beachgurl84

Hi Everyone, I used to frequent the post-op sleeve forums daily but have gotten out of the habit. I'm now pregnant and over a year post op so I'd like to touch base with others going thru the same. A little about myself: Surgery Date: 11/14/2014 Current age: 31 Height: 5'6" HW: 310 LW: 193 CW: 214 I am 17.5 weeks pregnant with my first child. I actually got pregnant about two weeks after my 1 year surgery anniversary. I had been on a great track for losing weight, but in august of 2015 we found out my gallbladder was full of stones and sludge. I had it removed on 8/31/2015. I had asked my bariatric surgeon (different than my gallbladder surgeon) if he would remove my gallbladder at the time of my original surgery but he said that was no longer a common practice. Had I know then what I know now, I would have requested a different surgeon. Apparently rapid weight loss causes gallstones. I knew that, but I didn't know it could do it past 6 months post op. Anyways.....the ordeal of having my gallbladder out brought me from my lowest weight of 193 to 199/201ish. I stayed there pretty much from September to December when I found out I was pregnant. I have gained 12 pounds since the day I discovered I was pregnant. That's partially due to my heavy workload that required me to sit at a desk 12 hours a day with a 45 minute drive each way (7 days a week for the next three weeks!). I am also struggling with low blood pressure. My OB insist I continue eating throughout the day because I have already had one fainting spell. I have not seen my bariatric surgeon as he is in another state from my home (I had been working away from home at the time of surgery). Other than that, my docs assure me I am quite healthy and I am expected to have a completely normal pregnancy. They are sending me for a consultation with maternal fetal medicine for high-risk pregnancies just to be prepared though. Ok, there's my "quick" intro. We will find out on 4/4 if it is a boy or girl. I think it's a boy. I am not showing yet unless I suck in lol. I was able to wear a size 10 jeans before getting pregnant but I am in a size 14 maternity jean now. Thankfully what started out as additional weight on my butt has started gathering just in the baby bump area so hopefully soon I'll actually look pregnant and not go up anymore in pants size. I still try to eat healthy but I give in to the need for carbs occasionally and healthy fats. I eat yogurt, fruit, orange juice, meats (not deli), cheeses, and yes, even coffee. I usually have stuff like that throughout the day while I'm at work and then one healthy meal in the evening. I am still really restricted in the amount of food I can consume, so I have to make sure I make healthy choices. I'm not sure what I'm looking for in posting all this or coming back to this site. Maybe just to touch base with others in a similar situation. Any advice or questions, I'd love to hear. Thanks for listening.

I think it was about 8 weeks out for me as well. I eat lunch meat quite often as it's easy to transport and low cal/high Protein. Unfortunately it's also high in preservatives. It's actually been one of the contributing factors to me being diagnosed with migraines recently because of the high nitrogen content. I still eat it, but with caution. Just wanted to spread the info. Good Luck

My prayers to all of you going through these rough times. No butt kicking here, just love & support. You do what you need to do to get through these times. We'll be strong for you while you get through this. Please keep us posted.

How many calories are you getting a day? Working out 6 days a week is pretty impressive and you may need more calories to fuel your workouts. I had to bump my calories up to 1000 because I stopped losing if I got less than that. When I was two months post op though, I was getting around 600-800 calories a day. It was 2.5 months post op that I hit my biggest stall and that's when I had to bump up the calories. Seems like for me I stall every 10 pounds and there's nothing I can do except keep with the program. It usually sorts itself out in 7-10 days then I'll lose another 10 pounds. Do you log your food into anything like myfitnesspal? That could give insight into what you might be able to change around to see the scales move again. Usually in a big stall, just changing things up will do the trick. Like more calories, or a different workout routine, something like that. Good luck!!

Even at 5 months post op I still battle the grazing and sweets demons. It's all in the willpower. And if you're like me that says willpower can be bs sometimes, try this little trick. When I'm hanging out at home (most dangerous time for giving in to cravings), if I start thinking about sweets or justifying some little snack in my head that I shouldn't have, I start drinking Water. Drink and drink and drink because remember, you can't eat or drink within 30 minutes of each other. So if I drink water, I've just eliminated the possibility of snacking in the next 30 minutes and hopefully when that 30 minutes is up, I've defeated the craving or found something to do to take my mind off it. It doesn't always work, I still give in sometimes. But this, along with planning my food log in the morning with myfitnesspal, keeps me on track for the most part.

I get headaches from the artificial sweeteners but sometimes I just deal with it cause it's gotta be done. I like the little squirt bottle of drink mixers. They have artificial sweeteners but taste like regular sugar and they come in many different brands/flavors. Oh you should also check out coconut sugar, great alternative.

My first 4 months post op were miserable for me as far as being cold. I would sleep in a sweatshirt, sleep pants, fuzzy socks, and 4 blankets. If I left the house, I had at least a hoodie and a jacket with me. If I was at home, I had a robe on. It's eased up the last couple weeks. I still have the occasional bad night but for the most part my body temp has regulated. So it's perfectly normal. My doc also told me my low Iron (I was/am anemic pre and post surgery) could be contributing. I would suggest he ask his doc about his blood work and I hate to say it like this, but get used to it. I think it has a lot to do with taking in less calories than we're burning so I always thought of it as more proof I was losing weight. That helped when the cold got painful. I feel for him, but it's all part of a wonderful journey.

Quick follow-up.....I'm about to finish my second week using this app. So far, I'm loving it. I made $1.50 my first week so I upped my pact this week. I'll know around wednesday how much this week will bring in. I haven't had to do anything extra except make sure I "check-in" at the gym. Otherwise, I'm tracking food like I always have and working out like I need to, so nothing extra to follow the pact. I don't have a lot of room for the veggies so I'm not doing that part of the pact. All in all, loving it so far. You can't withdraw funds to paypal until you have $10 so a few more weeks and I might be able to. Stay tuned for more updates.....

Wow I'm a little shocked. I actually unfollowed this thread a couple weeks ago because it was no longer productive and I refuse to continue defending my point when most people reading it refuse to listen. I signed on today for the first time in a week and received a private message from someone who has already claimed in this thread that they are no longer involving themselves with this conversation anymore. It amazes me the amount of trouble some people go through to have the last word. I really don't care what anyone's opinion is on the matter. To those of you that took the time to think about the point I was trying to get across, and responded maturely and appropriately, thank you for your time. I'm going to continue not following this thread because it has apparently become a cesspool for the poor, unfortunate individuals that have nothing better to discuss than trying to call me a bully because I have higher standards than they do. I feel sorry for those of you that feel my rant was inappropriate because we should lower our standards to accomodate those that are too lazy to meet the standards of society. As for those incapable for one reason or another, I will, as always, continue to support the effort they make and be proud of their accomplishments. @@LipstickLady is it possible you could lock this thread?

I've only ever seen helpful advice & thoughts from @@BLERDgirl

This makes much more sense, thanks for clarifying.

I highly suggest reading more. Congrats to your mom. Sounds exactly like my grandmother that did what she needed to do and knew there was always more to learn and made the effort to make herself the best person she could be.

I've been typing since childhood so I have actually forgotten how to write cursive. I learned to write it but schools were starting to get computers then and everything had to be typed. It became obsolete for me.

OOOOOHHHH I Love when people say "I don't worry about nothing" Of course you shouldn't worry about nothing. It's everything else you should worry about.