Pregnancy question

livinglifelikeitsgolden · June 12, 2011

What would happen if one got pregnant too soon after WLS?

TijuanaPlication · June 12, 2011

It'd stall your weight loss. If it's really early out before you can consume much of anything you could get deficiencies as they baby will get the nutrients it needs and it's the mother who will have the problems.

I think most people should be easily able to get sufficient nutrients through food and supplements by the time they're a month out, so the big deal would be that your 'window of opportunity' for losing weight would be closed by the time you had the baby.

Tiffykins · June 12, 2011

The key to pregnancy after weight loss surgery is to ensure you can consume nutrients and calories so your body does NOT suffer through the pregnancy. The baby will pull everything from you. During the losing stage, most patients are in ketosis from eating low carb/high Protein diets. It's essential to get out of ketosis immediately as it causes fetal brain damage. Many continue to lose weight through the first 2 trimesters and then might see a gain of true baby weight in the 3rd trimester.

Muscle wasting, hair loss and teeth/enamel weakening are often common when the mother can not physically consume enough food/nutrients. I'm 19 weeks pregnant, and 2 years post-op. For my normal pregnancy weight of 125-130lbs, I am to eat 1700-1800 calories per day with a minimum of 100gr of Protein and 100gr of carbs. I have had a solid 10lb gain with the pregnancy. I have been lucky to have zero nausea, or morning sickness therefore I have had zero issues eating enough to support my body and the baby. Sprout actually weighs 2oz more than most 18 week old babies per my last ultrasound on 3 June. My labs are stellar for vitamin/nutrient levels, and all my metabolic panels are normal. I have an idiopathic clotting disorder that effects my hemoglobin and platelet counts, and they are still trying to figure out how to manage this condition through the pregnancy. My Iron levels are perfect as are my Vitamin A, B(s), folate and Vit D & D3 levels which are all essential for a healthy environment for a developing baby.

There are a lot of WLS patients that conceive early out and suffer no ill effects. You just need to be monitored carefully especially your labs as the baby will pull from you everything it needs to thrive and grow. Vitamin deficiencies in pregnancy are very dangerous, and can happen fairly quickly.

Jolanda · June 21, 2011

Another thing is that you should not diet while pregnant as it could possibly cause your baby to be predisposed to diabetes later in life. So until you're pretty much at goal and you need less calories to maintain your weight you'd effectively be dieting (simply because at least for me it would have been hard to get in 1800 calories a day the first five months or so after the sleeve).

I'm about 20 months out and 7 weeks pregnant at the moment. The best way to combat queasiness is to eat a little food regularly, and I've been doing that since the sleeve anyway, so that's fine. Lately I've had these absurd cravings for cheese... I'm resigned to probably gaining some weight during the pregnancy but I'm confident I'll manage to lose it afterwards, as the sleeve really does make it easy.

livinglifelikeitsgolden · July 23, 2011

Thanks all for ur informative comments. I was wondering because I hate BC but GOD hasn't seen fit so its a blessing. I do want one in a couple of years.