HeatherO

That is good to know and an interesting aricle. Thanks for sharing. I checked to see which foods are high in choline and found the following: A single egg contains about 130 milligrams, 3 ounces of beef contains about 70 milligrams, a cup of cooked broccoli contains about 60 milligrams, and a glass of milk contains about 40 milligrams. I am happy to see choline is in common foods that I happen to ingest regularly.

I am curious, how did the card work out :0)

:tt1::w00t::tt1: EJMDIVA is Preggerrrssss!!!!!! :cursing::w00t::w00t: OMG . . . I have been looking forward to this news for a long time and sending lots of baby dust. Now we can share our pregnancy stories, lol. Congratulations!!!!!!! I just reread the whole thread, which I really enjoyed. It went through both of our decisions to conceive, ups and downs, and finally . . . we got the end results we were both looking for. Hmmmm . . . so lack of stress with trying too hard to conceive and tracking/charting everything, and spontaneous flings with our dh's coupled with perhaps a few too many drinks may have just done the trick, lol. It seems like that has been the way a lot of us finally got our BFP's. :w00t:

I know my calorie levels in general, but I only count them and track when I hit a plateau or gain a little. It gets me back on track. Other than the first month after banding, I have never kept daily track for more than 1 1/2 weeks at the most. The tracking only gives me a quick feel for how I am doing, and if I am overindulging or snacking, I hate tracking that so much that I stop eating it and after about a week I am back in the right "frame of mind." I think most of this weight loss battle, at least for me, is in my mind. For me, I go by feel 90%+ of the time. Restless Monkey, I havent come across your posts for a while because I had been traveling abroad for an extended period and not online so much. You are doing awesome at 40+ pounds down in a few short months. You always give such excellent advice and I have really missed your posts :0)

That seems so crazy that it would repair itself, but thank goodness for no new surgeries. Is there any chance that the doctor may have missed the port on the earlier fill? As long as the fluid is checked each time, it sounds like you should be good. It helps to be back on the losing track once again. Are you feeling any restriction at this fill level?

I happen to be going to a baby shower this Sunday for a friend. I bought several outfits at the 3-6 month range (since 0-3 seems to last for about a day, lol). She did have a baby registry, but I did not check it since I was at a different store and came across a wonderful sale with some really adorable boy outfits (I even had to buy something for my baby eventhough I have no idea of the sex). I understand the point of registries, and yes they do cut down on duplications, returns or getting something that completely does not match anything else which might sit in a closet indefinitely. However, sometimes I wonder if I am a little too old school. There is something about pre-selecting your gifts from other people that feels wrong . . . I don't like buying from registries for anybody that I am really close with. It feels like there is nothing personal about it. Does anyone else feel this way?

The paper is there more to make sure that you understand that it is best to wait for pregnancy after banding. I waited until I got to my pregnancy goal weight of 150, but I did not wait two years. My doctor only said one year and that a healthy pregnancy can be achieved if you are at a more normal weight and are getting appropriate nutrition. The paper can not really hold you to anything, it doesn't have any legal significance. It is not as if the band will self-destruct or that they will remove it. However, I still think it is best to wait if you can so that you can lose the weight and be at your healthiest for pregnancy.

I agree with this 100%. If I feel nauseous but I do everything I can to avoid throwing up . . . I stay uncomfortably nauseous all day. With an open band, if a little has to come back up and it does come up . . . I feel instantly better and stay good for the rest of the day. I still try to avoid it, but sometimes if your stomach needs to expel the contents, it is almost unavoidable and I feel safer with an open band.

I see your port replacement got postponed. What happened? Do you know when you will get it replaced?

I am currently pregnant and had to have a partial unfill. Before the unfill, I was living with some discomfort after eating, as indicated above and occasional acid reflux issues. It was tolerable and I could still eat a healthy diet without pb'ing with normal Proteins and veggies. I lived with the occasional discomfort so that I could get to my goals and stayed in contact with my doctor throughout the entire process. However, since the partial unfill the most amazing thing has happened. I am still drifting closer to my initial goal of normal BMI, currently at 141 - I am only one pound away. Most of the time I am either maintaining my weight or losing at a snails pace. With a little less fill, my acid reflux is gone and I have no discomfort at all when eating. I feel like a normal person again and can even eat limited quantities of bread . . . but I also keep my diet in check by eating healthy foods and maintain my exercise schedule. I was planning on a small unfill once I reached goal, but pregnancy got me an unfill a little quicker than expected. For now, it has been completely worthwhile. I can keep my eating in check without discomfort and I never feel my band unless I am making a poor choice.

I started out at 800-1000 post banding until about 2 months out where I kept plateauing. I then raised it to between 950-1200 and that has kept me losing steadily through most of my weight loss. Whenever I tried to adjust downwards to kickstart my weightloss, I would stall. This has been the best caloric weight loss level for my body/metabolism/fitness level. I am now up to 1200-1800 calories due to being pregnant but am maintaining at that level.

Please let us know how it progresses. I really hope that it can be resolved with antibiotics and not losing the band.

Mine is in the same exact spot but maybe only 3 inches under the rib cage (but I am also short at 5'3 so I may have less torso to work with). It is really kind of evenly in between my waist and ribs. This has been the perfect locaton for me. It is above the waist so no pants problems and well below the bra line & ribs so no discomfort there. I have also lost my weight and it is not protruding at all.

You understood me just fine, I was wrong :0). My post wasn't correct for the initial question (I misread it as a pb post without seeing the he no liquids going down since I was looking at multiple posts simultaneously). My real initial response (if I had read the initial post correctly) would have been - no liquids down at any time is a serious problem, you need an unfill no matter what, call your doctor immediately. Inability to get liquids down is nothing to play with and you shouldnt expect it to get better over time. I would like to claim multi-tasking errors in judgement, attention deficit disorder, or maybe even temporary lack of sanity on my initial post. :0)

Mindy, you are right. I was responding more to the pb'ing begetting more pb'ing - but wasn't taking it to the level of inability to get liquids down. If liquids don't go down at all, it is more of an emergency situation and an unfill is needed right away.

I just got 87, lol. Talk about timing . . . I finally just got annoyed enough to report it.

I havent gotten any either . . . email that is, lol. I checked my settings and everything looks great. I checked my junk folders and they are all clear.

I was just coming in to post this same question. The system "forgot" my username and password a couple of days ago, I had to remember what it was since my login is typically automatic. I am pretty sure that after that point I stopped receiving all email notifications. My junk folder does not have anything from this site. I also checked my email settings under user cp and it does send instant notification. Everything looks great but my inbox is empty.

You have to find a way to make time for exercise. The biggest thing that is hard for us is that exercise needs to be a priority . . . but sometimes we put personal time last when we have family, work, school, etc. I have a full-time plus job, am a graduate student working on my masters and have a child at home and one on the way . . . exercise is my priority even with all that. Once you make it a habit it gets easier, and after time you find that you need & want it to relieve stress. It becomes important to you. Until I found restriction, I was losing the weight so slow, it wasn't even funny. If you can still eat everything, the band is not doing enough to help you and you need more of a fill. I lost almost all of my weight after my second fill and am 1 pound away from 100% weight loss and a normal BMI . . . but it did take most of a year to get there. Getting another fill, getting the exercise in if at all possible and charting your dietary intake should make sure you are on track to continue losing. Also, if you consider that we are supposed to be losing 1-2 pounds a week, 23 pounds is not bad for being banded at the end of August . . . you are on track so don't be so hard on yourself. Your average over 13 weeks banded is 1.77 pounds, my average over 44 weeks is 1.91 - that is pretty small rate difference (and exercise might be the only difference between us, and I didn't start exercising until 3+ months out). So give it a little time, keep doing in the right things, keep your chin up . . . and just think of what you will be wearing by next summer, lol.

I had good restriction the first week, second week was moderate and it kept diminishing until the first fill after that point. The first fill barely gave me any restriction at all at 8 weeks out. The second fill was my sweet spot with perfect restriction and I lost the majority of my weight on my second fill. I have lost close to 100% of my excess weight in less than a year and am within 1 pound of goal. I am sure quick restriction with the second fill had everything to do with getting to goal so quickly.

I was told that I might have a little seepage in that area which is the biggest incision. I did have a little but it was not big deal and there was no redness or extra pain. Just make sure to keep your doctor in the loop so if there is concern, it can be checked out.

I had the same after a day or two . . . and I generally felt exhausted. However, within a week I was feeling pretty normal again with just a little soreness. It passes quickly . . . just make sure you get as much rest as you can, get in as much fluids and proteins as you can and take it easy.

Other than warm or cold fluids, there is not much you can really do about it other than give it time. It should be fine in a couple of days.

I guess my first question would be, why do you need it off so quickly? You have only been banded for a few days. If you take it off too quickly, your incisions won't heal as well and will look worse once you do lose your weight. Everything comes off with time since you shed skin cells. I would let it go for a while.

I stopped really trying to diet in that I don't want to stay hungry. If I am hungry, I eat. I have now moved from about 3 meals a day to about 5 on average although they are still small, but I am still making sure that I am eating the good healthy stuff and avoiding the unhealthy stuff 95% of the time (of course this does not include my first week back in the US after Halloween, I am blocking that whole week from my memory . . . it didn't happen, it didn't happen, lol). However, if I had a cheesecake in my house (perhaps pumpkin or lemon or maybe even a mocha swirl) . . . there is no telling how much I would eat of it over the course of a week . . . maybe the whole darn thing. I am trying, trying, trying not to bring that stuff in the house, lol. My intake is definitely up, but I am down to 141 as of this morning which is quite a shock. I began this pregnancy somewhere around 155. I can't understand how I can go from a really restrictive diet with tons of exercise to a loose diet with extra calories . . . and 5 days a week of exercise to maybe 2 1/2 days (since I decided to take naps instead on the other days, lol) and still continue to lose weight. I feel like I have just been lucky for now . . . my metabolism must be really cranking since there is no other explanation for it. I am just hoping it doesn't all catch up with me at once during the last trimester.