Pregnancy diet with Crohns

Since my Crohns diagnosis, and even in the years prior, my diet has had to dramatically change. Diet is a key factor in managing Crohns disease symptoms and being able to control and manage your diet can make life a lot easier for sufferers. The difficulty is that there is no 'magic diet', and what works for one person doesn't always work for the other so it comes with a lot of trial and error. But 3-4 years later I have really managed to discover what foods are good and bad for me, and that has helped me massively.

I have eaten a strictly gluten free diet for the past 4 years, since working with a nutritionist on the FODMAP diet which really helped to find my intolerance's. It was a hard task, and not easy to follow but I would strongly recommend it to anyone struggling with digestive issues. As well as gluten being an intolerance for me, I also can't eat red meat, onions, peppers, mushrooms, too much dairy, and other foods. When I am in a 'well state' I can relax slightly, but during a flare I strip my diet right back and find that a liquid based diet works well for me as well as everything super plain. After getting to know my body and how it reacts to food, I am now confident in what works for me and what doesn't. I used to have no dairy, but lately I have found a little bit I can manage (I learnt the hard way trying a creamy rich cheesecake!) and having a bit of my milk in my tea, or butter in a cake doesn't hurt me but I still avoid too much. I was told that some intolerance's can be overcome, so I know at the time of discovering intolerance's it can feel really rubbish and like you will never enjoy food again, but honestly it gets better. A question people always ask me is if I miss my old diet, and certain foods and honestly I can't say it even crosses my mind as the diet I practice now is just second nature and something I don't even think about. Occasionally I will walk past a Greggs and sniff in the delicious smell of pastry and miss a sausage roll, but there are SO many products on the market now offering substitutes so I can get my fix else where.

Prior to falling pregnant, I was also trying out a Vegan diet and whilst I found this really good and loved trying new recipes, when I fell pregnant and the nausea hit all I wanted were some GF chicken goujons and chips! My diet definitely changed in the first weeks of pregnancy, and anything beige was my go to. Jacket potatoes, toast, chips, crisps, cake - not particularly the healthiest diet! But I felt so sick this was all I could stomach. I lost about half a stone in the first few weeks of pregnancy, just through being sick and loosing my appetite. I felt so worried that I would be harming my baby and gagged my way through meal times just to make sure I was eating something. It is actually very common for women to loose weight in the first few weeks of pregnancy due to nausea and sickness, so I was reassured by my doctor. As the sickness got better at around week 13/14, my appetite picked up and I was eating like my usual self. I just kept eating more and at around week 16 I had put on the half a stone I had lost and was back to 9st. I thought after that I would be steadily putting on a 1lb a week from the second trimester like all the books say, but nothing was happening. I couldn't understand why, as I now had a blossoming bump and bosoms out of control! I was worried that something was wrong with my tummy, and I wasn't able to provide nutrients to my baby and my mind went into over drive - as per usual. So at my 18 week check up with the consultant I voiced my concerns, and had some checks and a blood test and everything looked fine so I felt reassured. The doctor explained to me that it could just be poor absorption due to my Crohns and that the baby was sucking all the nutrients and goodness and leaving none for me. It was a relief to know that the baby was OK and everything was going well, the Dr's advice for me was to just eat calorie rich foods, so for breakfast I've been having avocado on toast, snacking on cashew nuts and having hearty lunches and dinners whilst snacking on fruit to keep my sugars up through the day.

Although I am still yet to put on weight at 19 and a half weeks, I feel more confident and relaxed knowing the baby is OK. I am eating as much as I can whenever I can and eating lots of good fats and calorific foods. TodayI have my 6 month check up appointment with my Gastroenterology Consultant, and will voice my concerns about medication and diet and hopefully she will have some advice and tips. It's really hard not to panic about everything, and I find I worry all the time being a first time expectant mother on top of having Crohns. I would worry if I was putting on too much weight just the same as not putting on weight, but I must try not to. I'm lucky to have such great midwifes and doctors that can advise me and reassure me otherwise I would be going into overdrive! I will be sure to share with you my meals and snacks on Instagram over the coming weeks and keep you up to date on my journey.

XOXO Crohnie Girl