Pregnant and Banded...come join me!

[juno610 1]

Wheetsin - thanks for posting that fish oil info! I ended up getting some softgels from GNC, and so far my band is tolerating them. I do feel some restriction coming back gradually, so I may be looking for something like for my next batch of DHA.

[lisalu 0]

I got an Enfamil sample of fish oil yesterday. Haven't tried it yet, big, red gel tabs. Don't know that they will be any beter then what I have already tried. I ordered a Doppler fetal moniter from Ebay yesterday. My fiance works out of state during the week and can't make Dr. Appts with me. It was only $33 and I would love for him to hear the baby's heartbeat. Wonder how it went for Jodie today.

[juno610 1]

Just wanted to share with y'all... I had my 20 week u/s today. I'm having a girl! :tt2:

[losingitforlife 0]

Hi guys,

I feel like I have just been hit and hard!! I have been having a burning in the back of my throat, my Dr. who is in Mexico suggested I might have reflux and to try making some changes to my eating and possibly some prilosec. So that got me thinking, how can I get a slight unfill if I need one AFTER I'm pregnant. How can I get fluro etc. The pt coordinator just emailed me back and said Dr. Aceves recommends a complete unfill BEFORE getting pregnant. He went through the chances of having morning sickness and vomiting and then slipping the band, then not being able to have surgery to fix it because of the pregnancy. He also talked about the chances of needing an unfill a few month into the pregnancy and not being able to do fluro and then the possibility of puncturing the tubing because it would be a blind unfill and then having a damaged band etc etc. His pt coordinator ended the email with saying of course this is the WORST case scenario but better to get a total unfill and be on the safe side.

I talked to my husband about it tonight and he is adamant that I follow the Dr.'s orders and said, "I'm not spending $5000 on IVF only to have something go wrong with you or the babies" UGH

I just wanted to float through this IVF and pregnancy and gain 10-15lbs and be a cute little "all baby" prego girl. I don't want to gain all my weight back and start over. UGH I'm also stretching to come up with all the money for the IVF in July, I didn't budget another $500 for an unfill.

Any advice out there?? Thanks for listening!!:redface:

[lisalu 0]

Congrats on the girl Juno! When are you due and do you have any kids already?

Cyrena - pretty name by the way. I can only speak for myself in that my lapband surgeon ok'd me for a fill while I am 11 weeks pregnant because I have gained a lot of weight, being very loose since January.

On the other hand, my OB says - get the fill if you want, but why risk a healthy pregnancy and malnurishing your baby. He said this "80% of Americans are obese, don't worry about the weight gain", so I'm not going to. I have the band as a tool to help me loose the weight after pregnancy. What do you want more? A small, cute pregnant body or a healthy baby?

If money weren't an issue, would you follow the doc's orders & get the unfill if it were free?

I don't get fills/unfills using fluro. My doc just feels for the port & sticks the needle in, then I drink Water to make sure it can go down. No sweat. I will probaby get a complete unfill when I feel I need it, probably around 7 months. Read all of the posts on this thread, it might help you decide from other banders experiences.

If you are truly having reflux though, you should probably get an unfill. Sometimes, I just need someone to make the call for me. Sounds like your doc and your hubby already have!

[losingitforlife 0]

lisalu,

Thanks for the compliment. Yes, of course you are right I want a healthy baby. If it were free for fills I would do it in a heart beat. I think I would still whine because I really don't want to gain all this weight back. But again you made another good point, this is temporary, 9 short months in comparison to keeping my band safe for a life time.

I have been thinking the reflux isn't right and I maybe a little too tight. I was so insistent on getting my last fill to get those last few pounds off. UGH :redface:

I'm really struggling with thoughts of where to have my fill. I can go to my local Dr. - not the one that did my surgery - for about $150 or I can fly back to my Dr. in Mexicali for about $500-600. On one hand, I have had a fill locally and they did the same thing as you - one quick poke, in an out, all done. Then I had one locally and got the new girl, and she dug and dug and was horrible, I called the dr and they said that girl doesn't even work there anymore. I would ask to see the surgeon there who is the one that did my first fill. OK so all that said, the local dr. has nothing "invested" in making sure my band is safe, if they accidentally hit the tubing or something, they don't care, not their problem. If I go back to Mexicali, they truly care, I have had a fill there and they are so concerned about their patients, they want only the best, they are more proactive (ie fluro) to make sure nothing can happen to your band. UGH. Sorry for the vent session, I guess I'm down to trying to figure out who should do my unfill. UGH.

Thanks for your thoughts, and your right, I just needed to hear that the decision is made. :hurt:

[losingitforlife 0]

Juno, how exciting!!! Do you have any other kids???

[juno610 1]

This is my first! I'm due September 15. Hard to believe it's already halfway here!

[blacdimin 0]

Hi everyone my name is Brandy I was banded 6 months ago and I am trying for a baby. I know the doctors dont reccomend you get pregnant until after a year has passed but me and my fiance just can't wait anymore. I have found an excellent fertility doctor but because he is not very familiar with the whole banding system he requested 2 things before we proceed. 1. A letter from the doctor who did my band saying health wise it is ok for me to get pregnant so soon after being banded and 2. A letter from a fetal medicine doctor who has dealt with pregnant women who have been less then 1 year out of the banding process. Ok so I went to my band doctor his name is Dr. Strom and he is located in Montclair, NJ though he wished I would wait and finish my fills and get down to my desired weight goal then begin the babymaking process. But I have waited long enough I have been wanting another child for almost 2 years. The reason I didnt undergo the fertility treatment, have my child, then get the band because the doctor I had prior to my fertility doctor made me believe my case was way more serious and I thought I might spend years trying to have another child. So I made the decision to go ahead and get the band then deal with the fertility issues. Well as it turns out my fertility issue is not serious at all and can be corrected. With this in mind you can imagine everyday is like hell for me and my fiance who want to get started right away but because of the band and the 1 year suggested wait we have been trying to be patient. Aw the hell with it I decided last week I want to go ahead I can't wait anymore when I see babies I tear up its time now. I thought my band doctor would give me a hard time but he said " though I wish you would wait I see no medical ramification to your or the child if you get pregnant" so he gave me the clearance letter for my fertility doctor. Now finding this fetal medicine doctor who has had exp with pregnant women not at the 1 yr mark that has not been easy I dont know where to start. So I figured if I ask some women who are banded and see if I can find any who concieved before the suggested year I might be able to find a doctor who can give me this clearance letter. So I guess I am asking is there anyone out there who concieved within the 1st year of being banded that has a doctor in New Jersey because that is where I am from?

[j_war06 0]

I had the BABY!!! Fallon Jo is HERE!! She was born Tuesday April 22! :thumbs_down: She ended up being a healthy 5lbs 14oz, 18in! Im trying to put a pic on this posting, Im going to see if it works. If it does, this a pic about 15mins after I delivered her. When I feel better Ill tell my story, its pretty good, lets just say I cant do anything normal :cursing: lol! BTW, she was born at 6:42pm, almost exactly 12hours in labor from first contraction to delivery (my oxytocin was started at 6:45am)

Edited April 24, 2008 by j_war06

[juno610 1]

Yay! Congrats Jodie! She's so cute!!!!

Can't wait to hear your story :crying:

[jillrn 0]

She is so cute! Congrats! Cant wait to hear your birth story!

[lisalu 0]

Congrats Jodie. I want to hear all about it too. I'm starting to fear labor a bit. Though I know its intense pain for a temporary period of time, I just don't look forward to it. I'm all about using the drugs though, bring on the epidheral.

Cyrena - if it were me, I'd go for the less expensive unfill. You don't have to get a complete unfill, just enough to feel better & get rid of the reflux. The same local doc can do a complete unfill when you need it. After reading this thread, pregnancy didn't affect most people's bands, no one wrote about vomiting & slippage during pregnancy. My doc told me there is no risk in the needle slipping & hurting the babe, since baby is not near my port. I think its safe for you to get a slight unfill now with the local doc & do a complete unfill later if you need it. Maybe you just need to establish an on-going relationship with the local dr. - But, then again, this is all just my opinion. You have to do whatever gives you peace of mind.

[losingitforlife 0]

Jodie - How beautiful you both are!! Congrats!!

Lisalu - Thanks for the advice. I called today to find out about the local surgeon to do my unfill under fluro, it looks like it will be about $350 compared to about $700 to fly back to Mexico. I honestly have a gut feeling like, I should just go to my local dr and quit worrying so much, how can you miss a port that sticks out like mine??!!?? LOL I don't know about keeping any of my fill, I think my husband would kill me, but I'm already having thoughts of Pasta that I haven't been able to eat in a year. It can't be good for me to be totally unfilled :rolleyes2: :cry_smile: Thanks for your thoughts!

[ltrejo69 0]

Hi everyone I would just like to share my banded and pregnant story with you all. I decided to get banded after my younger sister did it first in December 06. She lost about 30 pounds her first 3 months so that was enough convincing for me. I got banded on March 15, 2007. During the first few months after the surgery I would ask my sister do you ever feel nausea or pains in your stomach. She would tell me she would never feel anything like that. Well for a few days in August of 07 I wasn't feeling good. I was getting a pain in my chest so I decided one night to go in to the hospital thinking something was wrong with my band. Come to find out on August 14, 2007 that I was 4 months pregnant to my surprise. That now explains the nausea...LOL! I had already lost 40 pounds since being banded. So I actually lost 40 pounds my first 4 months of pregnancy. The same day I found out I went in and had all my fill removed. The OB/GYN checked the baby and she was growing perfectly fine. Now I have a 3 month old at home and couldn't be happier. I went back for my first fill a month after haveing her and then went in for a second fill a month after the first. Now I am at the same fill I was at prior to having the baby. The only problem I am having now is I still haven't lost any more weight. I gained about 25 lbs during my pregnancy but within a month after having her(without being banded) I had lost 15 lbs of that. Now I am about 10 lbs shy from where I was prepregancy but I seem to be stuck at this weight. Although I am back to the same feel I can still eat compared to before. I'm not sure why this is. Has this happened to anyone else? I'm scheduled to go in for another fill next week. My thought on this is that since this was the fill I was at and pretty much the same weight I need another feel to continue loosing weight. Anyway just thought I would share my story since it is different. By the way thought I should mention she is my miracle baby. My husband I have been togeather 12 years and I didn't think I could have kids cause I have PCOS. So even if I don't loose more weight it was worth paying the $$$ to end up with my baby! That's how I see it.:rolleyes2: