So basically all my life I've been told that I need to eat less food. Less sugar, less substance, just less. I'm a bored eater so I eat when there isn't anything else to do. This has caused me problems. I have always been big, my biggest was 200 + lbs overweight a few years ago. I tried dieting. I developed many bad ways to lose weight. I finally decided that enough was enough and asked my Dr. to recommend me for Gastric Bypass. Which he did, which I had done, and in that three years I've lost a lot of weight, and feel great. I was happy with my weight before Zach. My greatest fear when I found out I was pregnant with Zach was that I was going to gain all this weight back. I have gained weight since being pregnant. For the first time since the surgery. Total so far has been 28 lbs and I'm almost done with the pregnancy so I think I've done pretty good. But for the first time I have experienced complicatations because of the gastric bypass. Nothing big, just eye opening. Here's a few things to think about for those who get pregnant after the surgery.
1. Tell all your doctors, all the time that you've had gastric so that they are aware. Even if its in your record. Everyone should know. My OB wasn't aware and suggested tests that weren't good for me. Which leads to number 2.
2. Do not take the sugar glucose test drink to find out if you have gestational diabetes. Because of the surgery your results will be thrown out. Most likely your blood sugar will spike with a high reading and then drop very low. You will also most likely get sick. (Within 30 minutes I experienced throwing up and diaharrea). After the 3 hour glucose drink I walked out of Kaiser with a blood sugar level low enough to make me pass out. To find out if you do have G.D. gastric patients have to test their own blood. My blood has turned out clean since then but I'm still on the G.D diet-which leads to number 3.
3. You still cannot eat a lot of food for breakfast lunch and dinner. It is up to you to eat more food during the day to keep you and baby healthy. This means intentionally packing snacks for your day. At every OB appointment my urine was showing that I had high amounts of ketones. The OB basically explained that this means that basically my body is starving. She put me on with the Kaiser nutritionist who put me on a special diet where I'm eating more often during the day. This is still very hard. The OB basically said that if I go in one more time with high ketones they are going to put me on an IV to help me get hydrated and healthy. So they want me to eat more. For the first time in my life, people are saying eat more. This mentality is especially hard because of my past, my fears, and my issues. Eat more. Be intentional about eating. WHAT??
4. Keep up on your vitamins. You may have to double up on prenatals. Because of the surgery your body doesn't absorb the multivitamins well. So you want to make sure to take them everyday, sometimes more than you have to and be intentional about your babies health. Right now I'm taking Calcium and Vitamin D because I can't drink milk. 2 Irons because I'm anemic. B-12 (for life), Vitamin C (for life), Vitamin A (while pregnant your levels go down and I was low), and 2 prenatals-for more of what I need.
5. Keep up with your nutritionist at your doctor. Be in contact with them on a regular basis. Make sure they know you are pregnant with gastric and ask if their are any services for help. I was 7 months pregnant before I found out that Kaiser offered a free program where Gastric patients who are pregnant can be followed by a nutritionist making sure that I'm eating right, baby is getting enough vitamins, and that G.D. isn't in the picture. She calls me once a week to chat. :)
6. Because you've had gastric you may have a lot of skin. Don't worry yourself to death when the 7th month comes around and people are still telling you that you don't look pregnant. You may just be carrying differently. I had a lot of room to fill out before I started showing (about month 8).
So I think that's all the advice I could give. Pregnancy and gastric is a wild ride but worth it. Its worth eating more often. It's worth gaining weight. It's worth all the worry. Zach will be here soon. I'm praying for a healthy baby boy.
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