BandaCat

Congratulations!!! Enjoy your new little angel!

I think both are great ideas. I've been thinking of having a co-ed Thank You party to say thank you to all of the people who are helping us through this pregnancy. It's been really hard with me in the hospital and now at home but still really sick. My family and friends have really been pitching in to help us out. Besides any reason is a good reason to get good friends and family together!

we're having a girl!!

UGH! I have hyperemesis gravidarum. For those that don't know it's a condition of pregnancy with excessive vomiting and nausea. I'm 17 wks now and last night was my second time in the ER getting IV fluids because I'm so dehydrated. The thing that sucks is that everytime I throw up, which is as many as 15 times a day, I have to worry if my band is going to slip. Actually I think it's hanging in there pretty tough. But the only way to confirm that is with x-ray which I refuse to do while pregnant. I'm on acid reflux and anti-nausea medicine but nothing is working. food and liquids go down totally fine. I am completely unfilled and can get down most anything. It's keeping it down that is a problem. As soon as I put more than the tiniest amount of Fluid in my stomach everything comes up. Even if I wait hours to drink after eating. UGH! I just really wanted to whine. It's exhausting and I've tried every morning sickness idea under the sun. Nothing is working. I know family and friends mean well when they are voicing their concerns about whether I'm taking care of myself but it just makes it worse. Doctors don't know why some women get it and there is no cure. It just eventually goes away. Sometimes it takes all the way until baby comes. Even saying that makes me cry. Thanks for letting me whine.

Yes first they gave me Phenergen which didn't work at all. I passed out for 18 hours and would wake up about every 3 to puke. Now I'm on Zofran. It's not really doing anything either. I've gotten Zofran twice by IV while getting hydrated and notice no difference. They just upped my dosage so we'll see how that works but really I don't see why if it didn't work through IV at high dosage. For most people Zofran is the miracle drug. I'm still waiting for the miracle!

thanks, it's getting better. I am 17 wks now and still battling all day sickness and acid reflux, but the band pain is not as frequent now. I've learned that I have to have a completely empty stomach before bed, no water nothing! I've slept thru the entire night 2 nights in a row now! Yippee!

For the past 4 weeks or so I have been experiencing nightly band pain. Every night I have the hardest time sleeping because my band hurts so bad. It's very difficult to lay on my left side. Finally between 1-3am I have to vomit and then my band feels better and I can sleep. The weird thing is that I have no restriction, nothing is stuck in my band, I've tried not eating for hours before bed and also eating a snack right before bed. Neither makes it better. And I'm not throwing up food, it's mostly bile. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? It's only been the past few weeks of my pregnancy. But it's terrible. I've had terrible all day morning sickness since week 6 and finally went on medication, but even the medication doesn't help. I'm hoping that it will end when my morning sickness ends but I don't know if it's just a band problem.

I did. My surgeon's policy is a complete unfill during pregnancy. I already had a complete unfill when I got pregnant due to troubles with acid reflux months before, so he just said enjoy my pregnancy and he'd see me after the baby came.

Same thing happened to me the week before I realized I was pregnant and for about a week after. Then the all day sickness kicked in and I have lost 23lbs since without trying!!! I'm now at 13 weeks and finally the all day sickness is ending and I am getting some of my appetite back and didn't throw up even once today! Now I'm excited when I'm starving and can eat a ton!!!!

People are opinionated about everything. And obviously those guys haven't dealt with weight issues their whole lives or they would be more sympathetic to our plight! As for your family....my family would probably warn anyone they met about the problems with the band. I've had a VERY difficult journey and all of them want me to get it removed. But now that I'm through what I hope is the worst of the challenges, I am still glad I made the decision. Even though I'm not at my goal weight, I know I would never be in Onederland without it and would probably be well on my way up the scale! Besides how lucky are we that we have a tool to help us lose the baby weight!

There is a lot to learn in the first year of being banded. (about yourself, the band, healthy living, stuffed emotions, etc.) Personally I would give yourself the time to process and then start the wild ride of pregnancy. My surgeon requires a complete unfill when pregnant. If the same is true for your surgeon you might want to take that into consideration too.

It's a really confusing thing for us who have struggled to lose weight most of our life! I've been so sick that I haven't started gaining yet, but my midwife is concerned that I am losing too much. Believe me I'm not dieting AT ALL!!! We've already had the talk about how it is probably going to be difficult for me to watch the scale go up. It's true. I know that I will eventually start gaining but I'm still wrapping my head around the idea of being happy about the scale going up instead of down.

I'm due Feb. 3. 11 weeks down! 29 to go!

Can't wait for the morning sickness to end..... Glad to hear your morning sickness is mellow. I on the other hand am still sick all day. It's definitely better than a couple weeks ago but still really rough. We heard the heartbeat for the first time yesterday!!! My DH thought it sounded like a train so we've nicknamed the baby CHOO-CHOO!

I recommend getting an unfill asap! I had the same problem and let it go for about 6 weeks until I got an unfill. Since then I have been struggling with acid reflux for over a year. I had never had any experience with it before and I fully attribute my problems to being too tight and ignoring it for too long. Believe me, you do not want it to get worse. I eventually had to get a complete unfill because I was having such bad reflux that I started throwing up blood from how torn up my esophagus and stomach had gotten. The prilosec and other acid reducers made it tolerable but not cured and if I forget to take them I still have problems. The band will work. No need to rush it and live so miserably!

Yep. Doesn't make any sense to me. It's not a burp, it's just a weird noise that comes from my throat. I notice it the most when I'm working because I'm in a really quiet environment.

Yes!!!! I'm over 18 months after surgery and I still get gurgling noises all the time. It's weird!

I can't vote because I already had an unfill before I got pregnant. I had terrible problems with acid reflux in December. When I got back from visiting family for the holidays I went straight to my doctors. They gave me a complete unfill. I was doing much better and planning on getting a fill in June when I found out I was pregnant. But even with no fill, I still have a little restriction at times. I'm 11 weeks pregnant and have lost 19lbs so far. I have had terrible morning sickness. My mom had the same with me and my sister so maybe it's hereditary. Just this week I finally have had some luck keeping food down or feeling well enough to eat at all. Midwife said not to worry unless I don't start getting better after the first trimester. Baby is getting all it needs, it's just me that is depleted. But now that I'm starting to eat again, I can see the light!!!

I'm currently choosing between a homebirth and a birth center. Neither will accept high risk but they have no problem that I have the Lap Band. They have more concerns with bypass patients because of the history of malnutrition. As long as my pregnancy continues as normal my surgeon says I shouldn't have any worries about becoming high risk.

I take the Metagenics chewable vitamin. It tastes like orange. I think it tastes good. Metagenics are a very good quality vitamin. You can buy them at chiropractic offices or go to metagenics.com and search where else to get them.

I'm in the nausea/sickness stage too. What's working for me is milk. Actually I don't like milk, so I've been drinking chocolate milk or Ovaltine. It has really helped. Also, Saltine crackers in every corner (my car, office, bedside table)

Most doctors recommend 12-18 months after banding before getting pregnant. I definitely agree. I was banded 10/06 and the first 6 months were a breeze! Then the next 8 months were really difficult with band related acid reflux. I am newly pregnant and very happy that I had a full year and a half of getting to know the band before adding the craziness of pregnancy to it as well.

I'm a prenatal massage specialist. It might be from the rearranging of your organs creating tension in the muscles surrounding your ribs. You can get a prenatal massage and ask them to do a deep release under your ribcage. Make sure to go to someone that has advanced training in prenatal massage otherwise they may not know what you're asking.

My family just did an intervention on me today. They are very concerned that since getting the LapBand I have become bulimic. I can't say I completely disagree. I'm writing this post because I searched for others in the same situation and mostly just found people who were justifying all the PBing and vomiting. Maybe there are others in my same situation? Here's my LapBand journey: Banded 10/05/06 at 252lbs. By May 07 was at 192lbs. I spent most of March and all of April and May throwing up daily. Living off of spoonfuls of mayo and chocolate. The only things that would stay down. I knew I needed an unfill but my life was soooooo super busy I didn't choose to see my doctor until June. June 07 I had most of my fill taken out and spent the whole summer enjoying and maintaining. I had immediately gained back 10lbs once I was able to start eating again. But I didn't care because I was feeling so much better. I maintained at 203 all summer. Only occasional vomiting. August 07 got engaged and the stress/excitement made me super tight. Vomiting and Reflux for 5 days. Went straight to doctor for complete unfill. November 07 Got a little fill again and was immediately back to my old ways of vomiting regularly. I kept ignoring it because I knew it was my fault for not following the rules and was certain my band wasn't too tight. December 07 Reflux started again really bad. Started vomiting blood. That's when I really knew I was going to have to do something serious to get ahold of the vomiting. I've been on liquids and mushies for 5 days. I haven't vomited for 3 days. Good progress, but I'm gaining weight from the mushies. So here's what I know: *I have spent the majority of my 14 months banded vomiting. *I still eat too fast, overeat, and use food to deal with things. *My body is getting the effects as if I were bulimic because of all the vomiting. *I'm not binging and purging on purpose. But I've vomited so much that my body does it without me trying. I'm not ready to give up on myself with the band, but my family wants me to get it taken out. I've agreed to go to counseling because obviously there are somethings that are keeping me in this destructive behavior. I still have at least 50lbs to lose and I really want to get there. Hopefully the counseling will help me use the band correctly and get through the emotional stuff that is keeping me stuck. By the way.... I've been on every diet you can imagine since age 8 but NEVER did anything close to bulimia before being banded. Anyways, just wanted to share. Maybe there are others out there who have felt the same???

Ironically before I got the band I had done 2 triathlons (at over 200lbs) and after the band I haven't exercised barely at all. I just started back at the gym last week and am hoping that will be the key to losing again. Not sure though. I played competitive sports until my twenties and still struggled with my weight. I mean you would think I would have lost weight while training for the triathlons??? But now that I have the band, maybe the exercise will work since I'm not able to eat as much.