Lauren_Dew

Danitra, I'm only like 9.5 weeks along, but i had a slight unfil last week. Only 0.3 cc out, but it helped a lot. I have always kept my band on the tight side though, so i definitely still have restriction, but i am able to eat all the veggies and protein i need. Congrats on the pregnancy! How far along are you?

I'm 8 weeks right now and yesterday i got a slight unfil. Only 0.3 cc, but it seems to have helped quite a bit. I have to admit, i had this weird mixture of nervousness and excitement for the unfill. I think i was a little excited at the possibility of eating a bit more and that just made me more nervous! Obviously the nervousness was that i was going to be too loose and lose control or something. At first my fill doctor thought i said take 3 cc out (instead of 0.3 cc). I was like "oh god no! I'll be wide open!" :w00t: These days as little as 0.3 cc really can have a big effect. We'll see how it goes.

I'm 8w1d and I had my first pregnancy related unfil yesterday. Got rid of about 0.3 cc and i'm already feeling better. Before i got pregnant i was feeling like i'd loosened up, but since the pregnancy i've definitely gotten a bit tighter. I may need more out in the future, but for now i'm good. They said as long as i'm not vomiting it's up to me. If i do start vomitng they want me in immediately and may have to unfill. Once the vomiting passes they're fine with putting liquid back in. I like their flexibility and at this point, i know my band better than anyone so i feel good that i get to drive the decision making.

I am also a patient of Dr. Eric Pinnar, and Lisa isn't exaggerating. They are amazing there. I haven't had any issues since surgery that Dr. Pinnar has had to take care of, but for me it's all about the aftercare and they are truly awesome. I also love Phil the PA and really haven't met a person there that wasn't great. I highly recommend them for anyone considering the band!!

So i had my first appointment on 11/20 and they did a sonogram and the doctor was a little concerned that the heart rate was on the lower side of the normal range (it was in the 120s). I measured 6w1d, which is exactly what i figured based on my ovulation monitor. I think the doctor was concerned because she thought i was actually like 7.5 weeks based on my last period. I didn't like how she handled the appointment at all. I had a sonogram that showed a baby with a heart rate within the normal range and i swear she practically treated me like, "let's meet again in 2 weeks and if you're still pregnant we'll go over everything else then". I was a bit shaken, but knew i was going to change doctors anyway so now i have an appointment next week (12/9) and hopefully since i'll be farther along the heart rate will be nice and strong. Going by my ovulation date i should be due around July 15th. I've started having some queasiness in the mornings (and sometimes throughout the day) and my boobs are still super soar. I've also been dealing with lightheadedness when i get up too fast and some headaches. I'm feeling like i'm tighter now too and have been considering getting a slight unfil. But you know the band, just when i think i'm too tight i have a day where i can eat anything. So fickle!

I started with a BMI of about 36.5. I was about to turn 27 and weighed in at 199 lbs at 5'2.5". I'd been overweight my entire life. The band has always been about maintenance for me. I have lost weight before, but have never been able to keep it off. The band has been the best thing that ever happened to me. I maintain effortlessly and i have continued to slowly creep closer and closer to my goal weight.

ABSOLUTELY! I could never have maintained my weight loss without the band. It has taken me off the up and down roller coaster. I love my band!

hi ladies, I'm about 6 weeks along and going in for my first doctor's visit tomorrow (11/20). I really hope we're able to see the heart beat! So far my band doesn't seem to be acting any different. It is still it's typical fickle self. I"m hoping things stay this way because i would like to keep my fill throughout the pregnancy (assuming that it's not causing me any problems). I haven't told my band doctor about the pregnancy yet simply because i just haven't been to him in a while since this fill has been working like a champ for months. I guess i figure once everything is confirmed and going along nicely i'll give him a call and see what they say. So far i can't complain. I'm feeling pretty good!

So when i heard that breast sensitivity was a symptom of pregnancy i was thinking it meant sore nipples or something, but i literally feel like someone has used my boobs as a punching bag! :biggrin: They are sore! hehe. Just thought i might not be alone in this!

My doctor's office likes to schedule appointments for when you're 8 weeks along, but because of Thanksgiving they let me schedule a little early since amazingly my doctor had an opening. I will be between 6 and 7 weeks when i go in on Nov 20th. I have to admit, i took another pregnancy test this morning (one of the freebies i have from Early-pregnancy-test). Still positive. :thumbup: It seems silly, but i can't seem to help myself and it's interesting to see them getting darker each time i test. When did you guys start experiencing symptoms? I'm about 4 - 5 weeks now and i have only really been feeling some mild bloating and cramping. I can't decide if been feeling tighter because of the pregnancy or because of an unfortunate run-in i had with some shrimp i decided not to chew well enough (tmi). Same goes for the nausea (could be the shrimp episode still bugging me or could be a pregnancy symptom).

Yup, it's our first! So far we have just told immediate family. It's a little hard to believe right now since i don't really have any symptoms and i feel the same way i felt last month, but i took a bunch of pregnancy tests and they all confirm, so here's hoping. Right now i kind of feel like i'm pretending i'm pregnant. The pregnancy tests say i am, but there is no other evidence. :thumbup: I'm enjoying being really excited but in the back of my mind i'm thinking, don't get too excited yet... what if something happens. I'll feel a lot better when a doctor tells me everything looks great. :cursing:

It's confirmed! I'm pregnant! I am so excited! I'm due in mid-July! So far i feel good, but it's very early. I have my first appointment scheduled for Nov 20th where they will do a sonogram and give me a due date and we should be able to see the heartbeat. I hope all goes well!

Update, that "implantation bleeding" seems to be my period! It really started light but then last night i had really bad cramps and this morning there it was...my period. I tested anyway and it was BFN. I am disappointed and a little frustrated b/c i wasn't expecting my period until 7/26 so this was quite a bit early. I guess what this means is that my cycle is still trying to get regular after 10 years on the pill. I think this is why they say you should wait 3 months after going off the pill. It just spares you the frustration of an irregular cycle. Anyway, i am feeling a bit down, (and crampy, boy i hate being off the pill!). I feel silly to feel down when it's only been 2 cycles, but hey, i can't help it.

Hey ladies, Well, i'm in the 2WW right now and i was just saying the other day that i wasn't feeling very hopeful because i wasn't feeling any different than i did last cycle when i got a BFN, but then yesterday i had some slight spotting. Could it be implantation bleeding? Well, i had some more spotting today and it's supposedly the time in my cycle where implantation would be occuring. I am trying not to test until Wed, but i may just go for it tomorrow morning. We'll see. My sister thinks i'm crazy for obsesssing. But's all in good fun, right!

Thinner09, i feel exactly the way you do! I really want to get to a healthy weight, even if it takes another year to get there and i think that's the beauty of the band, i believe i will continue to inch my way down, because instead of gaining it all back and having to start over, i am able to maintain my loss and then get another burst of motivation and take a bit more off. I am chipping away! As for my doctor(s), they are thrilled at where i'm at now, but they haven't told me that i'm done or anything! That would be kinda demotivating. What they have said is that from a health perspective, the difference between my current weight and my goal of "normal bmi weight" is very small. Regardless, i want to see the 130s!!! And if i'm honest, i'd love to see the 120s! :scared2: We'll see what happens! And frankly, i'm trying to get pregnant right now, so all that might just have to be put on hold anyway!

I got a positive OPK yesterday. It was kinda exciting. I felt like i'd won something. :tongue_smilie:

So since i got the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor too late for this cycle, i did go out and buy a pack of regular OPK tests for this month. (Yes, i am throwing a lot of money at this "problem"). hehe. I am feeling pretty crampy today which makes me wonder if i might be ovulating. I felt this same way last month around when i thought i would be ovulating, so we'll see if the OPK gives me the "smiley face" (all they had was the digital kind) to indicate my LH surge or not. I am of course hoping to get pregnant this cycle, even if it will mean that i wasted my money buying a fertility monitor that i never got to use. :smile2: We'll see. Oh yeah, and along with a little cramping, my band seems to be tight today. I felt the band tighten last month too. Some of this might just be me adjusting to all the hormones going on now that i'm off the pill. Anyway, thanks for letting me babble on about ovulation and cramps! It spares my husband from having to listen to me about that stuff! hehe.

Hey ladies, Well, it's cycle 2 and this is my fertile week so the husband and i are gettin' busy. We'll see how this month goes. My band has loosened up a bit so i haven't had to puree any food in a while which is good and my weight is slowly creeping down, so that's good. I did buy myself an EXPENSIVE Clearblue easy fertility monitor, but it arrived too late for me to use it this cycle. So we'll see how this cycle goes and if it's a dud, i'll use the fertility monitor next month. Good luck to you all!

My doctor is fully supportive of keeping my fill during pregnancy EXCEPT, if i am having bad morning sickness and am vomiting, he will want to take liquid out. He says that vomiting is really risky and can cause slippages and since i won't be able to have floro (no xrays while pregnant) he won't be able to check to see if the band is ok. If i do have some taken out due to morning sickness, then i can always have it filled back up one the morning sickness passes (2nd trimester or so). But i am with you on wanting to have my fill to help me control pregnancy weight gain!

So i've made a change since my earlier post in my prenatal Vitamin selection. The horse pills just got to be too much for me and the "Source of Life" Liquid stuff was just too gross, so now what i'm taking is one of those Vitachews Multivitamin supplemented with an additional 400 mg of folic acid (very small pill). That's working for me for now. I'm in my fertile week for cycle 2 so wish me luck!

Congrats Kissmygrits! You must be so extremely excited! Are you telling anyone yet?

Congrats Tink, that is very exciting news! My husband and i are in the middle of our 2nd cycle trying so we're hoping to join you with a Spring 2010 baby!

Ok, officially not pregnant this month. Got my period yesterday and it was a doozey. Now i remember why i went on the pill! I felt horrible. Anyway, the first cycle after going off the pill ended up being 32 days (instead of the 28 days i was assuming). Looks like we should have been BDing during the week my husband was away on business. What can ya do? :bored: I think i'm going to try some opk/fertility montitoring this month. That will give me something new to obsess about!! hehe. But man, i am really missing the pill already! The cramps are killing me! Good luck to all the ladies out there trying!

I am currently within 9 pounds from a healthy BMI. I was banded in March 2008 and lost most of my weight in the first 9 months. Since them i have been inching downward (with an occasional upward inch) but i'm getting there! Ultimately i'd like to be somewhere in the middle of the healthy BMI range (20-25 lbs to go). I love that this band is adjustable. Sometimes just when i think that it's just "not working anymore" i go get a fill and it's a whole new ballgame!

Ok, sorry for the back-to-back post, but i just wanted to give an update. Yesterday i went to the doctor for a slight unfill, but after talking to him about we decided that i will keep my fill and make sure i am eating nice small bandster portions and if i'm still having trouble i'll just come back in. I'm glad i decided to do this. I'm focusing on eating protein and veggies and for right now i'm pureeing them to make them easier to take, but my hunger is very minimal and the weight loss has been great! Besides, as i lose a bit more i will naturally loosen up a bit. Anyway, right now i'm still assuming i'm not pregnant, but i will test again if i miss my period this weekend. He said keeping my fill during pregnancy is just fine, except... if i have any vomiting from morning sickness, he will unfill me until the morning sickness passes. Doesn't want to risk anything happening to the band from vomiting. Fair enough. Ok, i promise i'm done now! :wink2: PS... only 9 lbs to a healthy BMI!!!