Question:
Babies after surgery, how did it affect your weight loss?

My wife is thinking of having the surgery, and we would like to have children someday. We are debating whether to have the baby pre or post op. She is concerned about what a pregnacy might do to her weight loss if the baby comes after the surg. But she would really like to lose weight and feel good about herself before jumping into parenthood. Any thoughts?    — Bud H. (posted on March 31, 2001)

March 31, 2001
I HAD THE VBG DONE IN 1995 LOST AROUND 140 LBS, HAD MY FIRST CHILD FEB 97, GAINED 90 LBS BACK, SECOND OCT 98, GAINED ANOTHER 50. THIS IS MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, I AM NOW PLANNING A REVISION TO A RNY, I DIDN'T GET THE RNY IN 95 BECAUSE I WAS AFFRAID THAT IT WOULD HARM MY CHILD, I'M NOT REALLY SURE THIS IS TRUE THOUGH, I SUPPOSE IT DEPENDS ON HOW MUCH INTESTINE THEY BYPASS. HOWEVER, I STILL DON'T REGRET HAVING PREVIOUS SURGERY, I CAN IMAGINE HOW HEAVY I WOULD BE NOW IF I HADN'T DONE IT. AS I SAID BEFORE THIS WAS MY EXPERIENCE, I'M SURE THERE HAVE BEEN MANY OTHERS, THAT DIDN'T GAIN THERE WEIGHT BACK, BEST OF LUCK.
   — Lisa B.

April 3, 2001
Hi i had my surgery about 5 months ago..i had the lap rny..and ive lost 120lbs so far..im also looking into having another baby..my dr says everything will be safe when i am about 18 months post op..you have to lose all of your weight and be at a stable weight for awhile but it is possible..as far as waiting for the baby or having it pre op..your wife needs to decide whether it will be physically comfortable for her to carry a pregnancy now at her current weight..for me at 374lbs..this was not an option..i had my first child at a starting weight of 295..went up to 360 during the 9 months..and was in a huge amount of back pain and walking was difficult..so i knew when i went up to 374 it wouldve been impossible and very unsafe for me. i suggest waiting..my reason being as i stated b4..its unsafe to be morbidly obese and carry a pregnancy there are more risks..and why deal with the pain you have to endure? obviously this is not true for everyone..just my own experience..
   — Jaime B.

April 3, 2001
My suggestion would be to have the surgery, lose the weight, and then pursue parenthood. I know from experience that it is very hard to have a pregnancy when you're morbidly obese. I got pregnant the first time at 247lbs and weighed 270 when I delivered. I was 21 and pretty active so I had an easy time and fairly easy labor. For my second pregnancy I was 289lbs and gained to 300 (over nine pounds of that was my daughter herself). Although I only gained 11lbs during that pregnancy I was miserable and plagued with problems. I was borderline diabetic, had horrible horrible swelling of the feet, my blood pressure was so out of control that at the end they had me taking 8 blood pressure pills a day and it still was out of control. They ended up inducing my labor because I was in such bad shape. Thank God everything turned out ok but my doctor took my ex aside and told him he doubted that he realized just how LUCKY we were. He then told me to never do this again so I had my tubes tied. Aside from the misery I had with preg. #2 I wish I would have been at a normal weight when I had my kids because morbidly obese I didn't have the energy to keep up with them and do all of the things I would have like to have done with them. My ex sister-in-law had RNY, 10 months later she got pregnant (they had thought she was infertile but it was weight related). She had a healthy pregnancy and is now enjoying her son at a normal weight. I envy her. For best results you are told to wait at least 12-18 months before getting pregnant and once you are pregnant to get a high-risk OB who is familiar with the nutritional issues. Protein will be even more critical pregnant than just post-op (and its critical post-op) so my ex sister in law had to drink more protein shakes. It can be done. I'll repeat, my advice would be to wait. Hope this helps.
   — Kellye C.

April 3, 2001
Hi! I had two kids while morbidly obese (at about 270-280 and 5'9"). I didn't experience any problems with pregnancy, labor or delivery. My back actually felt BETTER while I was prego (I have siatica in my lower back) LOL -- So, go figure! :) I had both my children in my 30's, too (one at age 30 and the other at age 32). I think it really depends what shape your girlfriend is in -- I walked quite a bit as a pre-op and didn't have any co-morbidities (other than a small hiatus hernia that was discovered during pre-op endoscopy, joint/back pains due to my going up to 320 AFTER the delivery!). I know that my 'relative fitness' helped in the pregnancy and delivery. I didn't have to deal with high blood pressure, diabetes (although this can develop during pregnancy and those who are obese have higher risk for this), etc. If your girlfriend currently has weight-related problems, they may only get worse with the pregnancy. All this being said, it is TRUE that those who are obese (and morbidly obese) have lower/unpredictable fertility (it may be quite difficult to get pregnant in the first place) and place quite a bit of strain on their bodies (not only the extra weight - which isn't so bad because we can actually not gain as much as a person of normal weight and the baby will be totally healthy but also the strain of nuturing another person first and then one's body taking care of itself as second choice!). It is possible to become pregnant 12-18 months post-op (the later out the better, I bet) and have a healthy pregnancy. If your girlfriend does become pregnant beforehand, she will also have to wait for her body to recover from the pregnancy before undergoing surgery (this IS MAJOR surgery afterall). I would think she'd have to wait at least a year after the birth to really be at a point (mentally and physically) where her body and mind were up to it. AND, she'll have the stresses of a young child (age 1-3) to deal with immediately post-op.... that alone would be enough to have me seriously consider having the surgery first. :) It would be especially problematic if she encountered any kind of difficulties with the surgery and was separated from the youngster for an extended period of time. It's hard enough trying to adjust to life as a parent -- All the best, ([email protected]),
   — Teresa N.