four months out not pregnant but have questions...

[CJsmom84 90]

Hi everyone,

I'm not pregnant I'm on birth control. I'm being careful because they said wait 18 months. I'm worried about weight gained and post pregnancy weight loss. If you could educate me on your experiences (I'm a total planner). I am trying to swallow the thought of gaining weight. Both previous pregnancies were about 40lbs but I had gestational diabetes with both. And could not get pregnant because of fertility issues after my last, I have pcos, but I'm cycling every 28 days even without bc. Can you breast feed after? I did with my son and would love to do it again. Thanks for all your information and advice before hand.

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[pinkpeonies 42]

I had my band in and filled when I was pregnant with my second son. It was pretty text book, no issues at all. I didn't start gaining till I was about 17-18wks pregnant, and gained a total of under 20lbs. I did have to get unfilled about 4 mos into my pregnancy. By the time my 6w post partum check up came around, I'd lost all the pregnancy weight plus some.

I also have PCOS, but I don't cycle regularly (mine were forced with progesterone and femara). I was worried about milk production, but it all worked out fine. I nursed DS till he was 2, had plenty of milk (I wouldn't have known that if I was pumping, I could never express enough that way).

My OB explained that baby was getting everything he needed to grow from me, so I just needed to focus on taking care of myself.

[CJsmom84 90]

My daughter clomid and son was femara and a hormone injection. So I'm totally there with you. Well I hope I have a good experience like you. I just want to masked sure I lose all the weight afterward. Bit if I breast feed I know I should I dropped to below with my pregnancy weight with my son. I'm always scared I will gain my weight back.....

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[clk 3,519]

I used IVF w/ICSI for my twins (prior to sleeve) and did a frozen embryo transfer to get pregnant this last time with my daughter. I gave birth four weeks ago and I'd say that while my pregnancy wasn't more enjoyable now that I'm smaller, the recovery was fantastic compared to past pregnancies.

I developed gestational diabetes with my twin pregnancy that did not resolve afterward until I had my VSG. This time around my blood sugar was better than a non-pregnant lady so that was no concern.

I was a big gainer with past pregnancies - 97 pounds with my first single, more than 80 pounds with my twins - but only gained 32 pounds with this pregnancy. Within a week I'd lost 18 pounds and now at 29 days out from delivery I only have 9 pounds left to be back at my pre-pregnancy weight and I'm already in my size small and 5/6 clothes again (though I admit they aren't the form-fitting ones yet).

If you're diligent about your habits you will remain in control. I was able to eat quite a bit more during pregnancy than I am postpartum, but I still eat very little. Max, about a cup of food in a meal and that's if half the meal is soft enough to slide. I wasn't as strict as I could have been while pregnant but I kept weighing daily like I was in maintenance to stay on top of things and I kept trying to eat right at least 80% of the time. It seems to have worked, even though I really wanted to gain less than 32 pounds. In fairness, though, I think that being on progesterone shots for nearly two months is partly to blame for my weight gain. I put on nearly half of it before five months and then slowly gained the rest through the last months of pregnancy.

I am pumping (and still diligently attempting to get this child to nurse) and have had absolutely no problems with supply or getting enough nutrition for the baby. She's gaining very nicely and has already outgrown her newborn clothes.

You'll do fine, and in my opinion waiting is the best thing you can do. I feel that it would have been near impossible for me to eat enough to stay healthy if I'd gotten pregnant sooner because I never had a large capacity post op. I also didn't have my lab numbers in a good place until more than a year out. The longer those good habits are ingrained, the less chance you have of falling back and getting sloppy or using pregnancy as an excuse to do all those things you know you shouldn't be doing.

Good luck, and many ladies here have increased fertility post op, so perhaps you'll find your PCOS isn't as much an issue this time around as before.

~Cheri

[CJsmom84 90]

Thanks Cheri,

Your insight is very helpful. I'm glad to hear you didn't have nearly the compilations ie diabetes with this pregnancy. And have lost weight and are able to pump. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. Again, I appreciate your feed back

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