Hello everyone,

I am pre op however I am excited to hear about the increased fertility that comes with being sleeved! My Husband wantes to use Condoms for the first several months before I am Cleared by my Physican to begin trying to have a baby. Note that this will be our first child, I have been on birth control for over 10 years and this is thee first time I will be going without BC. To add to that My Hubby who is Military will be returning around the time I will be having surgery which is SCARY! For the first time in my life I am excited about the possibility of having a baby~ I am 29 years young and have been married for nearly 6 years~Birth control has also resulted in me gaining extra weight or other complication~~~~I know he wants to use condoms and not traditional birth controls but I don't wanna get preggos too soon and have complications~

What has been YOUR experience with Pregnancy Post op?

When did you begin trying?

How long after Surgery did you get pregnant?

Thanks in advance~

T~ :wub:

What a wunderful new period in your life! My surgeons practice actually asks all female patients to use 2 types of birth control during the first 18-24 months post surgery. There are a number of reasons why, even with a sleeve, there is malnutrition that you suffer when losing the weight, the high amount of Protein is very hard on your kidneys and anemia is common as are vit B, A, D and Calcium deficiencies. hair loss is a big complaint due to the shock to the system and malnutrtion. When you become pregnant the fetus requires nutrition that you're body may not be able to provide without detriment to you or the baby. What leads to infertility for so many women is the excess estrogen stored in all the extra fat we carry, therefore, drop the fat and boom fertility increases!

I can tell you about my closest friend who suffered from PCOS and was unable to get pregnant until she had Gastric Bypass. She had open surgery nearly 10 years ago and lost a good 50 lbs when she began actively trying to get pregnant (against medical advice). She was blessed with a healthy bohy and relatively few complications despite being 12 months out from surgery when she delivered! Since then she has had 2 other sons but has gained some weight back and recently lost a pregnancy. The surgery was a success for her and she was able to get pregnant right away, she would tell you she doesn't regret any of it!

I'm so happy for you and your husband, I pray your surgery is also a success and that many babies are in your future! Please keep us posted on your journey! :-)

Are you having your surgery @ an MTF ? Our MTF (SAMMC)requires 2 forms of BC and they ask u to wait 18-24 months. They still want me to use BC and my husband had a vasectomy... I am not sure what they are trying to imply lol

I asked my surgeon this very question and he mentioned at LEAST one year out... You have you give your body time to fully recover and I am sure that you want to be able to eat a normal healthy diet and be at a healthy weight before conceiving.. I will be 38 in September and I don't have any children either. I actually went back on the pill 2 months after surgery because I wanted to make sure I didn't get pregnant during my "slimming down" stage. I have a wonderful man in my life and am looking forward to trying maybe sometime next year.... after I get married... of course..... LOL

Best of Luck!

Thanks for your responses~ Kalimomof3 I am getting it done on a Military Hospital~ MAMC near Tacoma, WA....If they do make me use two types of birth control that's fine too~ I just want to be healthy~

T~

Ok... Not reading everyone's posts because this is a hard subject for me. I WISH at 32 when I went to the first doctor they had told me more then lose 20 lbs and you'll get pregnant. Fast forward to age 41 and I am getting a hysterectomy the same time as my VSG. Moral of the story is: Take the year to lose the weight, learn to eat right, and when your weight is stable GO FOR IT BABY!!!!! I unfortunately waited to long, but you have time to take the year to get you healthy and ready. Not to mention the crazy hormonal stuff that comes with BOTH, pregnancy and vsg.. And, if you stayed on the pill, it is my understanding that as soon as you stop you are way fertile!! Again, if this has already been said, please forgive me. It is an emotional topic for me but I wanted to share with you. I am thrilled for the gift you are being given!!!!!!!

I was eager at about nine months post op to just do another cycle (we used IVF/FET for our two pregnancies) I'm glad we put it off because SO much changed in my body between one and two years post op. It seems like an eternity to wait but the longer you give your body to adjust the better.

Between one and two years out, I hit goal and maintained it. Not critical, but because of this some other things worked out. I got over my Vitamin deficiencies. It takes a LONG time for your body to get it together once your diet changes so drastically. I didn't just feel okay, I got to the point where I felt darn good.

I was just plain healthier, all around. Eating wasn't a struggle any longer. I could eat everything I need for me and for pregnancy. I wasn't living and breathing my menu for the day because I had to eat around the clock.

So, the longer you wait, the better. I am currently pregnant and I can tell you that I never counted on feeling so darn sick this time around. I'm losing hair again - not huge amounts but definitely more than a few months ago. I just struggle with days where I'm so sick I can't eat anything but saltines and dry toast and days where I can eat a small steak, salad and some baked potato. So even at two years out I'm struggling with nutrition.

The surge in progesterone doesn't only make me sick - some days it makes me HUNGRY. If I hadn't worked on head hunger vs. actual hunger I'd be eating around the clock. It's like PMS that never goes away...well, without the actual period. But the desire to just eat and eat and eat is there some days.

And besides all of that? It's been a bigger mental challenge for me than I expected to expand. Oh, I wanted to be pregnant. I want this baby. But gaining weight, even two pounds? Not easy. Slipping into my favorite pair of jeans and realizing my belly has popped enough that I can't button them? That makes for a bad day, no matter how much you want a baby!

These are just some of my experiences but they're things you should consider. A lot of women report increased fertility once they lose weight. Not everyone, though, so don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it once you do start trying. Some MTFs have programs where they do fertility workups and treatments.

Oh, and BE CAREFUL with birth control. Many, many women get on here after surgery because their hormones are out of whack and their birth control causes unwanted side effects. I had Mirena and had to have it removed because I simply could not lose weight with it in. So if you change your birth control post op and notice an issue remember that our bodies don't always react the same as they did prior to surgery.

Best of luck to you. For this year post op, focus on YOU. Lose the weight, get it all together nutritionally, shed the head issues that come with being overweight and get to goal. After that, start trying and focus on adding to your family.

~Cheri

1. Thanks a million for all the advice Cherie~
   

T~ :wub:

Thank you all for posting this information. Its a question I have been having, as I have inferititly issues( Retroved Uterus), and am wondering if this surgery will also help in that aspect of my life.

I asked my surgeon this very question and he mentioned at LEAST one year out... You have you give your body time to fully recover and I am sure that you want to be able to eat a normal healthy diet and be at a healthy weight before conceiving.. I will be 38 in September and I don't have any children either. I actually went back on the pill 2 months after surgery because I wanted to make sure I didn't get pregnant during my "slimming down" stage. I have a wonderful man in my life and am looking forward to trying maybe sometime next year.... after I get married... of course..... LOL

Best of Luck!

Let me know how it go my husband and I will try 6months after I am sleeved

Hi, everyone. I am pre-op, waiting for insurance approval.

The official word from my surgeon's office is to wait 18 months, but when I met with her individually, she told me a year would be enough or 6 months if I have lost all my weight by then (which I won't. I am hoping for a year)

Cheri, when did you have the Mirena taken out? I have had the Mirena for four years and I love it. I was thinking it would be great with the sleeve because it is so effective and I hopefully wouldn't get pregnant before I should with it. But I think you mentioned you had trouble losing with it? Once you had it out, did you have an easier time losing?

Caroline

Hi SST! I'm very excited for you! I just wanted to mention I found your post a little confusing just because you seem to refer to hormonal contraception as "traditional" and not condoms... I suppose you mean it's traditional for you.

Anyway, I want to let you know that condoms have a 20% failure rate, especially if you are new to the technique! Trust me, size matters! If you truly want to switch to condoms I recommend a shot of depo provera to cover you for a couple of months.

I am also about to come off the most effective form of BC- the implanon contraception implant -after almost 8 years (three insertions!) I will be trying the copper IUD because it has no hormones and a very low failure rate (just under female sterilisation!).

I think an IUD may be very worth looking into as you are basically saving on 19% risk compared to condoms.

You could also try diaphragm + condoms.

Either way I'm in the same boat as you, desperate to have kids but don't want to add to risk of malnutrition etc by getting preggo first year post sleeve

Good luck! God bless!