Question:
Any Advice On Post Op Pregnancy?

Hi, I have a client whose daughter is 15 months post-op and just found out she was pregnant. I said I would try to find out some info. for her. She said her daughter doesn't drink protein shakes or take her vitamins, she even drinks regular soda. She's only a few weeks pregnant and has already gained 10 pounds back. How much is the normal weight gain for a post-op and how hard is it to lose after the baby comes? I'm over 2 years post-op and have already had my kids many years ago, so I can't give her any advice. Any words of advice that I could pass on to her would be greatly appreciated. THANKS, Kelly*    — Kelly* P. (posted on April 6, 2005)

April 6, 2005
Her daughter is not gaining from the baby. Her daughter is not following propoer nutrition. She needs to see a nutritionist about supplements and nutrition. She should be on prenatal vites, calcium citrate, ferrous fumerate and b-12. Supplements are very important due to the malabsorption of these from foods. (I am assuming she had an rny. I had a post op baby (who will by 9 this year) I regain easily and did gain 40 lbs but lost half of it by my 6 week post natal visit. It is easy to regain wt with any surgery especially 12+ months post op. For a healthy baby she needs to take care of her nutrition and herself. She should tell her ob about the surgery and her surgeon should know too. Rita in Vermont Open proximal rny 3/31/94
   — vt_rita

April 7, 2005
I am 26 months post-op and now 7.5 months pregnant with my second child. I have gained the normal 20 pounds so far and not much more. I have changed my life so much from this surgery that I believe I still eat the right way. It is vital that her baby get all the protein it needs. She should be consuming atleast 90-100 grams a day. If she has been following her diet over the last 15 months it should'nt be a big change. If she continues on this path she will regain all of her weight and probably more. I still get cravings and eat chocolate and fried foods, but they can make me real sick, its not fun being sick muchless when your pregnant. Up until a month ago I swam laps (4) at my local gym and it helped. Its hard to see the scale move up when your use to it moving down. After losing 180 pounds and being 143pounds seeing 160 and knowing you have a month to go and another 10 or so pounds to come made me realize that all the weight I gain needs to be healthy pounds for my baby, 10 pounds gain in one month for her sounds scary for me..I would hate to see her ruin all her hard work just because she thinks shes feeding her baby. Good luck...
   — karlahill

April 7, 2005
Hi Kelly. I'm about 4 yrs post RNY and am 7 months pregnant with my first baby. I have gained about 14 lbs total so far. I am not the star of good nutrition, but I do take a pre-natal, along with an extra 1000 mg calcium citrate. I have a hard time with protein, so for the pregnancy I've begun to drink protein shakes a few times a day again (actually slim fast optima with 50% less sugar)...there are probably better choices, but it's convenient and tasty and seems to be working for me. I could probably live on those shakes, peanut butter crackers, bananas and orange juice at this point. Like a previous poster said, it's not easy seeing the scale move up...but it is important to gain the correct amt. of weight for a healthy baby (too much is not too good either). I wish your friends daughter well...I hope she is getting good pre-natal care and can maybe be persuaded to follow a better eating plan.
   — KimBo36