At first I thought that it helped, but then the feelings of guilt set in. I began to struggle less with not wanting to eat anything and more with the thoughts that what I wanted to, or even dare I say needed to eat was not raw.

I now had a moral dilemma on my hands and in my heart. Do I eat what my body is saying that it wants (on the premise that it didn’t send me running for the toilet), or did I stick to my “image” of being a raw foodist? I teach raw food classes, I make raw food meals, I am the matriarch of a raw food family- what would people say if they saw me eating something cooked! I didn’t want to be a hypocrite. Around the same time as all this was going on, I had a few Psych-K rebalancing sessions. One of the balances is called a “Core Belief” balance. In this session, I found out that I had a core belief that was out of balance. The belief was “ I accept change in my life”, along with the affirmation “I joyously release the past, and look forward to the future”. For many weeks after the session I worked on this core belief. I also meditated and asked for help from the universe on what I should really be eating and thinking during this pregnancy. The universe listened, as it always does, and responded in many ways to affirm my worst fears.

My first conversation with the universe came in our local coffee shop when I ran into an acquaintance that I had met a few months back and had seen a few times at some gatherings of a friend of mine. I told him that I was pregnant and struggling with my food options. He responded by telling me a story from Meher Baba, a religious leader from India. In the story, Meher Baba was speaking to a large group of people. After he was through, a man from the crowd came up to him. Meher Baba asked him what ailed him, as the man looked frail and weak. The man said that nothing was ailing him, but that he was trying to follow the vegetarian teachings Meher Baba spoke of. Meher Baba asked what the man did for a living, and the man told him that he was a hard laborer. Despite his teachings, Meher Baba explained to the man that he should eat meat…for the soul has no place to live if the body is not well. And, our goal on this earth is to nourish and empower the soul. My second conversation with the universe was more brief, but just as empowering. Speaking with another friend of mine, I recounted my food struggles as well as the afore mentioned encounter in the coffee shop. I emphasized how confused I was because I hated hypocrisy and did not want to look like a hypocrite to the people in my life that use me as a good “role model” for living a raw foods lifestyle. She asked me quite bluntly “Is it more important to you to have a healthy pregnancy, or to put on an image?” She went on to say that the people that are really important in my life will understand if I have to change what I eat to ensure my health and happiness, as that is what they want for me an d my baby - a very wise woman indeed. But, I still wasn’t quite ready to accept that I needed to change.

My final, and most convincing, conversation with the universe came the day that I woke up and craved sausage. Not only was it not raw…it was meat, cooked meat at that! I finally put up my hands and said, “I surrender”. I will change. I will listen to my body and stop fighting it on the issue of cooked food. I hadn’t wanted anything to eat thus far in my pregnancy. So, for a craving to appear out of nowhere was enough to get my attention. My husband and I went out to a restaurant in search of sausage. But, only after he promised me that he would not mention it to our children, and wouldn’t give me a hard time about it either. I cringed as I ordered the sausage, and again when it sat in front of me on my plate. What was I doing?! I checked in with my body again, just to make sure it didn’t just have a momentary lapse in sanity. Nope…it was sure. For the first time in this pregnancy I actually wanted to eat something. It looked good, it smelled good, and dare I say I was actually excited to try it. I lifted the fork to my mouth, and took a bite. It tasted o.k. But, o.k. was better than anything previous that I had tried, cooked or raw. After that first bite, I didn’t want anymore though. It was then that I realized that this was more a struggle in trusting my body than what I actually put in it.

Once I accepted that a change in my diet was o.k. , and sometimes even useful, things started to change. I tuned into my body and started eating what it said I needed. I remember 2 whole weeks where all I wanted was oranges, then grapefruit the next week. After about a month of intuitive eating, still mostly raw, but some cooked, my body started to feel better. My morning sickness subsided, and I started craving the wonderful raw foods that were so beloved to me prior to my pregnancy.
Now, into my 5th month of pregnancy, I am back to an almost 100% raw vegan diet. There are the occasions when I do eat cooked vegetarian/vegan foods, but now I don’t feel guilty about how I look to those around me. I even saw one of my students who had attended one of my raw food classes at our local Indian restaurant and didn’t feel like I had to hide. I won’t say that I’m not still a little disappointed that I wasn’t able to achieve the 100% raw pregnancy that I wanted; but, I have made peace with it. If it weren’t for the process of being raw prior to my pregnancy, I never would have recognized the signs and signals my body was telling me about the food that it needed. Being raw has taught me the fine art of intuitive eating, and to trust my body. I look forward to being more and more raw everyday, and raising our new child with the insights, love, and healthfulness that we have already experienced as a raw family. And, if for some reason I am never 100% raw again…I think I am o.k. with that now. I am still a lot better off being 80% raw than most people are who struggle to make sure they work a piece of fruit into their day.

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Posted by Sunny Lee Savage · Filed Under Nutrition 

Tags: pregnancy nutrition

About the Author

Sunny Lee Savage
Sunny Lee Savage is a practicing doula, childbirth educator, energy healer and pediatric occupational therapist in Flagstaff, AZ.

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