Pregnancy after different types of WLS

 Hi Everyone!

I'm new to this whole process, still waiting to get my surgery date since I FINALLY found an insurance co who covers WLS!!

ANYWHO. Besides getting myself to a healthy weight, and avoiding all the comorbidities I'm sure are coming my way, I'm really hoping that WLS will help my severe PCOS and help my DH and I get preggers after 7 years of marriage. 

My question to all of you is which surgery (RnY, DS, Sleeve, Band) is the best (IYHO obviously) for getting pregnany with? Which is the easiest to live with during the pregnancy, which is the hardest to keep yourself nurished with..Does the surgery you have make a difference during delivery or for breastfeeding??

I'm trying to make the most informed decision I can....any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Torrie

Not sure there is a "best" WLS proceedure. You can have a healthy pregnancy with just about any form of WLS, it just depends on how vigilant you want to be with your labs and such. I only needed to take a regular prenatal with DHA to keep my levels perfect throughout pregnancy, I'm sure some RNY and DS mamas can chime in, but their vitamin regiment usually involves a lot more pills and testing. It also seems a lot of RNY mamas lately have delivered tiny babies (under 7 lbs), not sure if that's WLS related. And from my reading of posts here, some RNY mamas seem to gain a LOT of weight and have trouble loosing it post-baby. 


Some OBs automatically slap a "high-risk" label on any WLS mama who's had a malabsorption proceedure (DS and RNY). Some OBs insist Band mamas get "deflated" during pregnancy- resulting in lots of weight gain. It's really important to have a knowlegable OB or MW so you can have the best possible outcome.

Personally I chose the VSG and even though DH and I were not planning to have another kid, my IUD failed and I got pregnant 9 mo post op. My pregnancy was a breeze. I went into labor and delivered my 8 1/2 lb son on his delivery date and now 3 months later, he's a chunky 17 lbs and exclusively breastfed.
In total I gained ~18 lbs and was back to my pre-pregnancy weight within a week. Currently I'm just trying to maintain my weight while I'm breastfeeding to make sure my son gets the healthiest start possible.

Good luck! 

I didn't have RNY or DS so I can't chime in there about how it works with their surgery and pregnancy. I have a Band.

My pregnancy as far as eating/weight gain was pretty easy. I stayed inflated until the last few weeks. I only got unfilled because I had to have a medical procedure. I would have stayed filled until the week before my due date otherwise. I was going to get unfilled then simply because if you are having any type of surgery it is safer to get unfilled. I wasn't sure if I was going to end up having a csection or not. I did have to eat more often and increase my calories throughout the pregnancy.

I gained 40lbs during the pregnancy and I am getting gradual fills to get back to my prebaby weight. I know what I need to do to get back there. I think the hardest part for me was changing my eating to benefit the baby which is counter from WLS eating. Now that I am no longer pregnant I am havng to go back to WLS eating. (No snacks, lower carbs, less calories, etc). To me I think its more of a mind thing than a functional issue.

I don't think that my Band effected my delivery. I have to make sure I'm getting in enough calories for breastfeeding, but its not as difficult for b/f as it was for pregnancy.

Good luck!!!

According to your profile, your BMI is around 47.  Look into the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy if you do not malabsorbancy.  They are a great group here and it looks like we are the fastest growing group.  There are a few preggos there and here and many who have had babies.

With any of the WLS, you can have a healthy and successful pregnancy.  It is all about how you care for yourself with your surgery.  Research and always do the right thing.

I would advise against the band wholeheartedly.

All the best to you. 

Leila

 I asked my surgeon this question, since he does all four and isn't biased, and he said any of them will help with the PCOS and none of them are better than others for pregnancy.  So once he told me that, I had to really look at my options because originally that was going to be my deciding factor.  For my surgery, personally, I'm concerned with not gaining any weight.  It's not uncommon with some posts I've seen from RNYers but I worry about it.  The baby is measuring just fine as of my last u/s a couple weeks ago but still, I worry.  I did have to back off some of the supplements I was taking.  You really need to research your choices, and make the right one for your lifestyle.  I chose the DS for many many reasons.

Like the last poster stated, all the weight loss surgeries should help with PCOS.  Study all the surgeries and decide what one is best for you!  I had RNY over 7 years ago and have had great success!  My last pregnancy (post-op RNY) was normal and easy like my 2 other pregnancies prior to weight loss.  My baby was born 9 days early and weighed 8lbs 5.5oz.  I gained around 35lbs and had lost all but 8lbs at my 6 week check-up.  I'm now pregnant with my 2nd baby post-op and have run into a couple of issues but nothing to do with the RNY!  I don't agree with a previous poster that mentioned low birth weights and big weight gains with RNY patients.  Each person is different and deals with different issues!  The low birth weights and weight gains have NOTHING to do with RNY!  You will find these issues with people that have and have not had any type of weight loss!  Yes, with RNY you need to watch your vitamin levels and may need to add additional supplements, but other than that, your pregnancy should be like any other person!  Again, study all the different weight loss surgeries and then decide what is best for you!  I'm not educated on any of the other surgeries, so I could't tell you which one is the best or would work best for you! Best of luck on your decision and when the time comes for you to get pregnant!

Kerri

I think you really need to make that decision for yourself.  That being said RNY has malabsorption which is easily managed through increased vitamin/supplements and monthly checks (blood draws to check all vite levels.)  DS has significant malabsorption (typically more than RNY) but can also be managed through increased vite/supps and monthly vite checks.  Lapband and VSG both do not have malabsorbption, but I have heard lapband mommas get extremely uncomfortable with their bands for the last few months of their pregnancy (even after getting their bands unfilled.) 

Given that your BMI is about 47, you could medically have any of these 4 procedures.  Given that you know you want to get pg after your WLS, I personally wouldn't recommend the DS since it has the most extreme malabsorbption.  I personally also would not recommend the lapband if you have more than 100 lbs of excess weight to lose.  Lapbanders typically lose weight slower than RNY/VSG/DS patients and as a WLS support group leader, I've seen many banders get frustrated and can "eat around" their band (ie: stop getting fills, etc.) 

As someone who knew I wanted to get pg after my WLS, I narrowed it down to either the VSG or the RNY.  My surgeon suggested the RNY would be better for me given my medical history (strong family history of diabetes.)

I hope that helps and good luck to you with your WLS and a couple yrs down the road (wait at least 18 mos before TTC) your future pregnancy.

 Just a quick note about what you said, I had to decrease my vites based on lab results, and I only needed a baseline vite check and then a midway check, not monthly.  :)  

Glad to hear that your vites were good (didn't need to increase.)  And yes, every body is different and what I mentioned above is a generalization.  Each person, each surgeon, each procedure is different.

I had RNY and I had PCOS.....My hubby and I tried for six years after we had our son whos almost nine and nothing happen....BIG OLD FAT NOTHING.....Two years ago January I had my surgery.I waited 19 months and in June 2010 the dr gave us an ok in July we started trying and in November I was pregos with twins so only took us four months.
I think no matter what surgery you have you will want the dr to keep an eye on things.