It's been quite a year for us. Brian is continuing to lose slow and steady! He's down 108 lbs! He weighs 268 lbs down from 376!! It's amazing the changes he's experienced! He feels so much better! And looks great! He's down from a 48 pant size to a 38 comfortably. He's still wearing a 3x shirt but can wear 2x T-shirts. He's doing really well. I think his band has been filled with 7 1/2 cc's so that's a fair amount of restriction considering the band at maximum fill capacity is 10 cc's. So he's eating small amounts very slowly and chewing for a long time :-) or he regrets every bite. That's the good and the bad of this procedure. The good is that it's immediate consequences if you eat too quickly or too much it's not like you eat what you want an then at your weigh in your kicking yourself. The bad is that when it gets stuck or can't go down it hurts. But as soon as it's up you're good to go.
I've been doing fairly well. I've had several ups and downs. I got pregnant in February and had a miscarriage on March 21st. The baby never had a heartbeat. I measured 9 weeks pregnant but the baby never grew beyond 6 weeks. I was able to have a complete natural miscarriage at home with out needing a D&C. So with that I wasn't able to have any adjustments from January to April BUT I lost 13 lbs anyway! Unfortunately, I have since been pregnant again and miscarried just yesterday on August 22nd. This time a baby never developed only the gestational sac was present. Yet again another very disappointing time but God has been faithful through it all. I again had a complete natural miscarriage at home. And in a few weeks after the all clear from my OBGYN, I'm getting back on birth control! Apparently losing 54 lbs results in me becoming fertile Myrtle! We are going to give my body a break and just sort things out before trying to get pregnant again. A lot of people have asked if the Lap-Band is the reason that I've had miscarriages. I can find no evidence to support that. The only thing that I have found is that some bariatric surgeons require you to wait 1-2 years before getting pregnant so your body can lose and balance out. Most surgeons report a LOT of successful, healthy post-lap-band pregnancies and babies! We still have hope and would like to have another child but it's not in our hands or our timing.
I did have a couple of adjustments between the pregnancies and continued to lose some weight. It's been slow going with me due to all of the ups and downs. I can admit that I've just eaten what I've wanted to and what I felt like eating. As understood a lot of emotional eating has taken place. After everything settles down, I'm going to try to get back on the sugar busters menu plan to help shock my body back and get off the sugar. It's toxic to my body and detrimental to my weight loss. I just crave sugar, sweet tea, brownies, sodas etc.
I participated in a Team Marathon in February. I did 5 miles....well, let me clarify...I walked 95% of it. I ran if there were crowds in the streets or cameras! It was so much fun and a great accomplishment! We had a great time. That being said I don't think I've been back in the gym since! I do hope to start walking again as the weather cools off. I always feel so much better when I exercise it just takes making it a priority! I hate when that alarm goes off so early in the morning! They should've never created the snooze button!
We've learned a song in Choir called the Dessert Song. The lyrics really speak to me and sum up the last 8 months in our life:
I will bring praise, I will bring praise, No weapon formed against me shall remain.
I will rejoice, I will declare, God is my Victory and He is here!
All of my life, in every season You are still God and I have a reason to Sing!
I have a reason to Worship!
I pray that those lyrics encourage you and lift you up as they did for me! I'm reminded that "The Joy of the Lord is my strength!"
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned....
This is Brian on Father's Day
This is both of us on Father's Day
