Needing support in my approach of the unknown!
I am just wondering if anyone can give me some advice or suggestions pertaining to pregnancy after WLS. I am now 1 year and 8 months past post op from my VSG. I am down from 286 lbs to 137 lbs and I have loved having the surgery (this was after a lap band surgery, an emergency surgery due to lap band slippage, and then the final conversion from lap band to a VSG), since then there have been NO regrets!
It has been suggested by my surgeon not to consider pregnancy until after I am 2 years post op, and I do not plan going against those directions, but my husband and myself have discussed preparing ourselves to start trying sometime within the next three years (I am currently 25). So I am on a quest to start my research now!
I am just hoping to hear from anyone who has had a VSG and then a pregnancy. I am wondering what are some things I should be aware of watching out for? I want to try and get myself prepared with gathering questions/concerns to present to an obgyn when the time comes, or aid in finding a knowledgeable professional. Any suggestions, help, or resources would be greatly appreciated!
I would like to hear of your experiences, what you had to watch out for, what weight loss was like after the pregnancy? Some of my major fears are obviously nutritional aspects (getting baby all the needed vitamins and nutrition needed), lack of appetite while pregnant (I have a major change in appetite since the surgery....while I have not suffered with lack of nutrition due to supplements and better decisions to what types of food I now eat, I still have a few fears), and weight loss after birth.
Thank you for your assistance and support in my approach of the unknown! :D
It has been suggested by my surgeon not to consider pregnancy until after I am 2 years post op, and I do not plan going against those directions, but my husband and myself have discussed preparing ourselves to start trying sometime within the next three years (I am currently 25). So I am on a quest to start my research now!
I am just hoping to hear from anyone who has had a VSG and then a pregnancy. I am wondering what are some things I should be aware of watching out for? I want to try and get myself prepared with gathering questions/concerns to present to an obgyn when the time comes, or aid in finding a knowledgeable professional. Any suggestions, help, or resources would be greatly appreciated!
I would like to hear of your experiences, what you had to watch out for, what weight loss was like after the pregnancy? Some of my major fears are obviously nutritional aspects (getting baby all the needed vitamins and nutrition needed), lack of appetite while pregnant (I have a major change in appetite since the surgery....while I have not suffered with lack of nutrition due to supplements and better decisions to what types of food I now eat, I still have a few fears), and weight loss after birth.
Thank you for your assistance and support in my approach of the unknown! :D
Hi,
sorry, I had RNY so I know nothing about pregnancy and VSG. I just wanted to say hi and welcome to the board. I am sure that there are women on here that will be able to answer your question.
Congrats on your weight loss. Sounds like you went thru a rough time at first! Glad you are doing so well now!
Take care,
Bambi
sorry, I had RNY so I know nothing about pregnancy and VSG. I just wanted to say hi and welcome to the board. I am sure that there are women on here that will be able to answer your question.
Congrats on your weight loss. Sounds like you went thru a rough time at first! Glad you are doing so well now!
Take care,
Bambi
Thank you so much for the welcome! :) I have had a few replies so far, but there are definitely only a handful of woman that have had VSG and a pregnancy. Thank you for encouragement! Good luck with your big day! Or maybe Congratulations is more fitting because I can see your due date has passed? Either way, I hope you have been blessed with health and happiness!
IF there is someone else out there who has been pregnant after VSG, I don't know them yet, at least not on the OH boards. I believe there is one other pregnant VSGer on here now besides myself.
It is rather lonely being a VSGer with different or less problems than the other types of WLS.
I was only 6-7mo post-op when I got pregnant accidentally. I was NOT prepared for a pregnancy in the slightest, even though this is my 8th baby (9th pregnancy). Yes we did want one more but I wanted to wait the 1 yr my Dr. recommended, PLUS I wanted to get to my losest weight possible by my 1yr surgiversary too. Obviously didn't happen.
When I found out I was pregnant I immediately called my bariatric doctors and was surprised by their "lack of concern" so to speak. They basically told me that as long as I wasn't vomiting profusely and couldn't keep anything down, then I was fine and to just see an OB.
Well I don'tnormally see an OB during pregnancy until after 12 weeks or so. I waited until nearly 16 weeks and was more concerned about my blood work and how that looked.
Within those 16 weeks I did lose an additional 17lbs, which is normal since I was still in weightloss mode. I am normally anemic too and my blood work showed my iron stores to be low, as I expected. Everything else looked great.
I am still working on getting my iron and iron store up, but for the most part I am doing well, and so is baby.
As I am nearing the end of my pregnancy I have stopped seeing my OB. It's a personal choice, because we typically birth unassisted at home and we normally do unassisted prenatal as well. When my doctor's appointments kept getting screwed up by the office I finally just stopped seeing them. I have a MW back-up for blood work and a JIC scenario, but again things are going as normal as possible.
*MY* main concerns have been the lack of weight gain, even in this last trimester. I added a lot of carbs to my diet to help get my weight up, but it kind of backfired and a couple of weeks ago it triggered Adult Oral Thrush - aka a yeast infection. I've been on acidophilus, Zymex, and a no sugar / white flour diet since then as well as high protein. Because of this change I've lost 5 lbs. Not good when I should be gaining at this point to some extent or another.
My highest weight was 326 last January.
My weight at the time of my BFP preg test was 213.
My lowest weight reached while pregnant was 196.
My highest weight reach since was 207.
My current weight is 202.
I'm nowhere near my "pre-pregnancy" weight and probably shouldn't be since most women lose weight like this if they get pregnant early after WLS. I'm guessing I'll lose and additional 20-30lbs after the baby is born bringing me down to a good 180-170. My goal weight is 150. I would absolutely LOVE to give birth and find out I actually weigh less than my DH for the first time ever since we met. He doesn't like the thought but I sure do! LMAO
Honestly I have no big concerns. I have a fully functioning digestive system. I don't have malabsorbtion issues. I take the pills/supplements I need to and am supposed to and I don't have any problems. I do believe this may be one of my smallest babies yet given the fact I can't eat as much, but I am okay with that. Of course time will tell too. I mean my smallest baby was 7lbs 10oz, and my biggest baby was 10lbs 9oz. The rest were in between averaging about 9lbs.
I don't know what to tell you though, really. That's just beenmy experience so far and I won't know about anything post partum until I get to that point.
My other concern, post partum wise, is being able to eat enough to support breastfeeding, but again I won't know until I get to that point.
LMK if you have any other questions. Good Luck.
It is rather lonely being a VSGer with different or less problems than the other types of WLS.
I was only 6-7mo post-op when I got pregnant accidentally. I was NOT prepared for a pregnancy in the slightest, even though this is my 8th baby (9th pregnancy). Yes we did want one more but I wanted to wait the 1 yr my Dr. recommended, PLUS I wanted to get to my losest weight possible by my 1yr surgiversary too. Obviously didn't happen.
When I found out I was pregnant I immediately called my bariatric doctors and was surprised by their "lack of concern" so to speak. They basically told me that as long as I wasn't vomiting profusely and couldn't keep anything down, then I was fine and to just see an OB.
Well I don'tnormally see an OB during pregnancy until after 12 weeks or so. I waited until nearly 16 weeks and was more concerned about my blood work and how that looked.
Within those 16 weeks I did lose an additional 17lbs, which is normal since I was still in weightloss mode. I am normally anemic too and my blood work showed my iron stores to be low, as I expected. Everything else looked great.
I am still working on getting my iron and iron store up, but for the most part I am doing well, and so is baby.
As I am nearing the end of my pregnancy I have stopped seeing my OB. It's a personal choice, because we typically birth unassisted at home and we normally do unassisted prenatal as well. When my doctor's appointments kept getting screwed up by the office I finally just stopped seeing them. I have a MW back-up for blood work and a JIC scenario, but again things are going as normal as possible.
*MY* main concerns have been the lack of weight gain, even in this last trimester. I added a lot of carbs to my diet to help get my weight up, but it kind of backfired and a couple of weeks ago it triggered Adult Oral Thrush - aka a yeast infection. I've been on acidophilus, Zymex, and a no sugar / white flour diet since then as well as high protein. Because of this change I've lost 5 lbs. Not good when I should be gaining at this point to some extent or another.
My highest weight was 326 last January.
My weight at the time of my BFP preg test was 213.
My lowest weight reached while pregnant was 196.
My highest weight reach since was 207.
My current weight is 202.
I'm nowhere near my "pre-pregnancy" weight and probably shouldn't be since most women lose weight like this if they get pregnant early after WLS. I'm guessing I'll lose and additional 20-30lbs after the baby is born bringing me down to a good 180-170. My goal weight is 150. I would absolutely LOVE to give birth and find out I actually weigh less than my DH for the first time ever since we met. He doesn't like the thought but I sure do! LMAO
Honestly I have no big concerns. I have a fully functioning digestive system. I don't have malabsorbtion issues. I take the pills/supplements I need to and am supposed to and I don't have any problems. I do believe this may be one of my smallest babies yet given the fact I can't eat as much, but I am okay with that. Of course time will tell too. I mean my smallest baby was 7lbs 10oz, and my biggest baby was 10lbs 9oz. The rest were in between averaging about 9lbs.
I don't know what to tell you though, really. That's just beenmy experience so far and I won't know about anything post partum until I get to that point.
My other concern, post partum wise, is being able to eat enough to support breastfeeding, but again I won't know until I get to that point.
LMK if you have any other questions. Good Luck.
Visit us at Motherhood after WLS !
Mom to 8 ~ Adelyn Grace arrived July 8, 2010!
It is SO GOOD to hear that things are going well for you! :) It looks like your due date is right around the corner, very exciting! :D Just want to say THANK YOU so much for sharing your experience up to this point.....I agree VSGers tend to have few to compare with, so I greatly appreciate the information you do have and your generosity in sharing it! Sounds like everything is going great for you, and the VSG has not really created any complications.....blood work was one of the things I had been wondering about. I understand every pregnancy is different even without a WLS, so with the added differences of the VSG there is no way to tell what the many possibilities could be, but in all honesty it provides a decrease in anxiety when I consider those possibilities hearing that SOMEONE has been through it! Good luck with the following week, and I wish you a quick and easy delivery! :)
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