Hey, guys!  Just wanted to take a moment and post a few more pics of Baby Pearl.  Daddy and Mommy are pretty tired, but little Pearl is getting plenty of shut eye, as you can see…

She loves snuggling with Daddy.  Especially in the middle of the night.

And of course she doesn’t want to leave Mommy out.

Thanks to all of you for your kind and congratulatory words.  We really appreciate them.

Pearl joined us at 12:53AM this morning, weighing in at 7lbs12oz.  She and I are both doing great and are trying to get some rest in the hospital.  Once we get home and the dust settles, I’ll do my best to give you guys more photos and updates.

Ryan recently re-vamped his website, and it looks even more fantastic than it already did!  He now has a section on his site to highlight the food photography he’s done for me over the past few years, which features some really amazing and mouthwatering images.  I’m so proud of him (and so grateful for his help with C’est La Vegan) that I just had to do a post celebrating all his hard work.

And on top of everything else, Ryan cooked everything that we made for Thanksgiving this year since my wrists have rendered me pretty useless in the kitchen.  He did an amazing job.  He’s been doing a lot more cooking in general since I got pregnant, and he’s been such a huge help with keeping our place clean, doing all the dishes, getting me water, stacking pillows under my swollen ankles, scratching my back where I can’t reach… the list goes on and on!

I have a whole new appreciation for people who go through pregnancy without a partner.  I can’t imagine doing all of this without Ryan’s help and support, and of top of taking care of me, he’s been working his butt off on a couple different documentary projects in addition to rebuilding his website.  Thanks for indulging my shameless praise of him – after all he did this weekend to make sure we had a fantastic Thanksgiving, I really wanted him to know how much I’ve appreciated him!

Our friends with kids have been telling us to travel as much as we can before the baby comes (and to go out to dinner and the movies), so this past weekend Ryan and I took a little babymoon in Ojai (pronounced “O hi”), which is about an hour and a half north of Los Angeles.  We’d never been there before, but we’ve always heard great things about Ojai and a coupon for the Capri Hotel gave us an excuse to finally check it out.

Ojai is a small town, which was manageable for exploring since I can’t walk as far as I was able to pre-pregnancy.  There are lots of restaurants and cute shops to check out, and we also enjoyed just hanging out in the room, watching movies and playing cards and Scrabble.  It was pretty heavenly to get out of town and have some time together, which we haven’t had much of lately.

The Capri had this awesome Buddha in the garden, and we couldn’t resist getting a picture with him.  He made me feel much better about my huge belly.  We’re just chillin’ together.  That’s what you do with Buddha.

One of our favorite things about Ojai was exploring the fantastic independent grocery stores, and then checking out the Sunday Farmers’ Market.  It was small, but it had great stands and everyone there was so nice.  It was kind of a bummer to come back to LA after being in a place where we felt there was a sense of community, and of course it’s always hard to come back to the grind after a vacation.  But we eased the transition by making some Delicata Squash Bisque with these little beauties on Sunday night.  Soup makes everything better.

I’m so happy that our friends gave us the advice to get out of town together before the baby arrives.  It was a special trip that I know Ryan and I will always remember.  And unlike other vacations, coming back from this one was easier since we have so much to look forward to, and so much to do to get ready for this little girl joining our lives!

I’ve finally made it to the third trimester!  Since this feels more momentous than starting the second trimester I felt like I needed to mark the occasion.  Have I told you guys that we’re having a girl?  We’re really excited and have already started getting her nursery ready.  I meant to write a post about it a while back, but then I probably feel asleep…  exhaustion has been pretty constant for me throughout the pregnancy, but I know that things could be MUCH worse, so I’m trying to remember to just be grateful.

So far my diet hasn’t been an issue, though I did have to start taking iron supplements.  It isn’t necessarily related to diet, as anemia is really common in pregnancy.  Your body produces something like fifty percent more blood, so it’s more difficult to get enough iron for all the fluid.  At least I think that’s how it works.  The first day I took them I was really sick as soon as I ate, but since I’m waking up so much in the night anyway I just take them then and haven’t had anymore problems.

Right now I feel like I’ve been pregnant forever, and I also feel like I’m not ready to actually have a baby.  I can’t believe that in just under three months we’ll be meeting this little girl!  Though I feel like I’m kind of getting to know her because she’s been kicking up a storm.  Ryan and I felt her move for the first time on our wedding anniversary – she already has great timing.  She squirms a lot, and it’s pretty crazy to see my belly moving under my clothes.

I’m trying to relax as much as possible as I’m not able to do much else at this point.  Standing for more than ten minutes is usually more than I can take, I think mostly because my body just isn’t used to carrying this extra weight.  And I’m feeling like there’s no more room for her to grow even though she’s going to at least triple her size between now and birth.  My organs already feel so squished that I’m baffled as to how that’s going to work out, but I guess it will!

I’m eating about half of what I used to, and I feel twice as full.  I have no idea how people gain crazy amounts of weight during pregnancy because I always feel so stuffed.  Though I guess I should wait until all is said and done before I say that.  I still have time to pack on the pounds, and I’m definitely hooked on cookies, chocolate, ice cream and any other sweets you can think of.  This kid’s gonna come out wanting a piece of cake, just her like mommy.

Well after months of waiting, I can finally share some big news – Ryan and I are expecting our first little veggie baby in January!  I’ve been dying to be able to write about this for a while, mostly because we’re so excited, but also to explain my totally falling off the map with blogging, among other things.

Now that we’re past the first trimester, it’s been awesome to be able to share this news with our families and friends, and it’s so nice to get it out there publicly as well.  Keeping it a secret was so hard!  It’s still pretty surreal, and being able to share the news makes it seem like it’s actually happening.

It’s also great to finally be getting my appetite back.  For most of my first trimester, not much sounded appetizing to me (except of course things like Popeyes Biscuits and Chocolate Pudding Pie).  I was nauseous most of the time, and on the rare occasion that I actually had a craving for something, it was generally a bland carb like toast or waffles.  I still have some off days, but I’m excited to be cooking again, and of course – eating!

And speaking of eating, that’s definitely what I’ll continue to write about here at C’est La Vegan.  I’ll probably talk about some baby stuff from time to time, as it’s kind of hard not to when it’s the biggest thing in my life, but I have no intentions of turning this into a baby only blog.  It’s still all about the food for me.

That being said, if any of you out there had vegan pregnancies or are raising vegan kids, I’d love to hear about your experiences.  I’m always looking for good book recommendations as well, so feel free to suggest away.

And here’s a shot of the little alien from a few weeks ago.  Pretty crazy!