D.B.
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Hi Everyone-
I am trying to understand what complications a stomach reduction (gastric bypass) surgery could have on a pregnancy? It is my understanding that a patient is suppose to wait 2 years prior to getting pregnant. How strick is that? Timeframes are a 1 year anniversay in November this year and baby's due date is late April/beginning of May 2012.
This is not for myself, but my SIL.
Thanks.
~C.
PS. For those of you doing the math, she is somewhere around 5 weeks right now and I do not believe she has had her first appointment with her OB.
PPS. She is trying to figure out what questions she needs to ask. Thanks in advance.
All I can say is "WOW"!! I have never asked a question where a few folks are quite so rude! This is a brand new soon-to-be Mom who is scared and concerned and I was looking to provide her with some positive feedback/success stories and tips/things to ask. Her OB is not interested in seeing her until the 8 week mark (which is typical) so she is left feeling alone and unsure what to ask when she finally gets there. I have had three births mysself, but not the complicating factor of gastric bypass so I cannot be of any help during this early pre-appointment stage. I am constantly talking about how wonderful this site is... Kinda makes you wonder...
ANYWAY....
@GeriM, I will tell her to ask specifically about the nutrients and suppliments. That is a good idea. I will also tell her to be more conscious of any vomiting/morning sickness as this sounds like it could be an increased cause for concern from a nutrients ____@____.com is a great positive story and she will be glad to know that things can turn out well as loing as she works vigilently with both the OB/GYN and her gastric doctor.
God bless you both for taking the time and providing such good insight. I will pass along the advice and the good vibes.
.
This is something that will have to be discussed with and monitored by her doctor.
She should consider going to an OB/GYN that has experience with patients with Gastric Bypass, or even specializes gastric bypass. I've had gastric bypass before I got pregnant for the second time. Two years is ideal because having this done is super major on the body. In order for the body to be strong enough to carry out a pregnancy is one of the reasons why they say to wait.
For me, having gastric bypass, everything was great until that second pregnancy. It made it harder to get nutrition in my body as my stomach is really small, and then having the baby push up on my stomach made for some very 'light' eating. I anticipated having PPD, post partum depression and asked if I could be proactive on this and be on a antidepressant. I was put on Lexapro. It works great for some people, and not so great for other. As lexapro worked really well mentally, it created A LOT of GI (gastrointestinal) side effects and I went down hill from there. Having gastric bypass has left me with a few complications that I wasn't aware of before I had the surgery.
Now if you're inquiring about this pertaining to the 'birth' of the baby, my birth went really well. However, I had a C-section done because I had gestational diabetes. But being pregnant and having my baby didn't affect my having gastric bypass where i regreted it.
If your SIL got pregnant before the doctor advised her to do so, before the two year anniversary, she may need a little more attention and prenatal care.
Gastric Bypass affects people differently. She should immediately talk with her Surgeon that did her gastric bypass along with her OB/GYN.
Oh, also because her stomach is smaller, she needs to take vitamins every day. Now that she is pregnant, baby will take most of her nutrition away from her. So one of the questions she should ask is how she can keep up with her nutrition/vitamins to where the baby doesn't deplete her body's need.
A lot of people can have this surgery, get pregnant and not have any complications whatsoever. But since she got pregnant before the two year anniversary, she really needs to go see her gastric bypass specialist.
My best friend had it done and about a year later got pregnant, her and her hubby had been trying for a few years. She now has a healthy 2 year old boy. The only issue she had was EXTREME vommiting because she had to eT a certain amount but couldn't eat but a little. She did see her dr more often then a normal pregnancy because the surgery strips your body of the ability to store nutrients. Hope your SIL pregnancy goes well!
If she can't get in to see the OB/GYN, surely she can consult with the doctor who performed her bypass surgery. He could likely give her a referral to an OB who specializes in these things.
That's what I would do.
The only medical issues I can think of is that this surgery takes awhile to get to a plateau where weight loss stabilizes more, the many surgical changes are healed enough to also be stable, etc... During a pregnancy, weight loss of up to 20lbs before gaining can be within normal limits - but gastric bypass weight loss can be steep and constant until it plateaus - which is NOT good for a pregnancy. You also are very limited with how much you can eat and habits can take a year or two to stabilize also (I know 2 ppl with this surgery who will still choose junk food instead of healthy food because they can only eat such a small amount and they are craving fats, salt and sugars).
Congrats to your sister in law. If she's able to eat well then she shouldn't have a problem. She'll need to make sure all her food choices are high in protein and vitamins so no junk. And make sure she stays well hydrated because dehydration can cause a lot of problems.
Make sure her ob knows about the gastric bypass so that he/she can assist her in making sure she's getting proper care for her condition.
She'll be holding a new baby in her arms in no time at all and you'll be wondering what you all were so worried about.
