Pregnancy & Weight Gain Issues..HELP!

Hi Julie, not introducing necessary, especially since I know you through groups which gives me an advantage over everyone else posting.  First, you are the most unselfish people I know.  You had the wls and you have been doing great and still continue to do great on your wonderful wls journey. Yes, you and most of us who have wls have concerns about gaining weight during pregnancy.  However, the end result of your pregnancy will be worth it.  I don't see you gaining that much weight and I DO see you eating sensibily and gaining little.  So far, my friends who have gotten pregnant after wls gain 15 lbs or less and that is because they eat or ate nutritiously. In summary, you would be a fantastic mom so I say go for it!
Hugs
Terry  

Hi Julie!!

I commend you for asking the question and trying to get informed before TTC. I was so worried about weight gain my first pregnancy I was terribly depressed all the time and moody to my husband. I ended up gaining 70 pounds! Well when she was born I lost 30 pounds in the two weeks after she was born. It took about 6-7 months to get the remaining 40 off, which I felt was pretty good. I was just determined to get it off in 9 months - thats how long it took to put on I figured I would give myself that long to take it off. Well now I am 36 weeks pregnant and gained 50 lbs and although I am a bit depressed about the weight gain again I KNOW it will come off with a little work. Also Weigh****chers works great too. I kind of incorporated WW into my tool and made it work (pretty much meaning lots of protein and little carbs). Good Luck.

Vanessa

I think it's totally normal to have the fear of gaining the weight back. Most of us have struggled against weight gain for the entirety of our lives. I think it would be strange to suddenly not give the possibility of weight gain, be it through pregnancy or going back to old eating habits, a second thought.

I think we just need to trust that it is possible to get back to goal after baby by eating nutritiously during pregnancy and continuing our pre-baby weight loss plan post baby. 

Bottom line is you have to decide whether having a baby is worth the risk of gaining some weight. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to that. I don't think anybody should feel guilty or selfish for choosing one over the other. After all, it could be argued that having a child is the most selfish thing you can do since there are so many children already in this world wishing for parents.  

Hi Julie!

I am going to be VERY honest....it was a ***** watching the scale go up.  I seriously wanted to throw up every time I had to get on the scale at the OB's office.

When I got pregnant the first time post op I was only 10 months out and still 50lbs from goal.  I gained a total of 20 lbs with that pregnancy and by my 6 week check up I had lost it all. I continued to SLOWLY lose after she was born and when she was 3 months old I got pregnant again! With that pregnancy I also gained exactly 20lbs and lost it all after having her.  I am now almost 3.5 years post op and STILL have 50lbs to get to goal. Because I still have all of that to lose I feel like a failure......yes I have 2 beautiful post op babies (I have 4 total-2 were pre op) and I wouldnt change that I just am finding it difficult to lose the rest of this weight.  HOWEVER.... my labs are garbage and according to the doc I saw she feels that as soon as my levels are back in order my body should better work WITH me to lose the rest of my weight.

I am sure this will not be an easy decision to make, but I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide.

I am about to have a baby on wednesday.....{yes a c section so i know its gonna be that day! lol} and ill give u this tid bit.....I was SOOOO happy with the surgery and seeing that i was down to a size 8 and ALMOST squeezin this once size 20 butt into a 6....when BAM i THOUGHT i might be pregnant....i was giving myself a few months {like the OB sed usually takes after u get off the pill!!!} to lose those 25 extra lbs that i KNEW would come off.....but instead a WEEK after i got off the pill i conceived.....NOW.. i just turned 25 and my thought process was the same as urs. I actually put off taking a test for 4 weeks after i missed my period b/c i didnt really want to think that i could be pregnant...ALTHOUGH i really wanted to have kids! ALLLLLLL i could think of was "omg im going to get fat" and let me tell u i cried MANY times thinking "how selfish" i sounded!! i was JUST beginning to get comfortable with the new "skinny" me...that i didnt know how i could go back to being fat......but ultimatly....i would NEVER ever regret getting pregnant.....yes it SUCKED for me b/c i carried my bump sooooooooooo welll that people actually didnt know i was pregnant till i was 7.5 months! and they STILL questioned it! which made me so angry and depressed alot because people thought i was just "gaining weight or fat" and that takes some getting used to...im not gonna lie. SO none the less i am 9months pregnant 40lbs heavier and im ok with it now b/c i KNOW that im going to try like hell to fit back into my size 6 american eagle jeans that i only wore 1x....haha. soooooo ur not alone wen ur feeling like weight gain is alil bit of an issue....cuz to me it wus a HUGE issue! and i dont mean to sound vein or selfish....but thats just the way i am i guess. :) any other questions dont be a stranger

I got pregnant 4 months post op and not quite at my goal.  I managed to still gain 50 lbs in my pregnancy but it was mostly in my legs and belly.  WATER and BABY!  My surgeon took one look at me and said "I'm not worried at all!" 
Well, I managed to lose 42 lbs within 2 weeks of having him.  (he was 10.5 lbs****pt those last 8 and struggled up and down with them until I got pregnant this second time....both pregnancies were a surprise - and it's twins this time.

I totally understand your concern!  Not losing another pound ever again after having my son feels like a badge of shame almost.  I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world but the fact that I haven't lost any more is bothering me like crazy.  Now, after the twins are born I'm going to try and nurse or pump like crazy as I think THAT'S what helped me lose the weight so quick with my son...I stopped after 2-3 weeks due to many BFing issues. 

Who cares if we are selfish?  :-)  It's our bodies, it's our choice, and our health.  I think your question is VERY valid!  Who wants to have a baby and then get unhealthy again - what would be the point of having kids in the first place? 

Good luck to you. 
Sandy