Hello everyone! I'm a 26 year old female in Huntsville, AL. I had never considered weight loss surgery in the past, but a visit to my OBGYN this week scared me enough that I've decided I need to do something drastic and take control of my life. Here's my story.

I was always the "fat girl" growing up. My mother was always on some crazy diet, and she needed "moral support", so I usually got roped into the fray with her. When the diet fad of the month failed, we would end up gaining more weight. What a vicious cycle. When I started college, I weighed 190 pounds (at age 17!!). By the time I graduated, I was at 265. In January 2007, I topped out at 320 pounds. My back hurt, I was tired all the time, and I was ready to do something. The doctor I was seeing at the time told me that with enough diet and exercise and discipline, I could get rid of all that weight. Haven't we all heard that before???

I immediately went on Weight Watchers and lost 50 pounds over the course of six months. I went down two sizes, and I went on a clean-out-the-closet shopping spree. I was ecstatic. Then I hit a plateau. Month after month the scale wouldn't move, and finally after eight long months of anger, depression, deprivation, and agony, I gave up.

The weight started creeping back up immediately. Over the next 9 months, I gained back 30 pounds, eating what I considered to be "healthy" food during the week (i.e. starving myself and trying to subsist on those stupid Lean Cuisine meals), and whatever I wanted on the weekends. All those cute clothes I bought now languish in the corner of the closet, and all the "fat" clothes I never thought I would need again came out of the storage bins.

I went to the OBGYN for my yearly exam this week. As part of the usual barrage of questions, I was asked when we are planning to have children. I casually answered that we were looking at maybe in a year or two. What came out of the doctor's mouth next scared the crap out of me. She said that if I tried to have children at my weight, I was guaranteed that something bad would happen to me or the child. She said that given my family history, I would absolutely have gestational diabetes and high blood pressure, plus a very high risk for pre-eclampsia and a high birthweight baby who would most likely be injured during the birth process. I was stunned.

I love my doctor, by the way. Instead of dropping the bomb on me and walking out of the room, she sat down, looked me straight in the eyes and said, "what can we do to get you healthy?" So we talked about weight loss strategies. I told her about my multiple past diets, my recent attempt at Weight Watchers, and my current state of affairs. She thought for a second and said, "normally I don't recommend bariatric surgery. But you seem to be such a good candidate for it, so I say go for it!" She gave me the phone number for Dr. Mailapur, and told me to ask for the lap band, since that's the preferred method for people who plan to get pregnant.

So I'm going to one of his information seminars next month, and I guess we'll go from there! I plan to do lots of research before then, of course. I'm so excited about the prospect of a plan I can stick to, get results, and not feel like I'm depriving myself all the time! I know I can do it!!

I think it is wonderful that you are willing to get healthy for yourself and your baby. I know what being pregnant and overweight is like. It was very rough on me and my son.

You do not want to go through that. It is a very scary way to go.

The lap band would be an awesome choice because it would allow you to lose weight and then still eat healthy once you get pregnant.

Be sure to read alot hear and you will find out all the information you need.

Welcome to the site!