FinallyLovinMe
Well, if I'm going to be a apart of this board, I need to start from the beginning...
My name is Stephanie and I'm 28 years old and living in Jacksonville, FL. I'm married to a wonderful man named Calvin.
It seems like I've always had a love/hate relationship with my body and food. Luckily my husband married me as a large woman and has proven over and over again that my weight does not matter to him. I know he loves me unconditionally. We've been through so much this last year. We were blessed with a beautiful baby boy named Aiden in April 2006. In May 2006, God called Aiden home. Losing our son to SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) was probably one of the most difficult things we have every gone through as a couple. Surprisingly, I found out exactly how strong my husband is as a man, and just exactly what "in it for the long haul" really is. Since that time, I have also suffered 2 miscarriages. My doctors attributed those to my weight. My OB/GYN even said to me after the 2nd miscarriage, that she was so afraid for me being pregnant at my weight. She basically told me that if I want to have a healthy pregnancy, I'm going to have to lose at least 100lbs.
That was the wake up call for me.
Having been overweight my whole entire life, like many other people on this board, have tried everything! I've been on weightwatchers, adkins, southbeach, low fat, low cal, calorie counters, ... EVERYTHING! If it was as simple as diet and exercise, don't you think I would have tried it by now? I grew up in a family of small women. My mother and her sisters and my cousins are all smaller women. They all are about 5'0" tall and weight approximately 130lbs. My father on the other hand is 6'1" and has always been approximately 200-230lbs. I didn't get the petite gene. I remember being a size 12 at 12, a size 13 at 13, a size 14 at 14...18 at 18,etc. Well now I'm 28 and guess what, I'm a size 28. I like everyone else, look at old pictures of myself in high school and college and think "wow, I really wasn't as big as I thought I was " or "Man, I wish I was that size again." But alas, I'm not. I've prayed for an answer and I feel that answer is surgery. Thus begins my weight loss surgery journey.
