So I have been putting off this blog for sometime now…changing the name of it multiple times.
Possible titles included:
First Trimester Sucks
Pregnancy After Lap Band
And a few others I can’t even remember! Thank you pregnancy brain!
In August of 2016 I went for a check-up and possible adjustment with my lap band surgeon. I had been feeling pretty good with food intake and was ready to slow down on the fills. The doctor agreed. It is typically recommended to wait 18-24 months after this surgery to conceive. I asked my doctor about if I was ready to start trying (even though it had only been 10.5 months) what that would look like, what I would need to do to prepare. Basically, I wanted to know when we were ready to start if I would need to get some fluid taken out. I was told I would only need that if I felt it, typically during the 1st or 3rd trimester, but to be aware I would be more fertile due to the weight loss (over 60lbs so far..yay!)
I let my husband know this and that starting in September or after I would like to consider starting to try again. We had struggled to conceive the last 2 kids, so I was expecting a long journey. That night we had a slight “slip-up”. He joked in the coming days that “maybe we are already pregnant”. He thought he was funny…but I just knew I was.
September 1st, the minimum about of days before a missed period, I took a test. Surprise! It was positive!! My husband and I were both a little hard to convince so over the next week and a half I went through probably about 15 tests, yes averaging 2 a day! They all kept coming back quicker and darker and I officially was “late”.
This has been my first pregnancy after surgery, my first pregnancy since turning 30, my first pregnancy as a business owner, my first pregnancy as a homeschooling mom of 4 (who had JUST started in a local co-op).
I have had a fairly non-eventful pregnancy, except the few symptoms I have had have been noticeable to say the least.
EXHAUSTION!!
No joke, before I even had the test in had I was suddenly needing daily naps. I had no energy despite getting these naps. I was starting to feel like a failure in every aspect. I felt like I wasn’t putting enough effort into the kids’ schooling, the house chores fell by the wayside, my business social media activity became non-existent. I pretty much fell off the face of the Earth. I did run into a band complication right before Thanksgiving, I was no longer to keep any food or liquids down for almost 48 hours, so I went and had some fluids removed. I have been complication free since then!
Shortly after announcing to family and then the internet (October), my husband got a devastating blow. In November, his company announced their need to close down a few of their locations, including his. He is not only the primary caregiver, but also carries our insurance. We are still on a roller coaster with this news and have yet to know his final date as well as what our plans are for after the conclusion. After months on THAT roller coaster, we finally got official word that he and 2 others are staying on with the company to run a shipping center and everyone else got a job with the company that purchased that other part of the business!
We were also given some not so terrific new about my father-in-law’s health. Dementia and cancer SUCK!
We made it through December unscathed, but January hit like a bomb. There has been issues with extended family that weighs heavy on my heart. A few days later Buzzfeed came out with an article that shook my world and attacked the certifying organization I am proud to be a member of. I have taken a lot of time processing not only the clearly biased information, but the many stories and aftershocks that have followed. I was numb. So many have been hurt by individuals I trusted. I am still working through all of my feelings.
All of this to say… I’M BACK!!
I am FINALLY feeling able to get back to work. I have scheduled my next 2 childbirth classes before my own maternity leave. I am back to blogging. I am back to posting.
I don’t know what zapped me…1st and into 2nd trimester, surgery, my age, my kids…but whatever it is I FEEL FOR YOU!
I am choosing to stick with PREGNANCY AFTER 30 IS HARD!
What was pregnancy after 30 or after a surgery like for you? Share in the comments!!
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