Why do we have to wait....

a year or more after having WLS to get pregnant?  I am almost 5 months out and have lost about 75 lbs.  I have not had any blood work done since before surgery but my blood pressure is normal again.  One of the main reasons (behind getting healthy odviously) was to get pregnant.  I have an almost 2.5 year old and REALLY want another baby and soon before there is a big gap.  Oh yeah I have lap band so I am not lossing TONS of weight like people do with bypass.  The 75 lbs is total from my highest known weight (Dec 2009). 

You're still obese, even with the weight loss.Obesity can cause complications during pregnancy. Don't you want to give your body and your baby the best chance at being healthy? 
Doctors have people wait 18-24 months before trying to have a baby so that you can hopefully reach your goal weight and give your body a chance to adjust to the WLS.

Sure women do get pregnant  and have healthy babies before the reccomended time. I ended up getting pregnant at 9 months post op despite having an IUD in place, I had lost 130lbs in 9 months with VSG, going from 330 to 200- totally not planning to have another baby. 

Follow your doctor's advice. Wait. If you got pregnant now, more than likely you'd gain back a big part of the weight you've already lost, many Band people have fluid removed from their band to prevent complications and gain lots of weight as a result.

Well yeah that makes sense but my thought also is why would I work soooo hard to get to my goal weight and then get pregnant and gain like 25-30 lbs back during pregnancy!?  I know that it would mostly be lost after having the baby but still! I am not saying we are trying but I just really wanna start trying in a few months.  With my son I only gained like 10 lbs at the beginning I was lossing weight with him (not because of morning sickness or anything). 

Talk to your surgeon, sometimes they clear people earlier than a year. But I will tell you with lap band, sometimes people find regain worse and harder to loose. You want to have the healthiest pregnancy possible and being at a healthier weight will help ALOT. I would recommend waiting until you're atleast under 200 pounds (I looked at your ticker) and then talk to your doctor about starting.

Just try to remember, and we all know the wait is hard, that your (future) baby depends on you to make the best decisions for them as possible. Part of being a mom is not doing what you want, but what is best for your children. Start practicing self denile now. :) 

If you work hard to reach your goal, you most likely won't gain 25-30 lbs during a pregnancy. Some ladies here gain none, some 10 lbs or so. You are in control of what you what you eat, even more so that you can get fills/unfills.
The reason they tell you to wait and avoid pregnancy during weight loss, is because all the WL puts strain on your liver, which can affect other organs. Also, the WLS docs usually encourage a high protien/low carb diet during WL, but this is not healthy for a baby. Ketosis can cause problems with a fetus and is detrimental to their brain growth. But once you start adding carbs to your diet, your WL will slow down. Think of the next 5 months or so as preparing your body to best nurture a baby to your abilities. Take extra folic acid and be diligent about vitamin and calcium intake. Ultimately, it is up to you.
P.S, a 3yr gap between kids is not a big deal. I have a 12 year old and am trying to get preggo again soon. Imagine having a teenager and an infant!

Don't worry about the gap.  I have a 12 yr old a 5 yr old and am 14 weeks pregnant now.  NOT planned.  I am 2 1/2 yr out and had not planned on having anymore.  Despite having an IUD in the correct place I got pregnant.  Wait some time.  Allow your body to adjust, allow your eating habits to be concretely formed before you throw a wrench in things.  It's SO easy to go back to old habits when you get cravings and have them go over board. 

Thanks for all the replies, I am due for my yearly exam in Dec and will also see my surgeon again around there (6 months out) and I will talk to both about everything.  I am not planning on getting pregnant like tomorow but I was hoping I could start trying around 9 or 10 months out instead of waiting to TRY at a year.  I know the gap will not be too bad (my son will just turn 3 like 2 weeks before my one year out) but I was really hoping to have them a bit closer.  I know a lot will be up in the air anyways! I appreciate everyone's responses and I just hope the next few months FLY by, I want to get pregnant again soooo bad! he he

This is my first pregnancy, so I have nothing to compare to... but I will say, I am REALLY happy that I lost 100+ pounds before getting pregnant. All of my comorbidities are gone, my blood pressure is normal, my type 2 diabetes is gone, my sleep apnea is gone... I felt like absolute crap when I had all those problems without being pregnant!

How much fill do you have in your band? I had 8cc's in my 10cc band but I had half of it taken out. As the baby grew, I was getting some shoulder pain which indicated that things were getting a little snug in there. It took me about a year to really get a grip on my diet and learn how to eat healthy and get off my duff.

Getting pregnant was the #1 reason I wanted to have WLS. So it was hard to wait... but for other reasons such as finances, we waited anyway. Now, I'm REALLY happy that I did, because I feel awesome and I can enjoy being pregnant without carrying extra weight on my frame and stressing out about weight-related complications like pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes.

I have only had one fill since my surgery (at surgery I was given I believe 4 in a 10 cc band) I have 5.5 right now.  It seems to be a good spot for me but MIGHT get another small fill soon.  I am already down like 50 lbs since my weight of my first pregnancy.  I hope to loss another 30-40 lbs and then get pregnant.  I had a decent pregnancy with my son, I felt good 95% of the time.  I did have some problems, they thought he had down syndrome from that blood test then they found he was not growing and ended up being delievered at 30 weeks.  So yes that sucked big time but they never said it was because of my weight it is just something that happens sometimes.

I am right there with you with wanting to get pregnant so bad and having to wait! I was very obese but educated myself on the risks and had my OBGYN's blessing to TTC anyway. I had pretty much decided I was going to be fat all my life, and didn't want to miss out on having children. I became very pro fat women having babies. And I still am. Unfortunately I have PCOS and was completely infertile at my weight. I appealed my insurance for 9 months and was finally able to have a revision. My biggest motivation is so that I can have kids. I want to be healthy for myself too, but my longing for children was greater.

I just had a revision from band to sleeve and am "patiently" waiting for my year to be up. I am not even 2 weeks out from surgery yet! LOL. I like to think about working really hard and losing the bulk of my weight in the first 6 months, and then getting my doctor's blessing to start TTC before a whole year. I don't know if that will happen, but it gives me some added motiavation to really try hard to work my sleeve in the begining.

Something that bothers me is that if someone lost 50 pounds through old fashioned diet and exercise, but were still overweight, they would be congratulated and praised about how much they decreased their chances of complications during pregnancy etc. Once you have had WLS, it seems you are held to a much higher standard and people expect you to lose all of your excess weight. Like people forget that even losing 10% of your weight has great benefits. I understand the risks associated with malabsorptive surgeries, but not so much with the restrictive only ones. It is true you could gain your weight back and have a harder time making goal. But, if the band is working for you now, it should also work for you after you have a baby. You can re-adjust it and get back on track. I am not a medical professional, but I say if you want to TTC at 9 months even if you are still over 200 pounds, it seems reasonble to me. I know this is not the popular vote, but I am just being honest.

-Nikki