Do this before baby or after? Question to those who have done the surgery

August 12, 2004

Hi out there - I have been in braces for about 10 months leading to

upper and lower jaw surgery. HOWEVER we want to start tying to have

our second baby soon, our first is 17 months old, and if i get

pregnant i wont be able to do the surgery for at least 10 months and

probably more like a year. The orthodontist and surgeon say I am

about 3 months out from surgery now.

If I wait for the jaw suregery I will be recovering from a C-Section

(had to do this the first time) and then looking at doing the jaw

surgery.

My question is to those who have gone through this - should I put

the baby plans on hold and do this surgery or go ahead with baby

plans and just deal with surgery afterward?

One other thing I should add is that we had to to InVitro

Fertilization for our first baby and I am anxious that I will regret

it if I dont try to get pregnant now and put the surgery first.

What a mess. Any advice????

August 12, 2004

Hi out there - I have been in braces for about 10 months leading to

upper and lower jaw surgery. HOWEVER we want to start tying to have

our second baby soon, our first is 17 months old, and if i get

pregnant i wont be able to do the surgery for at least 10 months and

probably more like a year. The orthodontist and surgeon say I am

about 3 months out from surgery now.

If I wait for the jaw suregery I will be recovering from a C-Section

(had to do this the first time) and then looking at doing the jaw

surgery.

My question is to those who have gone through this - should I put

the baby plans on hold and do this surgery or go ahead with baby

plans and just deal with surgery afterward?

One other thing I should add is that we had to to InVitro

Fertilization for our first baby and I am anxious that I will regret

it if I dont try to get pregnant now and put the surgery first.

What a mess. Any advice????

August 12, 2004

-I don't know that anybody can really advise you on this one. It's so

much a matter of individual priorities and experiences.

I THINK, if you really KNOW you're about three months away from

surgery -- that is, not that such was your ortho's original estimate,

but that you've heard lately from your ortho and surgeon that 3

months is a reliable number -- I'd be inclined to go ahead and get

this surgery out of the way.

But I think it also depends on how old you are, and how loudly your

biological clock is ticking. (Mine has long since run out, so I had

no such issues to weigh.)

I do know two women, both of whom have had/are having more than one

jaw surgery. One is pregnant and has delayed her procedure; another

is willing to do so if she becomes pregnant. For this second one, the

clock is ticking pretty loudly.

I'd lay it out in front of my ortho, oral surgeon and gynecologist,

and ask their opinions. (Isn't in vitro also enormously expensive?

And does it get easier the second time around? Is it easier to

conceive if you've had one child already? And most important, what is

your husband saying about all this? I don't need or want these

answers from you -- much too personal -- but they'd be part of my

considerations.

Good luck,

Cammie

-- In orthognathicsurgerysupport , lizaldrine

<no_reply@y...> wrote:

> Hi out there - I have been in braces for about 10 months leading to

> upper and lower jaw surgery. HOWEVER we want to start tying to

have

> our second baby soon, our first is 17 months old, and if i get

> pregnant i wont be able to do the surgery for at least 10 months

and

> probably more like a year. The orthodontist and surgeon say I am

> about 3 months out from surgery now.

>

> If I wait for the jaw suregery I will be recovering from a C-

Section

> (had to do this the first time) and then looking at doing the jaw

> surgery.

>

> My question is to those who have gone through this - should I put

> the baby plans on hold and do this surgery or go ahead with baby

> plans and just deal with surgery afterward?

>

> One other thing I should add is that we had to to InVitro

> Fertilization for our first baby and I am anxious that I will

regret

> it if I dont try to get pregnant now and put the surgery first.

>

> What a mess. Any advice????

August 12, 2004

-I don't know that anybody can really advise you on this one. It's so

much a matter of individual priorities and experiences.

I THINK, if you really KNOW you're about three months away from

surgery -- that is, not that such was your ortho's original estimate,

but that you've heard lately from your ortho and surgeon that 3

months is a reliable number -- I'd be inclined to go ahead and get

this surgery out of the way.

But I think it also depends on how old you are, and how loudly your

biological clock is ticking. (Mine has long since run out, so I had

no such issues to weigh.)

I do know two women, both of whom have had/are having more than one

jaw surgery. One is pregnant and has delayed her procedure; another

is willing to do so if she becomes pregnant. For this second one, the

clock is ticking pretty loudly.

I'd lay it out in front of my ortho, oral surgeon and gynecologist,

and ask their opinions. (Isn't in vitro also enormously expensive?

And does it get easier the second time around? Is it easier to

conceive if you've had one child already? And most important, what is

your husband saying about all this? I don't need or want these

answers from you -- much too personal -- but they'd be part of my

considerations.

Good luck,

Cammie

-- In orthognathicsurgerysupport , lizaldrine

<no_reply@y...> wrote:

> Hi out there - I have been in braces for about 10 months leading to

> upper and lower jaw surgery. HOWEVER we want to start tying to

have

> our second baby soon, our first is 17 months old, and if i get

> pregnant i wont be able to do the surgery for at least 10 months

and

> probably more like a year. The orthodontist and surgeon say I am

> about 3 months out from surgery now.

>

> If I wait for the jaw suregery I will be recovering from a C-

Section

> (had to do this the first time) and then looking at doing the jaw

> surgery.

>

> My question is to those who have gone through this - should I put

> the baby plans on hold and do this surgery or go ahead with baby

> plans and just deal with surgery afterward?

>

> One other thing I should add is that we had to to InVitro

> Fertilization for our first baby and I am anxious that I will

regret

> it if I dont try to get pregnant now and put the surgery first.

>

> What a mess. Any advice????

August 12, 2004

Hi,

I delayed my surgery to have baby #2. Delaying the surgery was no

big deal. I knew I was getting close to being ready to have the

surgery but I really didn't want to wait a few more months or years

before I got pregnant again. I got pregnant around the same time my

teeth were finally ready for the surgery but it was no big deal. My

ortho and surgeon were really excited for me and very understanding.

My surgeon said he wouldn't even consider doing the surgery until my

baby was at least a year old since I was breastfeeding. He said he

didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize nursing my baby. By

that time, I would also be well healed from having a c-section.

Putting off the surgery that long wasn't a problem at all. Once my

teeth were in the perfect position, my ortho " hard-wired " them so

they wouldn't move. I only had to go in every few months to make

sure nothing had shifted.

Another advantage for me was that I intentionally kept on 10-15 lb

of " baby weight " . Usually it's hard for me to gain weight so the

extra 10 lb made a nice buffer. I ended up losing 20 lb (down to 85

lb at 5'0 " ) so I would have been in trouble had I started out at my

normal weight.

In retrospect, I am really happy we had the baby first. I ended up

with a lot of complications and had 5 surgeries so far with one more

to go. It's been two years since my first jaw surgery and only now

can we even consider trying for baby #3. I don't even know if I will

be able to get pregnant again after all my body has been through.

Hopefully your surgery will be very straightforward and you will

have a quick and easy recovery. However, as I'm sure you're well

aware, even being one year older can lessen your chances of getting

pregnant through in-vitro again. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I hope everything works out for you just as you want it.

> Hi out there - I have been in braces for about 10 months leading

to

> upper and lower jaw surgery. HOWEVER we want to start tying to

have

> our second baby soon, our first is 17 months old, and if i get

> pregnant i wont be able to do the surgery for at least 10 months

and

> probably more like a year. The orthodontist and surgeon say I am

> about 3 months out from surgery now.

>

> If I wait for the jaw suregery I will be recovering from a C-

Section

> (had to do this the first time) and then looking at doing the jaw

> surgery.

>

> My question is to those who have gone through this - should I put

> the baby plans on hold and do this surgery or go ahead with baby

> plans and just deal with surgery afterward?

>

> One other thing I should add is that we had to to InVitro

> Fertilization for our first baby and I am anxious that I will

regret

> it if I dont try to get pregnant now and put the surgery first.

>

> What a mess. Any advice????

August 12, 2004