Don’t buy into all the hype…
I will start out saying, I have a perfect, beautiful baby
boy, and my recovery time after the c-section and tubal wasn’t bad at all.
HOWEVER, I have a bone to pick with those big promises I read about…
1.
Women who get pregnant after having gastric bypass
surgery aren’t likely to have gestational diabetes. WRONG. At least for me. I
had type 2 diabetes for 12 years, it hit the worst during and after my first
pregnancy. My blood sugar has been under control ever since I got my weight
down (yay). So merrily we are trotting along with this pregnancy, nice normal
blood sugar, until I hit 160 pounds (9 weeks til delivery) then it steadily,
exponentially crept up, despite the fact that my DAILY sugar intake was under
30gms (my calories were around 1600 despite being told they should be around
2200). So on Glyburide I went, luckily no insulin. So it could have been worse,
but still, I was under the impression that I would be in the clear. Not that a
doctor told me so, I read an article about it, infact this whole rant is about
articles I read, supposedly written by doctors, though none of them mine.
2.
Babies born to a born after she has had WLS tend
to be smaller than babies born to obese mothers. Hmm, WRONG AGAIN. My first
son, born 3 weeks early was 7 lbs, 9 oz, I was around 240 lbs when I delivered
him (180 when I got pregnant). My newest son, born 3 days early was 9 lbs, 1 oz
and with him I was about 170 when I delivered (142 when I got pregnant).
Remember, there was NO INSULIN involved with this pregnancy so we can’t blame
that lovely growth hormone. He’s a big guy (at his two month check-up he
weighed in at 14 lbs, 11 oz), and I wouldn’t change a thing about him, but I was
told he’d be smaller. Now, he may have the reduced risk of diabetes later in
life, and he might be thinner than his brother when they grow up, but I don’t
know if either of these promises will deliver either.
So here are the pro’s so far:
·
Delivery was easier (okay so it was a scheduled
c-section but still easier). They took their time and didn’t push me to have
him earlier
·
Recovery was easier too, both boys were delivered
via c-section (the first one being emergency)
·
We had lung maturity! No NICU time for this
little man
·
He nursed while I was in recovery (not really a
plus, but he was born with low blood sugar and needed to feed ASAP, but he
latched on immediately and nursed, albeit lazily)
·
He is still nursing and prefers me over the
bottle!!
·
Exercise doesn’t dry up my milk like it did with
the first time around, I’m guessing this has something to do with diabetes
·
The diabetes went away when the baby came out, I
was able to eat what I wanted in the hospital, put on a regular diet but made
good choices
The only real downside was, no NSAIDs after, so the swelling
took forever to come down. The upside was extra morphine and Percocet, but that
made for a very lazy baby… He’s still very chill, and extra precious. I worked
really hard on this guy, and I’m so glad he’s finally here. His brother adores
him and tries so hard to help out, but he’s four…
So the summary? While the surgery saved my life and helped
me reach my goals, it did NOT make my pregnancy any easier, in fact I got more
of the bad side effects with it than I did when I was fat and unhealthy. But it
was worth it. I’m healthier for it, I’m sure he will also be healthier for it
in the long run. I do feel like I short changed my first born due to my weight
and health while pregnant with him, but I’ve added so many more years to my
life that I’m sure I will be able to make it up to him.
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