| I had my RNY
gastric bypass surgery on October 7,
1998. One of the reasons I had the surgery was because I was infertile and
wanted a baby. I was told that only if I lost weight would I have a chance
because the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), which was making me infertile, was weight-based. So I took the chance. I was told I had to wait a year
before attempting to get pregnant. So during that first post-operative
year I took birth control. Which struck me as odd because I was after all,
infertile.
Well, one
thing I have learned (and surgeons can -- and should -- tell you this),
fertility SKYROCKETS after surgery. It is imperative that you take
precautions to avoid getting pregnant even in those situations where you
think it is impossible due to female-related infertility. My pregnancy dated
from October 20, 1999 -- 1 year and 13 days after surgery, but still more
than the year my surgeon recommended. I can't stress enough how important
it is to follow your surgeon's guidelines regarding pregnancy. When
dealing with this aspect, you are not just talking about your own life.
You are talking about a baby's life. Babies conceived too quickly after
surgery, are in danger of high rates of miscarriage, birth defects, and
lack of nutrition. Even if the baby does grab all the nutrition it needs,
the mother may suffer. So wait the time your surgeon recommends.
My pregnancy
was a normal pregnancy. By that I mean it was not high risk. I progressed
normally and gained 18 pounds. If you wait the recommended time
your pregnancy will not be high risk because of the surgery. And most
post-op women, according to Bariatric Treatment Center, average a weight
gain of 15 to 20 pounds over the course of the nine months. Compare that
to the average weight gain of non-surgery patients, which is 25-35 pounds
for a healthy pregnancy.
A few things
may be different for your pregnancy. You may not be able to do the glucose
test during which you drink a sugar solution. You do want to avoid
dumping. However, you can request a fasting test, which is what I did. And
my
sugar levels actually dropped after I ate.
You will
definitely need to be extremely vigilant taking your vitamins, no ifs,
ands or buts. You may lose weight during the course of your pregnancy and
only in the later months gain. Also, your tastes may change. I dumped
before pregnancy on cool whip but during my pregnancy sugar was one of the
few things that did not make me sick. I don't know why and no one can tell
me. It just happens. But then it also switched back again after I
gave birth.
When you do
get pregnant, you must switch your mindset. Losing weight cannot be your
priority or even on the list of things you are attempting. You must allow
your body to gain. Dieting -- something that should not be part of your
post-op life anyway -- should definitely not be in your vocabulary while
pregnant. You need to concentrate on doing what is right for the child and
that means gaining weight. During pregnancy, you will see the scale go up. To avoid
stressing about that, here is a tip: get weighed facing backwards so you can't see
the scale!
The point of this message is, pregnancy after Weight Loss Surgery can be a
joy and it can be easy. But you do have to be smart about it. You have to
wait until you are finished losing and it is safe to get pregnant. You
have to take precautions to avoid pregnancy. You also have to take vitamins
and live healtfully, as does any pregnant woman.
As for delivery, every woman is different. Mine was simple. I was in hard
labor for three hours and pushed for seven minutes before my darling
healthy baby girl was born. Then the fun began. This baby is now walking,
climbing and destroying whatever she sees. :)
Denise Rasley
drasley@cisnet.com
BTC, Columbus, 10/7/98
Lost over 90% of excess and maintaining
Gained a beautiful daughter on 8/9/00
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