8 months post op...wanting baby but scared emotionally

[cchristiaens 0]

Okay I am 8 months post op and down 70+ pounds. I am officially in wonderland and in a size 11/12 jean. I am very hard on myself and know I could lose another 20+ pounds. My husband and I have a 20 month old daughter and we would like to try in a few months for a second. I am terrified that I will gain all my weight back and be miserable with myself again. I do understand that there are a lot of emotions that come alongside getting pregnant after weight loss surgery but juat wanting to know others feeligs on the matter. How did you cope? Any information is greatly appreciated!

[mamachef 37]

The first thing my surgeon said to me when I told him I was pregnant was not to even step on a scale if it was going to bother me... He said as long as tou stick to the maintaining diet and only add 300 calories per day (thats all the bean needs) I would be fine... I am 3 months pregnant and have still lost weight because I was super sick. It is an emotional roller coaster but you will be ok... the weight will come off like it did before it isnt like pregnancy can reverse surgery... you will still have the same tool after the baby is born and it will be much easier to lose any weight you can gain. As long as you dont see pregnancy as an opportunity to do whatever and eat whatever, you will be GOLDEN!!!

[clk 3,519]

It is very hard. I would like to sugarcoat that for you but I'd be doing you a disservice.

I was two years out and easily maintaining when I chose to get pregnant. I gained pretty normally - between the hormone shots and pregnancy I put on 35 pounds.

That was half of the hard part. Gaining weight - even for a good reason - is very difficult if your focus for the past two years has been losing and maintaining. I didn't gain too much at all. I looked great (or so everyone said) and when I was at my due date people insisted I was "too tiny to be due any day soon!" My daughter was born at a healthy weight with no complications. I had no complications myself. No gestational diabetes (I was diabetic prior to sleeve) or high blood pressure, no preeclampsia - just a nice, smooth pregnancy. Well, except the plague of morning sickness, but that varies by baby!

By just a few weeks post op I had lost all but 15 of my pregnancy pounds. By less than a month postpartum I was in my pre-pregnancy clothes, though I admit I was in the biggest sizes and even they were a teeny bit snug. Not uncomfortable, just not quite as roomy as they'd been before!

So as far as that goes? That part was pretty easy. But losing the final seven pounds has been a challenge for me. I'm doing it but it's slow going. My daughter is seven months old now and I'm still trying to six more pounds to get back to my goal weight.

But in all fairness, it took me a long time to lose those final pounds the first time, too. This might just be my incredibly frustrating norm.

In the end? It's worth it. It's oh so incredibly worth it. My twins are five, so I'd forgotten sleepless nights and I'd forgotten how hard little babies are to take care of but I'm so grateful I did this, even though I'm frustrated by these last few pesky pounds.

There's never an ideal time, really. You're always going to worry about the weight and even if you never chose to have another child, you'd STILL worry about some day regaining the weight. If you want another child, go for it.

I do encourage you to stick to a very good diet during pregnancy, though, and keep away from indulging bad habits. I wasn't as careful about my quality of carbs because all meat and dairy gave me morning sickness for several months of my pregnancy. Breaking that carb monster was HARD after she was born, and getting rid of the nighttime snacking habit (because I'd wake up hungry in the middle of the night while preggo) has been a real challenge.

But it's definitely possible to lose weight at any point post op - your sleeve is the same from about one year out and will still restrict your quantities if you make solid choices.

I do suggest you wait until at least a year post op to give that sleeve time to really reach it's capacity, so that eating while pregnant isn't a chore or challenge. There's a reason for those guidelines - I wasn't able to eat more than one egg in a sitting until more than a year out!

Good luck,

~Cheri

Edited October 30, 2013 by clk