2yrs post-op and 6 weeks post partum

Gina, our 3y/o daughter Sophie ha**** her stride as well and there are days i would like to send her back too, but I can tell you that is not happening! Actually, she is not bad, but she does have her moments, she can be stubborn and bossy....I have no idea where she gets that from, must be her father... I am not nursing, my body did not cooperate...everyone seems to have a different opinion on it, some say it will help you lose the pregnancy weight while others say it will cause you not to lose or even gain. I have no idea who to believe. I just went to the doctor on Friday, they thought I might have DVT (blood clots) since my legs were still so swollen. No clots so they want me to take a diuretic to get rid of the excess fluid. So I'll be interested to see what that does in terms of the swelling and the weight. After hearing the stories of some other women, I feel like a jerk being worried about 25lbs. Of course truth be known I would like to lose 45lbs to get down to 200lbs even, but I was happy and satisfied at 220. I'll have to see how I feel once I start losing again. Thanks for all you support. Christine

Christine - I could have written your posts!  I am 9 weeks post partum and I gained about 30 lbs with the pregnancy.  I lost 10 within the first week, but have gained 5 of those back since!  Like you, I fell into grazing and eating larger portions than I was comfortable with.  I was really scaring myself thinking how easy it really would be to keep gaining if I didn't do something.  I actually had to go out and buy some larger size clothes so I could stop wearing maternity clothes - by 9 weeks I felt ridiculous still wearing maternity, but nothing pre-pregnancy fit me!  Disgusting.... I have really been watching my calories and exercising almost everydayfor the past week, but I still felt hungry ALL the time and was just eating TOO much.  Smaller portions, but eating juat about every hour!  Then I really took a step back and looked at what I was doing - drinking while I was eating and not getting in nearly enough portien (I am the Carb Queen).  So......Just yesterday I went to my local GNC and bought some protein drinks (YUCK) and some unflavored protein powder.  Last night I broiled some fish, skipped the carbs I had made for the rest of the family and did not drink anything with my meal.  I could not belive that 3+ hours later I still felt full.  I am usually hungry within one hour.  I also drank my first protein shake in well over a year.  It was hard to get down, but it kept me from snacking.  I noticed that I could not finish my dinner last night (or my bowl of oatmeal with protein powder mixed in this morning) where as I could have easily finished those amounts of food a week ago.  I think by forcing myself to eat smaller portions lately, and filling up on the protein....my pouch is shrinking.  Like a pp mentioned, I don't know if that is possible, but that is what I think.  LOL I got on the scale this morning and I have lost 3 pounds in just about 5 days.  I hate to say it, but go back to post-op and do what worked then.  I hated having to go get all that protein stuff yesterday, but I will NOT gain any more weight!!!  I am actually really looking forward to watching the scale go down.  I want to lose about 20 pounds, maybe 25.  If you want to email me, we can help each other with the food as well as the babies!  LOL  What did you have, boy or girl?  I had a girl - 7 lb 12 oz  22" long - her name is Jaclyn and she is our third child  (and LAST)  Congratulations on the baby and good luck with the weight.

Jenn, Congratulations on the birth of your daughter! We had another girl, Abigail Mary on 7/3/07. She weighed in at 7lbs 9oz. We are overjoyed! We had difficulty getting pregnant with our first and were not sure we would be able to get pregnant a second time. We were so happy when we found out that we were and we did it on our own. I weighed in at 372lbs when I was pregnant with our first, so the whole reason I had wls was so we could get pregnant again. With that said, I am so worried about this 25lbs. I am a scale junkie...I know I shouldn't get on the scale daily, but I do. There came a point in the pregnancy when I stopped because I was so upset by how much weight I was gaining. I only gained 23lbs with my first, so when I hit 35lbs this time I freaked out. And it just kept coming until I hit 45lbs. The OB/Gyn kept telling me I was fine, but all I could hear in my head was the wls surgeon telling me "the key is not to gain too much weight during pregnancy" but he never said how much was too much so I started to panic when I passed 25lbs. I know I can't go back to protein shakes, so I am really going to have to stick closely to an appropriate eating plan. I understand totally what you are saying about the carbs.... I am an addict (especially sugar). It is the one thing the surgery did not "fix" that I wi**** had....I don't even dump, which really sucks. God help me though if I eat something too high in fat or too greasy. I get sick as a dog. The one rule I do keep is not drinking with meals, but sometimes I don't think I wait long enough after eating to drink. The other think that worries me is the amount of food I can eat. I wish I knew how much was appropriate! Thanks for sharing your experiences. I can appreciate what you are going through and it makes a difference to know that others share the same struggle. Thanks ~ Christine