A couple questions about pregnancy with the lap band?

[TanksMama 3]

I'm sure these questions have been answered but... I don't feel like searching.

First let me say that I am not pregnant, me and my husband have been trying to convince for over three years. However, with my weight being at it was, I was not ovulating correctly. I have lost 50lbs and my fertility specialist says that I am ovulating regularly now, and can conceive at this point... at any time.

I got the lap band 6 months ago. I am at a good fill, I can eat what I want...but I just eat about 1/4 of what I use to eat.

I am starting to finally exercise and I am considered 'healthy'. I am no longer on any medication. My blood pressure is down and at a good range.

with that being said... I had some questions.

*Has anybody got pregnant this short into the lap band?*

-Like I said, it has only been 6 months. I know that my research recommends a year after surgery, but if possible I do not want to wait

*Does your band have to be completely 'open' while pregnancy?*

-I know that my mother had me while she had her stomach stapled(which I know is a completely different surgery) but she couldn't get the right nutritions for me and I was born at only 3lbs. Can you keep a fill in the band while you are pregnant without hurting the baby?

*Has anyone experienced a 'slip' while pregnant?*

-While pregnant, a lot of women have morning sickness and vomit. I know that vomiting is a risk for a 'slip'.

*Can the baby get tangled in the cord to the port?*

*Women who HAVE HAD BABIES while on the lap band... did you lose your baby weight faster than someone who does not have a lap band?*

And any other information would be greatly appreciated!!!

THANK YOU!!!

[desireeallen 0]

I'm sure these questions have been answered but... I don't feel like searching.

First let me say that I am not pregnant, me and my husband have been trying to convince for over three years. However, with my weight being at it was, I was not ovulating correctly. I have lost 50lbs and my fertility specialist says that I am ovulating regularly now, and can conceive at this point... at any time.

I got the lap band 6 months ago. I am at a good fill, I can eat what I want...but I just eat about 1/4 of what I use to eat.

I am starting to finally exercise and I am considered 'healthy'. I am no longer on any medication. My blood pressure is down and at a good range.

with that being said... I had some questions.

*Has anybody got pregnant this short into the lap band?*

-Like I said, it has only been 6 months. I know that my research recommends a year after surgery, but if possible I do not want to wait

*Does your band have to be completely 'open' while pregnancy?*

-I know that my mother had me while she had her stomach stapled(which I know is a completely different surgery) but she couldn't get the right nutritions for me and I was born at only 3lbs. Can you keep a fill in the band while you are pregnant without hurting the baby?

*Has anyone experienced a 'slip' while pregnant?*

-While pregnant, a lot of women have morning sickness and vomit. I know that vomiting is a risk for a 'slip'.

*Can the baby get tangled in the cord to the port?*

*Women who HAVE HAD BABIES while on the lap band... did you lose your baby weight faster than someone who does not have a lap band?*

And any other information would be greatly appreciated!!!

THANK YOU!!!

HI, I am not sure how much help I will be able to be to you but I will try. I had lapband surgery 9 months ago in August but did not get my first fill until February. I had lost about 30 pounds on my own since I had my surgery until I had my band filled and was at a platue so I went ahead and had a fill. (my first and only fil so far) On April 9th I found out I was 4 weeks pregnant. At the beginning I had a little trouble because my band felt so tight that anything I ate made me sick but not pregnant sick just my band is too tight sick. My OB said to drink ensure drinks in place of meals and figure out what to do with the band. It seemed like as soon as I got ahold of my band doctor I did not have any more problems with it so with that being said we decided that IF myself and my OB felt that I was getting enough nutrition for me and the baby we did not want to let out the band any unless I had more problems. I am now 13 weeks and have had no more problems with my band at all. I had to change up my Vitamins a little and I eat a lot more meals through out the day but myself and the baby are fine. I have lost about 12 pounds since I found out I was pregnant but my OB says that is fine since I am still considered over weight. Any ways like I said I am very early on in my pregnancy and have a long way to go but so far so good.

[crazydaisy0729 1]

Hello,

I will attempt to answer your questions as best I can given my own experiences. I was banded in January '10 (no prior problems conceiving however). I've been TTC since August 2010 and succeeded in February of this year. My baby is due in November. My lowest was 97 lbs down from prior to surgery and I'm currently 93 lbs down (gained four lbs since being pregnant). My WL dr's stance is, if there are no problems, stay filled to your current fill. I had had my current fill since September of last year. At about 12 weeks along, I started being extremely tight all the time (I think it was due to the increase in hormones from the placenta) so I elected to get an unfill. They took out more than I would have liked, since now I have no restriction, but it is for the good of the baby. Baby is currently measuring on track though.

*Has anybody got pregnant this short into the lap band?*

I got pregnant after 13 months. My dr (both WL and OBGYN) both recommend that your weight stabilize for a couple months before TTC. I didn't really follow this :-\

-Like I said, it has only been 6 months. I know that my research recommends a year after surgery, but if possible I do not want to wait

*Does your band have to be completely 'open' while pregnancy?*

-I know that my mother had me while she had her stomach stapled(which I know is a completely different surgery) but she couldn't get the right nutritions for me and I was born at only 3lbs. Can you keep a fill in the band while you are pregnant without hurting the baby?

No, the band does not have to be open. I still have a fill of 3 mL in my 10 ML band. I had 6.2 up until 14 weeks along.

*Has anyone experienced a 'slip' while pregnant?*

-While pregnant, a lot of women have morning sickness and vomit. I know that vomiting is a risk for a 'slip'.

Not me...but I was lucky enough to only get sick due to ms one or two times. I started pb'ing a lot early 2nd trimester so I had an unfill.

*Can the baby get tangled in the cord to the port?*

No...the baby is safely tucked inside the uterus (think of it like a bubble).

*Women who HAVE HAD BABIES while on the lap band... did you lose your baby weight faster than someone who does not have a lap band?*

I haven't had my baby yet

[MrsBurgos 1]

Wow thank you original poster! These are all the same questions I have! I think I maybe pregnant - I'm waiting to see if I'm pregnant... And am about 6mnth post op as well.

Please anyone else share your knowledge??? thanks to those who did!

[Taterbugsmom 0]

Hello.... I am 25 weeks pregnant and had surgery in July 10'. I had lost a total of 78 lbs when I discovered I was pregnant. I went through some terrible morning, noon & night sickness in the first few months so had to have a total unfill. I am now back up to 6 cc's in my band and feel very minimal restriction. I really want to go get more since I have a hard time restricting myself from overeating but with being pregnant my emotions are all over the place so I am afraid to get more because my band has a habit of getting tighter with the smallest amount of stress.

Sadly, I have put back on over 40 lbs EEK but I try not to let it bother me since I know I got the weight off once... I have hope I'll do it again once the baby arrives.

It's my understanding the baby doesn't interfere with your port however I have felt some weird movement of my port since I have been able to feel the baby moving around more frequently. I assume something internal is just shifting around it? It doesn't cause pain, just a weird feeling if that makes sense? It seems everyday my port pokes out a little more which has begun to be very comical with people touching my belly and assume it's the babies foot lol

Hope that helps Best of luck to you!

[goddesscordelia 30]

I will try to answer some of your questions. I was much farther along, over 2 years out from my original surgery when I got pregnant. So that part is different but the rest applies.

Weight loss history. 376 when banded (1/08), down as low as 250 but then in 09 (8/09) my band broke, I regained about 40 and then had revision surgery in 10/09. (Band breakage was not my fault-just really bad luck). Got down to about 265 and then got pregnant (5/10). Now am hovering around 330. (Ugh)

I had an "unfill" at about 4 weeks along. It was not total but had the effect of being total-I really did not have enough restriction to stop me from much. I gained about 100 lbs during my pregnancy (just like I did with my first son 9 years earlier). My doc actually wanted to remove a bit less than I asked him to but I had gotten so bloated at the beginning that I could not really even drink much for days so was literally starving when I got my unfill and thus not very rational. It does not have to be completely open, you will have to check with your doctor and OB and preferably have them in agreement with you.

I did not slip and have not known anyone who did. I think that they way they put bands in now, by stitching the band to the stomach make is very unlikely for a slip to occur. I vomitted plenty.

I did not have any medical complications due to my weight other than my being huge. I had my baby on Jan 31, 2011.

The band cord is in a totally different part of your body so the baby does not even get near it let alone get tangled in it (I asked my doc the same question!)

I have had a horrible time losing after having my son. I lost 40 lbs in the first 6 weeks and have plateaued since then (it's now been 6 mos). I am terrified of getting a fill because I am loving nursing and am really committed to it and do not want anything to mess that up. So still have not decided about when to get a fill.

If I can help in any way-let me know! Good luck!

[HeatherO 7]

I got pregnant at 9 months out and had a lot of problems with band tightness. I ended up with a complete unfill. Even with the unfill, I had a slip at the end of pregnancy and had to have my band replaced. You can definitely slip during pregnancy and banding along with being pregnant is hard.

I wouldn't suggest doing it before a years time at a minimum. Many people have problems during pregnancy. It is better to let your body to adjust to having the band before going through the strains of pregnancy on top of it. Also, there have been many complaints about being able to get to the "sweet spot" after being pregnant, even if you were there prior to pregnancy.

I wasn't banded when my first son was born, gained 80 pounds or so and (prior to banding) I never returned to the pre-pregnancy weight. After he was born, I began my "overweight to obese" portion of my adult life.

However, with my band baby I gained about 35 pounds during pregnancy but lost it all over the summer that my daughter was born. I was around 150 or so when I got pregnant, was 185+ on the day of delivery and now, two years later, I weighed in at 133 this morning. It did come off very fast with banding and I weigh less now than I did prior to pregnancy.