TTC #3 18 Most Post Bypass - Lots of questions

Hello All,

I have a few questions that I'm hoping have been asked a million times, I just can't find the threads.  I am 37 (will be 38 in November) and we have just started trying to conceive #3.  I had Byass April, 2012.  My highest weight was the day I gave birth to my daughter and was 311 and am now a pretty steady 155.  With my first pregnancy 10 years ago, I had gestational diabetes and was on small amounts of insulin daily.  With my daughter 6.5 years ago, I had gestational diabetes, was heavily insulin dependent, developed preeclampsia 2 months before c-section and completely lost my hearing for 3 months due to the condition.  After her birth, I remained a diabetic and was on metformin. 

Since surgery, I am no longer a diabetic, am active, eat a very healthy veggie/fruit heavy diet with about 50-70g of protein daily.  I am still considered overweight (if I could just drop those last 5 pounds!) so do not intend to gain more than 15-20 pounds once pregnant and not increase my calorie intake by more than the recommended 350-400 calories per day.  I am not an obsessive calorie tracker but take in between 1200-1500 calories per day on average and drink between 65-90oz of water each day.  I plan to breastfeed for at least the first 6 months exclusively if my body agrees and produces enough milk.  I do at times have anemia and have been hospitalized twice since surgery for septic shock due to kidney stones while becoming dehydrated. 

Can I assume my gestational diabetes will come back?

What about the preeclampsia?

Will I need to double the prenatal vitamins to compensate for the absorption issues? 

Any other issues I should be aware of?

The c-section is fine with me as I prefer the section to vaginal delivery.

Thanks for any advice!

Laura

Can I assume my gestational diabetes will come back?

I would be proactive with your doctor, be tested more than once and sooner than later, but I would not automatically ASSUME that you'll have GD this time around. I was borderline diabetic with my first pregnancy pre-surgery and had no sign of GD with my second pregnancy post-surgery.

What about the preeclampsia?

Weight can be a huge factor in the development of preeclampsia, so I wouldn't automatically assume you're doomed to repeat this, either. You're a lot healthier now, mama! :)

Will I need to double the prenatal vitamins to compensate for the absorption issues? 

Talk to your doctor about this, but I do not double my prenatals. I continue to follow my normal RNY vitamin regiment and add one prenatal a day on top of that.

Any other issues I should be aware of?

Don't diet to keep from gaining outside of your ideal number. Going over a little isn't going to hurt you and you can focus on getting it back off after you've delivered a healthy baby. With our absorption issues, it's really easy to fall at a nutritional disadvantage because you also have baby sucking everything he/she needs out of your stores.

Thanks so much!  How much weight did you gain during your pregnancy?  I'm not overly concerned and will continue to eat a good diet but just wondering if it was mentally hard to see yourself gain weight during the pregnancy?

I was still quite overweight when I got pregnant with my first post op baby and just 5 months post op, so ended up losing 35lb in the first half of the pregnancy and only gained 10lb of that back in the last half. So I was down 25 pounds when I delivered him from pre-pregnancy weight.

This time I was 225lb pre pregnancy and currently 213. I lost down to 204 before I started gaining any back. Who knows if I'll reach pre preggo weight or not, but I doubt I'll surpass it - and if I do it certainly won't be by much.

With that said, even though I WANTED to gain weight so that my mind would be at ease that baby was/is growing well, it was hard to see that number start going up even after I lost initially. It doesn't bother some women, but if it ends up bothering you, stay off the scale. ;)