DS and pregnancy

I am 10 months post op and am 5 pounds from my goal.  The closer I get the higher my baby fever gets!  Just have a lot of questions about pregnancy after weight loss surgery.

How long did your doctors ask you to wait?

How did food intake change during pregnancy?

Was it difficult to get the baby weight off?

That's all I can think of right now.  Thanks to all *****spond!

You would do well to PM Carolyn over on the DS board -- she's a Nurse Practictioner in the GYN field and has had a DS.

Hi Somewhat Neighbor!

Congrats on your WL....that is awesome....I never made it that close :( but am happy with what I lost and know I can do more if I worked the tool better!

Anyway, I did not have DS had RNY but my surgeon said 12 - 18 months....I got my 27 pounds off from pregnancy and it was pretty fast but never have managed to get the extra 35 I gained between wedding and baby....ugh.....

Good luck and hang around...this board is awesome!

18 months.  Don't mess with it, especially with a DS.  You've got to be out of ketosis, and have stable weight and vit levels before you think about pregnancy.   I'm almost 4 years out and pregnant for the first time as a post op.

You need to have carbs, so be prepared for what comes with them.

I'm just pregnant, so nothing to add on the getting the weight off.  I guess we'll see.  There are a bunch of DSers who have had successful pregs so hopefully they will chime in.

Congrats on the weight loss! 

I have heard two theories  - one is at least 18 months.  The other is 6 months AFTER your weight stabilizes.  (for me that wasn't until the 2 year mark)

I am 4+ years out and just having my first....but that was more due to personal cir****tances (I wanted to be married first, etc) than because of my DS.

Now onto your other quesitons....

For me my food intake changed because suddenly I could tolerate carbs soooo much better.   Where before pregnancy I never ate things like potato chips, crackers, bread, etc (at least not often) I lived on these things in the first trimester.  

I ate (and still eat) about 5000 - 6000 calories a day .  Prior to pregnancy I ate the same calorie amount  - but it was all protein / fat / veggies.  Now those same calories are protein / carbs / fats / fruits.    (I gave up my pound of bacon and coffee with heavy cream, etc while pregnant in lieu of crackers/carb snacks -- not a bad trade!) 

Yesterday I ate:

7am:  The other half of my spicy Pad Thai Noodles w/ Beef and 2 pieces of cherry/nut bread w/ lots of flax seed butter. 

9am:  Beef Ravioli (15 pieces) w/ tomato sauce, green and red peppers and about 6 oz of provolone cheese melted on top.

12pm:  A bowl of Veggie soup and   1/2 a Jimmy John's Gargantuan  bread and all  <-- not something I would normally eat during pregnancy because it has 4 types of lunch meat -- but at this late stage in m y pregnancy I gave into my cravings!!  

1pm - About half a piece of caramel cheesecake (yum!)

3pm - Some more veggie soup and other half of Jimmy John's sandwich

6pm - 8 oz of beef short ribs ,  red cabbage , a  large potato pancake , apple sauce and a few bites of green beans

8pm --  a piece of something my mother-in-law called "ooey-gooey cake" and a piece of a pecan coffee cake.

12am -- a package of cheese crackers w/ peanutbutter  and a handful of roasted pecans

3am - a peanut butter granola bar. 

As you can see I have to eat every couple hours to keep my blood sugar up!  Some days I can't eat this much....but I am trying.  

I having gained any weight in the 3rd trimester.  I am lucky to be holding onto the same weight I was at 5-6 months.  For a while I actually dropped down despite my trying to eat like a truck driver !! 

Keep asking questions !

Cindy

Cindy-

Wowsers!1 I eat like that but I end up gaining 2-3 pounds a week if I do (sigh). You eat 5000-6000 calories/day when not pregnant, gosh how do you keep your weight so low, would love the advice.

Thanks, Vanessa

Hi Vanessa,

Well you and I had different surgeries.  The DS makes my body malabsorb (in some estimates) 80% of the fat I eat.... meaning I can eat the bacon , sausage , beef ribs and other fatty meat without gaining.  (and I can eat a lot of them!)   I also malabsorb protein... so meat, cheese, etc are staples in my non-pregnancy diet.

When I'm not pregnant I eat Baconators from Wendy's , steaks w/ lots of fat, mayo and butter and full fat dressings.... in fact, if I don't get enough fat I get constipated and my skin gets all dry. 

When I'm not pregnant (now that I'm maintaining my weight loss) I usually stay under 200 carbs a day....  being pregnant I just eat what I want.

I always try to make my carbs be good ones - whole grains, fruits and veggies... in fact in my 200 carbs a day I don't count veggies like peppers, onions, cauliflower, etc - only the bread, rice, pasta and fruit carbs. 

So non-pregnant my 5000+ calories a day are usually all fats, proteins, complex carbs... I can eat 4 eggs and 8oz of ham  all covered in cheese without feeling guilty. 

Also, DSers have larger stomachs....and full functioning stomachs so no dumping and we start digesting protein in our stomachs - b vitamins too so we aren't as deficient in B vits.  I eat "normal" size meals and no one even knows I had WLS. 

Don't eat like me with a RNY !  You probably would gain since I think you have to watch your fat intake more and may dump on carbs. 

Wish I had better advice for you!

Cindy

I got all excited at first thinking maybe I was missing something...LOL guess I was the fact that we had different surgeries. Wow I would have had that one if I knew that...LOL I LOVE FOOD!!! If I ate fat in that capacity I would definately gain, well luck you. And you are due very soon, congrats praying for a speedy delivery. Thanks for replying.