Since I have had a lot of trouble finding information about pregnancy with the lap band, I thought I'd share my experience on here . . .
My lap band surgery was on 11/12/10, I found out I was pregnant at the end of June 2011. So, it was only about 7 months after my surgery. At the time I became pregnant, I had lost about 25 pounds and my lap band had 7.5 cc's in it.
Right now, I am 33 weeks pregnant and my total weight gain has been around 8 pounds. This is my 3rd pregnancy and I'm 35 years old . . . my other children were born when I was 27 and 29. Also, I gained around 37 pounds with each pregnancy. With my first pregnancy, I lost all but 5 pounds of my pregnancy weight. But, with my 2nd, I only lost about 10 pounds and unfortunately continued to gain weight . . . hence, the need for my lap band.
I have not had any of the fill taken out but I have had a lot of trouble eating. When I was around 23 weeks pregnant, I did call my lap band doctor to inquire about having some of the flll removed. But, I was told that he would remove all the fill if I came in . . . so I decided to just eat the foods that I knew would not bother me (i.e. make me throw up). Also, I drink a lot of the Muscle Milk light . . . especially if I've had difficulty with a previous meal that day. I eat a lot of Soup, sandwiches wrapped in lettuce (Jimmy John's Un-Wich - yum!!), and salads. Before I became pregnant, bread still was not a big problem for me . . . but I cannot eat it at all now.
I did not want to have all the fill removed because my insurance will no longer cover anything related to my lap band. So, I would have to pay to have it removed and then after the delivery / nursing, he would not put all 7.5 cc's in at one time. Then, I'd have to pay for several visits to get back to the 7.5 cc level.
But, my OB has been watching me VERY carefully, including bloodwork to check all my nutrition levels. So, I definitely have been eating, etc . . .
Both of my current children were born at 37 weeks and I've been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, so I think that this baby will also be born around 37 weeks.
Anyway, I'd love to hear other people's stories . . . especially how much weight you gained while pregnant and how quickly it came off after delivery.
I think I've lost weight during this pregnancy since I'm at 33 weeks with 8 pounds gained . . . my ultrasound last week came up with a current baby weight of 4 lb 3 oz.
My only fear right now is something happening to my lap band during delivery . . . I really cannot find any information out there regarding what might happen during delivery to your lap band.