“1000-Lb. Sisters” star Amy Slaton is expecting her first child after undergoing gastric bypass surgery.
Slaton, who currently weighs 276 pounds after losing 124 pounds, shared her pregnancy news in a Season 2 teaser obtained by People.
“Having a baby means the world to me; it’s everything I’ve always wanted,” Slaton, 33, said in the video.
Slaton, 33, notes that her bariatric surgeon Dr. Charles Procter, advised her to wait two years before trying to start a family with her husband, Michael Halterman. But she waited just four months.
“There are so many unknowns with this pregnancy,” Slaton admits. “Anything could go wrong.”
Later in the clip, Slaton is seen in a hospital emergency room because she's in "blinding pain."
“At first I thought the doctor made a mistake by telling me I was pregnant," Slaton told TODAY Parents via her rep. "Then I was just overjoyed by the news, but scared being I had gastric bypass surgery four months before. But I’m ready to be a mom and all of that comes with it.”
According to Dr. Michael Fishman, a board-certified bariatric surgeon at Grand View Health in Pennsylvania, Slaton has put herself at risk for pregnancy complications.
“We know the risk of miscarriage is extremely high in the first 12 to 18 months after having weight loss surgery,” Fishman told TODAY Parents. “Your body is working so hard to help this fetus grow but at the same time, you’re dropping all this weight. It’s counterintuitive to what a body should be doing during a pregnancy.”
The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) recommends women avoid getting pregnant for 12 to 18 months, to allow weight to stabilize and correct any nutrient deficiencies.
Fishman said Slaton can expect to be monitored closely throughout her pregnancy.
“It doesn’t mean she won't have a successful pregnancy,” he said. “But it is high-risk."
Slaton appears on the TLC docu-series series with her sister, Tammy Slaton, who weighs more than 600 pounds. In order to qualify for weight loss surgery with Dr. Procter, Tammy has to lose weight on her own.