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5 months out - Gastric Bypass and Pregnancy updateOct 01 '05 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line I don't mince words, and this update may tell you more than you wanted to know, but here it is anyway.
Men can be so clueless. Surely I'm not the only female that showers and shaves her legs before going to the OB/GYN? Lord knows the last thing I wanted to do was mess with shaving my legs, but no way I'd go to the doctor without doing it. My husband laughed at me! He didn't understand what the big deal was. He said the doctor probably wouldn't notice or care. I hadn't even met this person before and didn't know if it was a man or woman, even! Maybe it's just me, but even though I felt like dirt, I found the energy to take care of business before we went. It just felt wrong not to. Ya know? Anyway, my appointment yesterday went pretty well. I didn't actually see an OB, again, but the nurse practioner that I did see was very nice. One of these days I might actually get to see a doctor if I'm lucky. Let's back this up a little bit. I saw an OB nurse practioner (NP#1) on September 15. That lady, as nice as she was, wasn't the brightest crayon in the box. She didn't put my labs in the computer correctly, which left me scrambling on the 17th to get someone to put in the follow ups that she was supposed to order but didn't put in correctly. It was basically a waste of almost three hours of my time. She couldn't even find my uterus with a vaginal ultrasound, for Pete's sake, much less the baby! Not to mention my husband had to help her set up the computer for the ultrasound because she couldn't figure out how to put my information in. She laughed and said someone else usually did it for her because it wasn't her job. Lovely. I saw an OB Nutritionist on September 20. Because of my gastric bypass surgery on May 2, I can't get in the calories needed to help sustain the baby. That's why I lose so much weight so fast. My body is forced to feed off of itself while my stomach re-adjusts to taking in normal amounts of food. At the time of surgery, my stomach would only hold about 1 oz. It slowly stretches back out over the next year or more, allowing for normal amounts of food, but with my intestines shortened, I will never absorb all of the calories or nutrients that I take in. During a pregnancy, especially this close to surgery, this is a major issue. Ryan, my nutritionist, said that I am only taking in around 970 calories, which is better than he figured I would be. Luckily, I am one of the few that tolerates milk very well after surgery, which is where most of my calories are coming from. However, I was at roughly 7 weeks at the time, I should have been taking in 1750 per day. He said that by week 13, I needed to add another 300 calories per day to that. He wouldn't tell me how many I needed after that. He didn't want to upset me or stress me out, but it's way more than I'll be able to take on. He said not to be surprised if, during my 2nd and 3rd trimester, I am admitted to the hospital from time to time for IV nutrients to help give additional calories for the baby. I was under the impression that I would see an actual OB on my appointment yesterday. I was wrong. I saw another OB nurse practioner (NP#2), which didn't thrill me at the time. After my first appointment, I was more than a little leery of letting this woman near me. We went over my labs first. She was concerned because my HCG levels hadn't risen like they were supposed to. My first blood draw, on the 15th, was around 20,000. The one on the 17th was only, not quite, 23,000. The numbers should have doubled. I went thru this two years ago when I miscarried, my numbers not going up like they should have, even dropping, so I immediately was worried and felt like I was going to get sick. She said not to worry, though. They'd do the ultrasound and see how the baby was doing and measuring. Sometimes the numbers didn't mean anything. We'd have to wait and see. She also had problems putting my information in the ultrasound computer. I guess she had just transferred to Portsmouth from San Diego and the equipment at Portsmouth is older, so she wasn't as familiar with it. She got help and we got started. I was trying not to cry at this point, so I wasn't paying much attention to what they were doing. Unlike the nurse I saw on the 15th, this NP had no trouble finding my uterus, and even found the baby right away. The heartbeat was fine. She measured the baby and it measured 8 weeks and 3 days, which was just about right. According to the date wheel, based on the first day of my last cycle, I should have been 8 weeks and 5 days, so it was almost right on. She snapped a couple of pictures, printing one out for us. I couldn't see much, because of the way the machine was positioned, but I heard Matt say, "I see it's face!". The picture that we were allowed to keep was a little fuzzy, but it's was reassuring to see our baby doing ok. I see NP #1 again on October 7th. I'm not the least bit excited. I was hoping I would see ANYONE else, but she was the only one with a spot available. I won't get to see NP #2 again, because she was with the regular OB clinic. I have to be followed by the Complicated OB (Comp OB) clinic, which NP#1 is attached to. I'm hoping that, since I'll be nearly 12 weeks by then, she can at least find my uterus this time. Hearing the heartbeat for the first time would be nice, too, but I know that is hit or miss this early. As for my weight loss, I am still losing. I feel like I am eating 24 hours a day. I am constantly having to eat or drink to get in enough calories to keep me out of the hospital. I am also back to checking my blood sugar 3-4 times a day. Being diabetic, that is something else that they have to keep a close eye on. I am down to 260.2 pounds, as of yesterday. That is fully clothed, with tennis shoes. When I saw NP#1 on the 15th, I was 264 pounds. I'm still losing a couple of pounds a week, or so. We still aren't sure how the weight loss will go as we move thru the pregnancy. I'm hoping it slows down some. One side effect of both the surgery and the pregnancy, is I am exhausted. I feel like I've run a marathon, even when I just wake up. Housework has really gotten behind. Matt has been great about helping, but sometimes stuff just gets let go. I have to take a nap every day. I have a hard time sleeping at night. Our new upstairs neighbors have been fighting a lot lately, and we can hear them thru the floor. Since they don't usually start in until 11pm or later, they keep me awake. I'm also up 3-4 times a night to pee, which is getting old. I am still having some issues with certain foods. I eat a lot of yogurt and drink a lot of milk. I also do ok with apples, tomatoes and bananas. My problem is still proteins. Beef sits ok, as long as I take it very slowly. Chicken, turkey and ham, however, don't want to stay down, so I can only take 1-2 bites before I have to stop and pray it stays down. I haven't really had morning sickness, however. It's just tolerating food, period, that I have problems with. I just east as much as I can, of whatever I can. Another fun side effect is that I'm losing my hair. I'm not balding or anything, but with my hair being so long, it's obvious. My hair is all over everything. The sofa, the floor. I have to be careful if I'm cooking or it'll end up in our food, too. I am constantly having to clean out my hairbrush. It's kind of depressing to see handfuls of hair all over the place. I knew it would happen, but I was hoping it wouldn't. My medications might still be a problem. My high blood pressure med had already been changed, but NP#2 said they would probably change it again to something else. My blood pressure isn't controlled as well with this new one, plus there is one that is "safer" than what I am already taking. My blood pressure was 156/92 and when it was checked again it a little later, had dropped to 144/86. They also said I would probably have to stop one of my other meds soon. I'm on vitamins up the ying-yang, however. Seems like I am constantly crushing and choking down pills, since I can't take any of them whole. I see Ryan again on the 17th of October. He wants to go over everything I am eating and see where we can squeeze in more calories. Like instead of eating a plain apple, put some peanut butter on it. Small stuff like that helps. Anyway, so far so good. There is only one baby, and it's doing fine. My husband is sure that it's a girl this time, mostly because I've felt so bad lately. He said since I'm having so many problems that is HAS to be a girl since I didn't have many with Zack. Something about girls being more trouble than boys. Isn't he cute? (rolling eyes) Our baby is due May 7th, but since I will probably have a repeat C-section, they usually schedule around week 39, so I will probably deliver the end of April. I'm still nervous and praying that nothing goes wrong. This being my 4th pregnancy, and us only having one child, I'm waiting for something bad to happen. I can't help it. Thinking positive doesn't always work. For now, however, we're all doing ok. Matt is excited, as am I. Zacky, honestly, doesn't give a rip. As long as he still has his momma time, he's a happy camper.  |
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