band doc an integral part of pregnancy?

[hope2bhealthy 2]

Was your band doc an integral part of your pregnancy? I am just wondering because I found out last week that I am pregnant. I am hoping that I won't have to get an unfill during pregnancy, and that I won't need to consult my surgeon for anything. Not because I don't want to gain weight, but because my surgeon is not covered by my insurance.

Long story short, I have a different insurance now than I had for surgery, and my surgeon and the hospital he works at is not covered. And because I have a realize band, none of the surgeons for my new insurance will touch me.

So I am just curious if any of you had complications from the band with your pregnancies, and/or if you had to consult your surgeon often?

I am not really worried about needing an unfill because I am not very tight and I am able to eat around the band to get all the food I need. Luckily I AM tight enough that I should be able to manage to stay under the recommended 15 pound weight gain, which is good.

[JaimeSTL 4]

I've seen my band doctor and his nutritionist twice since I got pregnant. I will see the doctor every 6 weeks or so for the duration of the pregnancy. First they needed to make sure I wasn't too tight to get down enough food, which I'm not. I have not had an unfill yet. However, it seems that each week that passes I get just a little tighter and eat less (which is good because I was eating way too much). So I think eventually I will need a small unfill. My doctor said he hasn't had to unfill any of his other patients who have gotten pregnant at all. Maybe I'm wrong and I won't need one. We'll see.

I would recommend seeing your doctor and letting him know you are pregnant and be prepared for an unfill should you get too tight. I know some of the others got too tight really early in pregnancy so it can happen.

[HeatherO 7]

I immediately got super tight and needed an emergency unfill before I even knew I was pregnant. I got a slight fill again and then needed another unfill. I found that my band got extremely tight after pregnancy.

My fill nurse said I had to have a full unfill because it is their policy. I begged and pleaded and ended up with a half fill (4 cc's current compared with the original sweet spot of 8.3 cc's).

I will probably have no need to see them again until after delivery unless I need another unfill. They said they will not give me another fill (or if I really, desperately need it they will give me only .25 cc's per month if I am lucky . . . but probably not even that much).

If you want to maintain some fill, you may want to find out what their policy is on pregnancy before you go in.

[Daisalana 33]

I immediately was super tight & needed an unfill. He only took .5cc out. Beyond that, he wanted to see me once a month during the pregnancy (I am his first pregnant bander), and I would have gone had he not been so far away. It's a 3 hour drive (each way), so I didn't want to spend 6 hours every month just going and letting him see how I'm doing with my pregnancy. I also only have 2 free appointments left, so I am saving 1 for when the baby is born and I get filled back up.

I don't think it's necessary to have the band doc involved, but if my doc was local I would have probably gone to see him every other month.

[eejaydiva 3]

I haven't seen or talked to my band doc since early July, when I had my last fill, which was my sweet spot for awhile. I was feeling good. In late summer/early fall before I was preg, I noticed I was slowly being able to test the band and eat more quantities/types of food. My weight loss had slowed for sure by the time I found I was pregnant in November, but I always experience a little "loosening" of the fill in the weeks that follow it, and my weight loss also slowed because I was less motivated to behave and diet like a good bandster, so that's all my fault. I lost 50 lbs before I got preg, so I'm happy with that. My doc said very few of his preggo bandsters needed unfills during pregnancy.

A huge amount of us had issues with the band in early pregnancy. Mine was tight for a few days here and there, then fine again. I also had very little morning sickness, which you also have to consider. If you get pregnant and are sick alot, most docs will want an unfill just to protect their hard surgical work in securing the band. As you know, vomiting is known to cause band slippages and other issues like esophagus erosion. I worked with my band, behaving on mushies and smaller meals on days/weeks it was being tempermental.

Oddly, I was hungrier the first 8 weeks than I've been the past 4 weeks, which is good because I gained alot at first! Now it has tapered off and I actually lost 2 lbs. I was up 8 lbs in my first trimester! Not good when you want to only gain 15 the whole 40 wks.

I still have days where I "slime" and spit up Water when I try to eat a meal, if I rest for a few minutes and try to eat after I "slime", I'm usually fine, but I did actually PB up some food the other day, which hasn't happened to me in 6 months! My band is still tempermental, open and relaxed some days, closed and tight others. I find that if it is tight at the beginning of the day, chances are it will remain that way all day.

[HeatherO 7]

My band is still tempermental, open and relaxed some days, closed and tight others.

Mine is the same way, extremely fickle. Some days I can eat a horse, some days I can drink Water, lol.

[losingjusme 12]

my band doc left the decisions up to me (i had been banded 2+ years and he figured i knew my body/my band the best)...

in the beginning i got really tight, had unfill, then a fill then completely unfilled about 17 or so weeks (my choice)...

im glad i did get the complete unfill due to port placement and where my uterus has grown to...

good luck

[Jennie1976 1]

I honestly would have only had to see my band doctor once to do an unfill at about 20 week. Unfortunately, we found out my band was flipped and we had to do revision surgery (with NO anesthesia!!). But, I don't know if that was a complication from pregnancy or just happened.

Good luck!