Re: Question for Moms

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I have a 2-year-old, and I would agree with the 2 posters here that it

would be better to wait with the surgery or kids. The situation in

the last reply is somewhat different from what we're in (we're hoping

for just one surgery here!).

I frankly cannot imagine having a newborn and recovering from surgery.

Heck, I haven't quite figured out how to do it with a 2-year-old yet,

either . Couple of things to consider:

1. You don't always get pregnant when you think you will.

2. Your pregnancy might be very easy and uneventful, or it might not

(if this would be your first baby you just don't know what to expect).

In case of complications, your recovery could take a while,

postponing your surgery.

If I were in your case, I would definitely have the surgery first. It

is a lot easier to recover when you can have some peace and quiet in

the house, and use all your energy for your recovery instead of caring

for a newborn.

Irene.

>

> Hi everyone...I need some advice from the moms out there (and dads,

> if you have an opinion) who have had their surgery. (Especially if

> any of you are/were pregnant throughout the course of your

> procedures, or had little ones in the house!)

>

> I'm starting this whole braces/surgery process just at the time that

> I seem to also be getting the onset of baby fever. My husband and I

> don't have any children yet (I just turned 28, he'll be 31 in May),

> but I sort of had it in my head that within the next year or so we'd

> probably start a family. However, I'm wondering how these two

> things -- upper/lower surgery and pregnancy -- will conflict on a

> time schedule.

>

> My time schedule for surgery is looking like one year of braces

> starting next week, then surgery (presumably Jan/Feb 2006) and then

> six months of post-op braces.

>

> Would it be horrible if I had a baby before the surgery (like if I

> were to become pregnant in the next couple of months) and had to

> recover with a newborn in the house? I know that if I were pregnant

> during the time surgery is planned I'd have to put it off, but with

> that reasoning, should I put the baby thing off until after

> surgery? I really hadn't planned on waiting another whole year

> before having kids...that seems so far off. But at the same time,

> it doesn't seem that far away in terms of having the surgery.

>

> Ack...I'm just all confused now! The first thing I was told was 18

> months of braces, which would give me a few more months...and I was

> mentally planning it out that we could have a baby before my oral

> surgery and I'd still have several months to recover from birth and

> get used to a baby before having the surgery. Now my time's

> condensed, which is great as far as getting my jaw fixed goes, but

> throws a wrench in the planning-a-family thing.

>

> Help! Any advice?

[Guest guest]

Hey,

This is amazing. I don't have any kids yet and I was wrestling with

the same issue here a week or 2 ago.

I am 28 and my husband 29 and last summer all I could think of was

kids, but this jaw issue came up and now it seems I can forget about

babies for a while.

I too will get my braces next week and the possible date of surgery

is 2006 Jan.

My decision followed the OD's and the GYN's advice. It is best to

have the surgery done and then have the baby.

I agree with all those who wrote in favour of surgery first.

1. You can never know for sure how easy or difficult it will be to

get pregnant. 2. You never know how pregnancy will affect you and

your health. 3. I wanted to concentrate 100% on my baby when the

time comes and wait for him/her with my new healthy face/jaw.

(In addition my case is now even further complicated by our decision

to build our own house. So now we are building a house and I will

have a new jaw and then just babies!!!!)

I wish you luck in bringing the decision, it is not an easy one and

for me it is still from time to time hard to accept. (Hormones are

crazy stuff!!)

But don't rush. You are still very young and can afford to

concentrate on your well-being for the sake of your future children

too.

This is only my opinion.

Let us know here what the decision is.

If you get the braces on we are " travelling " together.

Karola

[Guest guest]

Thanks, everyone, for the advice! I really figured that's the way I

should plan it, but I wanted to find out what you guys thought,

since you're in the same boat as me (or have been) as far as this

particular surgery goes.

I guess a big part of the whole thing is my unhappiness at work.

Before the surgery thing came up, I had it in my head that we'd try

to have a baby this year, and then I could quit my job. I know that

sounds like the baby thing was an " out, " but I promise it's not. I

really do want to have one soon. But that was my way of telling

myself I could " hang in there " at this job for X more months until I

was able to quit and go home with the baby. Now I'm looking at

having to stay here for at least a year, have the surgery, come back

to work and continue to work for probably another year until we had

a baby. But that's life...maybe I'll find another job I can switch

to over that span of time (I work at a university, so I can switch

jobs on campus and keep my leave time.)

Karola - that's cool that we are right on the same timeframe. We

should definitely keep in touch here over the year! Or feel free to

email me at ttspence(at)memphis(dot)edu if you'd like to chat

outside of the message board. It'd be nice to have a surgery buddy

when the time comes, hehe.

Thanks again to all who offered advice!

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

My advice to you is to get pregnant. You can always delay your

surgery. The reason I say this is that my orthodontist told me I

would have surgery after 9 months in braces. Well, after three and a

half years of braces, I finally had surgery. So, I decided the heck

with it and got pregnant while in braces. I was 40 at the time and

thought that if I did not have a baby soon, I was not going to have

another baby. So, I had one. And two and a half years later, I had

surgery.

Braces are a tricky thing. The older you get, the longer it takes

for your teeth to move. So, just because the ortho thinks you will

have surgery in 9 months, doesn't mean you will. It all depends on

how quickly your teeth move. And mine were as slow as molasses!

So, have the baby. (But then again, you are a lot younger than I was

so you could postpone your decision to have a baby if you wanted.)

But children are a blessing. If I waited, I may never have had my 2

1/2 year old and he is the most precious thing I ever had (other than

my 7 year old also, of course.)

Shauna

>

> Hi everyone...I need some advice from the moms out there (and dads,

> if you have an opinion) who have had their surgery. (Especially if

> any of you are/were pregnant throughout the course of your

> procedures, or had little ones in the house!)

>

> I'm starting this whole braces/surgery process just at the time

that

> I seem to also be getting the onset of baby fever. My husband and

I

> don't have any children yet (I just turned 28, he'll be 31 in May),

> but I sort of had it in my head that within the next year or so

we'd

> probably start a family. However, I'm wondering how these two

> things -- upper/lower surgery and pregnancy -- will conflict on a

> time schedule.

>

> My time schedule for surgery is looking like one year of braces

> starting next week, then surgery (presumably Jan/Feb 2006) and then

> six months of post-op braces.

>

> Would it be horrible if I had a baby before the surgery (like if I

> were to become pregnant in the next couple of months) and had to

> recover with a newborn in the house? I know that if I were

pregnant

> during the time surgery is planned I'd have to put it off, but with

> that reasoning, should I put the baby thing off until after

> surgery? I really hadn't planned on waiting another whole year

> before having kids...that seems so far off. But at the same time,

> it doesn't seem that far away in terms of having the surgery.

>

> Ack...I'm just all confused now! The first thing I was told was 18

> months of braces, which would give me a few more months...and I was

> mentally planning it out that we could have a baby before my oral

> surgery and I'd still have several months to recover from birth and

> get used to a baby before having the surgery. Now my time's

> condensed, which is great as far as getting my jaw fixed goes, but

> throws a wrench in the planning-a-family thing.

>

> Help! Any advice?