PuraVida37

My nutritionist said that any liquid counts as fluid. I was kind of surprised.

Bring a firm pillow in the car to hold against your middle. Trust me on this! Maybe another to rest your head on in case you fall asleep during the ride. Good luck!

I teach HS and also plan to get sleeved the Friday before Spring Break. That will give me 9 full days to recover (I'll see where I'm at after that). When I had my lap band, I had surgery on Monday and was back at school teaching on Friday (yes, I kind of regretted that), but like @billho I didn't want people to notice. I had fibbed and said I was getting a hernia repair. I don't know what my fib will be this time, but I don't plan on telling. Some teachers are gossipy and judgemental that I just don't even want to deal with them. Do any of you feel that way? I don't want anyone's pity, and I don't deal well when people are too nice either. Just let me do my thing.

I have a band and struggle with potatoes--they become like glue and get stuck. (Not that I should be eating it) A McDonald's hashbrowns or french fries will be painful for me. Also eating bread could sometimes be a problem for me, sometimes not. I don't do well with reheated chicken or shrimp--they become tough and hard to chew small enough. I never touch celery with strings, and once a piece of raw broccoli sent me to the ER, so CHEW CHEW CHEW!!! I lost 95 lbs with my band. I felt incredible! Then they unfilled me when I got pregnant, and I never was able to get back to my sweet spot. Gained all back plus due to bad habits, slider foods, sugar addiction, stress, and then lockdown boredom eating. I too am getting a revision to VGS in 3 weeks.

Could you tell me more about this? I've never heard of it, and when I googled it, I got an assortment of photos of swimwear! LOL

March 26th. Revision from lapband. I'm nervous and excited. Hope to get back to running and fitting into my old clothes again.

Hi guys! I'm so glad many of you have checked in. Well I had the baby!! I still can't believe it, after all the problems I had in the past. Baby boy was born the end of July and is perfectly healthy and a total cutie!! He was born via c section and of course that hurt like hell. But it's been 8 weeks and I'm feeling much better. I just got filled again. 2ccs, because that's when I was my most successful. It dims the hunger just enough. Hope it works this time. I truly regret getting unfilled at the beginning of the pregnancy because I did not have even one episode of morning sickness. I am very lucky and have not vomited at all since being banded. But, my lowest weight was 209, at the time I was unfilled I was 216, and the day I gave birth I was 280!!! So holy heck, that's a big gain!!!! I lost 30 lbs in the two weeks after giving birth, then I stalled and went back to eating terribly with the excuse of breastfeeding. Well, due to my thyroid, insulin resistance, etc. I don't make very much milk, so I mainly bottle feed. Well, so now I need to get back to where I was because none of my clothes fit and I I have two months til I go back to work and I'll be damned if I'm buying anything more in a bigger size!! So I need to lose 34 lbs in two months. I think I can. I've done it before. A few days before I went in for my fill, I did a sugar detox. Today is day 6 of no sugar or crazy carbs. And I'm down 5 lbs. Nice!! I also started to train to run again, this time doing Couch to 10K. I'm on week 4 of 14. It's awesome that even though I didn't exercise much during my pregnancy, running is coming back much easier than I feared. My husband has given me a medium term goal: He'll take me to run a 10K (He'll run a half marathon) in Bermuda in January if I build up my stamina for it. I hope I can, though it will be hard with baby in tow. Jogging strollers are not as easy as they look!!! Hope you are all well. As always, I wish you the best of luck!!

I am 33w now. I'm definitely not in the red or yellow. I could eat just about anything. I'm so hungry all the time. My problem now is that my belly is pressed so tight that my port area is numb and tender to the touch. I'm sure it's from muscles pulling around it. I see my OB on Monday and if it really starts to hurt worse I'll go see my Lap Band doc. I super regret getting my band unfilled. I HAVE gained 50 lbs so far. It all seems to be in my belly...and ankles. LOL

My somewhat normalized period (only in the last 6 months) was a little late, so I took a HPT, and holy crap, it was blaringly positive!!!!!!!!!! I've suffered from secondary infertility (13 medically assisted procedures-IUI and IVF, none successful) for the last 8 years and so I never thought this would happen. I've got a lot against me: I'm 40 and I've had six previous losses, so I'm keeping my head on straight and my heart guarded. I am not certain about how far along we are, maybe 6+ weeks? Went to the RE and they did a scan. Shows a baby and a yolk sac. Next week I go back to look for heartbeat and dating. Wish us luck. I'm terrified. I'm not going to change anything in my diet except adding one more Protein shake a day until I see my lap band doc in late December, provided the baby is still viable at that time. Who else is PG with a band right now?

I got unfilled pretty soon after finding out I was pg. I regret it totally. I've gained far too much and let myself eat whatever I wanted. Now I have gestational diabetes. I wonder if I would if I had stayed banded. I was afraid I'd have morning sickness, but I've not had even one episode of it!! Also, I don't have ANY heartburn or gasto issues like I did with my daughter before banding. I'm 29 weeks as of tomorrow morning. How far along are you guys? My port is occasionally achy, and I have just the slightest (only visible to me) protrusion at my belly button port site. FYI: My diabetes doc says avoid milk and fruit in the morning, as preggo hormones are strong in the morning and can raise blood sugar (then cause a crash). They encourage low carb meals for Breakfast (eggs, one toast with PB), then a bigger meal at the end of the day. Also a snack right before sleeping. Just interesting because it's not what I expected.

Yep. They were positive. So now I have to check my sugars 4 times a day and eat right, which is just the slap in the face I needed. I am sugar detoxing and I do feel much better. Tomorrow makes 29w. I still can't believe this all happened! LOL

Thanks!@@JustWatchMe Just checking in again with everyone. Baby is doing well and I'm at 25w. My eating however, is out of control and I can't believe that I've gained back about 40 lbs since the beginning of November. I have not been keeping up with good habits and it's so sad. I want to exercise, but I'm so tired. I nap frequently or I just can't get through the day. I am waiting for my gestational diabetes results, which is it sad to expect I'll have a positive? I do need a swift kick in the butt to kick sugar out of my life again. The only real exercise I've had is cleaning the house, which is definitely me nesting, getting ready for baby. Hope you are all doing well.

Had a great sonogram today! Baby is perfectly healthy and besides gaining weight (UGH!) I'm doing great! Just wanted to check in with everyone and let you know how things are going.

I just took myself off the machine after a 90 lb. loss because I kept waking up with the mask on the floor the next morning. It was just too much air pressure. My apnea was barely there (I think they diagnosed me just so I could get the surgery), and I was on the lowest level possible on the machine.

My advice to a newbie is get yourself a nice 1/4c measure that you can bring with you everywhere. Pre-measure everything and eat only that 1/4c at a time. Wait 20 min or 30 min. If you're still hungry, eat some more. Also, start exercising as soon as you can. The couch to 5k program is great motivation!! Finally, here's the bible of Lap Band Live it. You're gonna be great!!!!!!!!!! Trust the band!! Trust yourself!!

Great question!! I would have done it in my early 20s. I lost so much time and quality by making the wrong choices and giving in to my food addiction. However, I wouldn't have had the insurance coverage, nor the emotional support--my mom (who died from fatty liver disease) was very against bariatric surgery, even though she would have benefited from it and would probably be alive today if she had had it. If my child were very obese, I'd try to get the very best care for her before considering surgery. To me, it's a last resort. Knowing what I know now, I COULD do this on my own. It would be extremely hard. though. I could exercise and eat better, but the band sure made it a LOT easier. I'm grateful for the tool.

@@chasingadream, Yes, Winter here in NY has been AWFUL!! I really want to go back out and walk outside without slipping on ice or getting frostbite. How exciting about your fresh start!! Wishing you lots of luck !!!

@@Keeper, @@ErinMarie, Thanks for asking about me. Baby is doing well--passed all the genetic testing and sonos so far. At Wednesday's appointment, heartbeat was 160. I'm still confounded that this all happened and is still going strong!! I just announced to many colleagues and a class of students (I'm a HS teacher) yesterday. It's been very tough since I got unfilled. I have my appetite back and it's stronger than ever. I gave myself permission to eat, and I've gained 11 lbs since November!! I've stopped running because the weather is so bad, and the thought of smelling the sweaty gym makes my stomach turn. The last two weeks I've tried to make more of a concerted effort to eat more Protein and a "rainbow" every day. Once the snow lets up I'm heading back out to walk. I miss it terribly. Had I known I wasn't going to have morning sickness hardly at all, I wouldn't have gotten the unfill, but I was worried and the doc wanted to do the unfill. I do battle cravings, but lately they have been for salad (esp greek salad for some reason) and kale smoothies, so I'm gladly giving in to those. Trying to stay away from those damn Cookies.

I'm 15 weeks now, and going stir crazy waiting on genetic testing results. After my many losses, I just want to get to a point where I'll stop worrying and having nightmares. I wish I hadn't gotten unfilled so quickly. My doc insisted on it right when I told him I was pg, only about 4 weeks pg. I've gained ten lbs and have been eating a bunch of junk--things I never would have eaten before like bagels and sub sandwiches. I hope I'm not stretching things out, but I can eat just about everything now. And yes, I know, just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD. I've been craving salads, which is funny to me because it's something I couldn't eat when I was filled. I am SO hungry all the time. I miss running. I miss having loose pants. I miss not feeling hungry. ...but I'll be back there after July!!! Where is your port? Mine is around my belly button and at first I did feel some real pressure around it. But now it's better. Thanks for asking about me, @@princesstuiaki !!

I'm almost 15 weeks. Going a little nuts because I'm waiting on my genetic testing results. I also hate that appts are a month apart. I wish I could go more often to make sure everything is ok with baby. It's nice to see other preggie banders.

I'm 12 weeks pregnant and have not had morning sickness during this pregnancy except for a few mornings when I know I just needed to eat (never vomited). But in the last week or two I've been getting more nauseous and I'm so afraid that I'm going to either find out that my band has slipped or I'll vomit and it will slip. I'm completely unfilled just for reference. Tell me I'm crazy. If it continues, I'm going to go see my band doc. ETA: I am noticing that my stomach is rumbling really hard because it's on empty, but when I take even one bite sometimes I'll get the "I overdid it" left shoulder pain.

I'm already on empty, no more to take out. I think it's "Protein pain" I need to be eating more protein, and sometimes when I'm on an empty stomach I get the pain just like I would when I ate one bite too much. But yes, I will go see him. Thanks for your reply.

Oh man, I love this!!! I can't believe how much difference it makes to use a Ninja blender for a Protein drink! I took my usual 8 oz skim milk and Bariatric Advantage chocolate powder and put in 2 tbs healthy Peanut Butter and some Fiber powder. Blend. Then some ice. WOW!! It tastes like a frosty from Wendy's ...no, even better!!!!!!!!!!!!

Protein shakes, yes! A good way to get in your protein, according to my nutritionist. Also yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, that kind of stuff. My nutritionist said all I need is abotu 250 or 300 more calories a day. Did you get unfilled? I did and now I am SOOOO hungry. Wish I didn't get unfilled (I only had 2ccs anyway). How far along are you?

NT scan this weekend was very good! Next step is genetic testing in 2 weeks. Wish us luck!