Maybe Prego?

Hi All,

I'm new to this section of the board because I'm in NEW territory with this one...  I'm 5 days late and took a test this morning.  Got a faint second line indicating that I'm prego.  I'll be taking a second test tomorrow morning to see if it confirms.  Doctor's office is closed for the day and is closed tomorrow - so can't call to schedule anything quite yet.  I'll be out of town for work all week next week, so unfortunately, I'll have to wait to have a positive yes from the doctor for another week.

So here are my questions (I'm sure MANY more to come):
- I was just about to reorder my vitamins because I'm running out of some of my usuals.  (Normally take 2 multi vitamins, 2 calcium, 1 iron, 1 b12 a day and 1 vit. D once a week).  How do the vitamins normally shift when you're pregnant?  I plan on placing a big order and would like to save on shipping if I can : )

- Would you recommend scheduling with my family doc first and then get referred to an OBGYN?  I currently do not have one.  Once confirmed with my family doc/blood test, I'll call my surgeon's office to see if they'd like me to come in.  I was technically cleared to be physically okay to carry a baby back in Jan.  Our plan was to start actively trying in June when I officially hit 18 months... but, looks like there is a chance life jumped the gun on us by 3 months.  Once it's official, I might allow myself to get excited.

-Based on our WLS, how long are you all waiting to tell people?  I've heard 2-3 months in general.  I'm nervous about miscarriage because of the surgery - although, I am eating close to 1000-1200 calories a day, carbs are up considerably from where they were even 3 months ago and have never had trouble with blood work or anything else.  Not sure I'll be able to hold my tongue and not mention it to anyone, but I'm going to do my best!  (hubby does know : )

-For those of you that have been through this before, any early tips/cautions/words of advice?  I'm open to any and all suggestions.  Oh, are there any good book resources out there for Pregnancy after WLS?  I'm a big research/book person.  Plan to hit up Barnes and Noble within the week.  The fact that I'm not there now is a miracle.  I will say, I woke up this morning MOTIVATED to clean out the guest room ; )  and the job got done!  Hopefully this kind of motivation continues!

Congratulations!

I was taking one multi and one prenatal multi, the dr (not the ob) told me just to take the prental. I haven't seen any books on pregnancy after WLS, but the girls here are absolutely wonderful! I got Belly Laughs, The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy and What to Expect When you're Expecting. They don't really deal with the WLS aspect of things, but are helpful in the real life things.

Have a happy and healthy 9 months!

 Congrats! You ARE pregnant. A second line-- no matter how faint-- always means positive. I have DS so I take a lot more vites than you, but I think most people swap out their multis for prenatals and keep up the rest of their supplements as usual. Then have your surgeon's office draw your blood and see if there are any deficiencies and supplement accordingly from there. You should just be able to call your health insurance and get a list of OBGYNs that are in their network and just pick one, I don't think you will have to get referred from your PCP.
I always tried to wait until I was close to 8-12 weeks to start sharing the news of my pregnancies with most people. I told close family & friends much sooner though (I don't think the pee on the HPT had dried and I already had my mother on the phone!) But it's smart to wait until you are further along before you, say, announce it on facebook....
Good luck!

-V

Hi, congrats on the faint line....did you test again this morning? You really should get official confirmation from an OB, then call your WL surgeon. Tell them you need to come in for a lab panel and to speak to the nutritionist. They should see where all your vitamin levels are at and adjust them accordingly (if needed).
Iron, B12 and folic acid are very important.  Iron can tank out easily in an RNY patient even if you think you are getting a lot. So definitely get that checked. Your body will be producing a lot more blood to circulate to the placenta. B12 can only be absorbed through a nose spray, sublingual, or shot. I get a monthly shot and then take a sublingual a couple times a week.
Anyway, congrats and please spend a lot of time here :) This is a great group of ladies who know what you are going through.

Chelle is right.  Get a thorough set of baseline labs and adjust your supplements from there.  I'd probably order the same thing I'd been taking prior to pregnancy.  That's pretty much what I stuck with in pregnancy, with more iron, and I am doing all right now 3+ months postpartum.

I see a lot of moms on OH told to drop their supplements radically in pregnancy, and that scares the hell out of me.  While we don't want to go crazy megadosing on certain vitamins (particularly animal-based vitamin A) we still need to supplement.  It's important to remind your doctors/midwives that you do malabsorb. 

Hi, sounds like Congrats are in order!

My surgeon's office suggested I change from bariatric multi's to prenatals, but my OBGYN's office recommended that I stay on the bariatric multi's, because there was much more in it, and I was supplementing with the stuff that was not. So I took (And just had my healthy baby last week):

I had been taking these already:
2- Bariatric Advantage multivitamins
6- Calcium CItrates (2, 3 times a day)
2- Vitamin D 5000iu (taken at 2 of the 3 times I took calcium)
1-2 Iron (60mg, Tender Iron capsules from Vitalady)
1- B12 1000mcg
1-B6 50mg

And then I added these 2 on for pregnancy:
1-Folic Acid 400mg (just to add some extra, but the multi's do have some)
1- DHA 200mg (plant based)

Best of luck to you!
Lisa

Thanks for the advice ladies!  I did take a second test and that one was CLEAR as day.  I'm officially 6 days late at this point and I'm 99.9% sure this is for real.  I'm out of town at a conference now and won't be able to have a doc appt. until Thursday or Friday at the earliest.  I'm sure I'll be back posting, asking questions and learning from the experts!  Dec. 1st will be here before hubby and I know it! : )