rachelzf

Hello! I was in the same situation and wanted to have surgery as close to my 2nd child’s birth as possible. In the end, my surgery was just under 6 months after birth. I had to do the 90 days of nutrition visits after birth because there can’t be a big lapse of time between the end of the nutrition visits and the submission of your case for insurance approval. Add into that an appointment with my surgeon before and after nutrition, waiting for insurance approval and then scheduling surgery once approved. All those are just extra weeks in the overall timeline. The two things you can maybe try to get done early: the psych visit and the sleep study. I believe both of those are good for 2 years. Anyway, I tried to do everything as fast as possible and it was still just over 5 months after birth. I would adjust your expectations to something in that range... see if you can get all the appointments scheduled and locked in now! Maybe that’ll help reduce extra lag time between steps. Also, I continued nursing my son throughout weight loss surgery and thereafter. It’s totally possible! Just need to keep your water intake up and you’ll be fine production-wise, even with the low calorie consumption. Good luck!!

As we approach the 6 month mark, how is everyone doing? Are you happy with your success so far? What challenges have you faced? Is everything going as expected? How many calories are you averaging per day? What’s your next goal? So curious to hear from everyone!! [emoji173]️

Yes! My son was 5.5 months when I had surgery. Bariatric surgeon and nutritionist both said I'd have to ween him since I would not be able to breastfeed after surgery. I've always had a very average milk supply - not low but definitely not plentiful, just enough -- so I was worried. However, my son's pediatrician said even with a very restricted-calorie diet as long as I was drinking enough water the breastfeeding would not be negatively affected. And she was right!! I've been able to continue fully breastfeeding my son who is now 9 months old. Of course at 6 months we started introducing solid foods and his nursing has decreased some as a result. But he's still getting what he needs. To be sure, I rented a hospital grade baby scale before surgery. I measured exactly what my son was eating at each feed. Then a few weeks after surgery I used the scale to check in again. As long as I am hydrated, my supply stays the same. No need for me to eat extra calories, just stay fully hydrated. I also hope the nursing provides a little extra calorie burn each day so I'm reluctant to finally give it up. I cannot speak to the fat composition of the milk as I imagine that has changed now that I eat so differently. But my son is gaining weight normally. I want to share my experience because there is ALOT of misinformation out there. These surgeons are not lactation experts and frankly they're often just wrong about the impact of weight loss surgery on breastfeeding. Oh one more thing!! The anesthesiologist said once you are awake from surgery, the meds are low enough in your system that you don't actually need to pump and dump from that point forward. People still always pump and dump for 24 hours as a precaution, but if you read the studies the evidence for that need just isn't there. That said I felt like such crap in the hospital for the first 24 hours that having my son come to nurse did not seem like a good idea. Pumping wasn't fun either but you do what you must. Good luck!! Let us know how it goes!!

Sounds like kidney issues to me! I have chronic kidney disease and those are some of the common symptoms. Edema, low blood protein levels, etc. You could be spilling protein in your urine due to kidney issues. Go get tested!

To satisfy that salty and crunchy craving, I sometimes turn to Trader Joe's Oven-Baked Cheese Crisps. There are no carbs and 15g of protein per serving! An amazing option. I take them to the movies as a popcorn replacement. Good luck!

I had that same question when I entered this process. I don't "believe" in eating low fat for exactly the reasons you mentioned (reduces satiety thus leading to more general eating, low fat foods have other additives and chemicals, they contort the food unnaturally to make them low-fat, etc.). I pushed back with my doctor and nutritionist and finally got the explanation you guessed. The aim is to help keep overall calories down rather than being a problem with fat as a general macronutrient. I have not made an effort post-op to limit my fat intake whatsoever. I'm not going out of my way to eat extra fat necessarily, but I'm ensuring that the proteins I eat are fully satisfying and filling with fats added as needed. I do strictly limit carbs. I've had great weight loss progress. I haven't had much trouble sticking to the food plan which I attribute to eating enough fat to keep me satisfied. Good luck!! I'm 2 months post-op. It's hard work but SO worth it!

Hang in there!

I have been breastfeeding through the entire surgery process. Liquid diet, post-op diet, etc. all of which is very low calorie, sometimes only 500. The pediatrician and lactation said that as long as I am drinking enough water (64oz+/day) I will produce milk as normal. And guess what they were right! No dip in supply. It's a myth that you need extra calories to breastfeed. The fat composition of your milk may change but baby should be fine. Good luck!

Thank you for following up and sharing more about your story! I've been aiming for keto eating as I believe that will be best for me for the long haul. I'd love to hear more about what is mentally taxing about no longer being morbidly obese. I understand what you said in another post about being in a constant state of flux which is exhausting. And not being able to find a good therapist is frustrating. What are some of the other new problems you've encountered at normal size? Maybe you can post a picture sometime so we can see what this kind of success looks like! All the best.

But that's what's so confusing! Because can't it be actual hunger when we're eating less than 500 calories, even if we just hit 60gs of protein for the day?? Really hard to tell.

Wow that is huge progress!! 26 pounds post op is a lot! My dates and weights are similar but I'm only down 16 post op so far and I think I've just hit the 3 week stall.... It's so hard to eat "protein first" in this purée stage when there are hardly any protein options at this point. My carb grams each day are higher than I want them to be in the long run (50-60gs) but there just isn't much protein to eat besides the shakes. I still drink two shakes a day but really want to chew for the rest of my intake. Anyway, I hope I'm not stalling myself but having too many carbs. Keeping my daily calories under 700, usually closer to 500. It's all a head game isn't it!!!!

Lost 13 pounds on 7 day preop liquid diet. Protein shakes (3xday) and crystal light and broth only. Exercised everyday. Body pump classes at the gym, approx 500 calorie burn. But I definitely couldn't have as much weight on my bar as I was able to lift the week before. I'm also breastfeeding. There was no dip in supply since I was still drinking SO much water every day. Now that I'm post op, I really miss being able to chug water bottles like that. [emoji22]

I'm coming back to say things are much better now! By the end of Day 3 post op I was able to drink water more comfortably. Alternating with crystal light really helped. By Day 4 I finally felt hungry and wanted to try to eat something besides water and a protein drink! Went with 3 oz of tomato soup and it was the best thing I've eaten in my life. :-) Also went to the gym today for 20 mins on the treadmill which wasn't a spectacular workout but it was something! The day after surgery I worried I'd never feel well enough to exercise again. i just wanted to make sure and circle back back because I read so many posts before surgery and I think things get skewed to the negative, in part because people forget to come back and say "things are all better now!" So be patient - it's a long ROUGH first 3-4 days but it gets better. At least it has for me. Sleeved Thursday 7/13 @ 274.6 and finally weighed this morning Monday 7/17 @ 266.4 so that's down 8.2 pounds in 4 days. I'll take it!!!!!

Good luck Sharon!!! I lurked and read a ton before surgery, maybe too much because I had all kinds of fears. Keep your expectations LOW for how you'll feel. Anticipate 4 solid days of awful. Then if it's better than that--lucky thing for you. There's so much to work through and to remember and to focus on. I started journaling through this process and it's helping me acknowledge and deal with all the feelings that are surfacing as I am moving away from food as emotional support. Not every day is emotionally hard but it's helpful to have an outlet nonetheless.

I was sleeved on Thursday 7/13 so today is the 2nd day post op. I feel pretty crummy!! It's hard to get enough water in, sipping every 10-15 mins while awake works but as I sleep I feel like I end up behind on hydration. I keep trusting that I'll feel good soon. My abdomen doesn't hurt much, especially when compared to my 2 c sections which were way worse in ab pain. But the pain on the inside of my guts with the sleeve is distressing. At this point I cannot imagine ever eating anything again!! The liquid pain meds are disgusting and make me wretch but maybe I should continue forcing it down? Any advice welcome!