A WOMAN who weighed a staggering 34 stone is celebrating the birth of the child she thought she would never have - after two operations helped her shed more than 14 stone.
Zoe Bolderson and husband Vince, from Pitsmoor, Sheffield, were told her weight problems would make it difficult for her to conceive.
But after an operation to reduce the size of her stomach to that of a tiny egg cup, Zoe shed 11 stone before going under the knife a second time to have a gastric band fitted.
And at the time of the second op Zoe was unaware she was already five weeks' pregnant with Dylan - who arrived eight months later as a happy and healthy 7lb 8oz baby.
The couple are now delighted parents, particularly after losing another pregnancy at seven weeks in between the operations.
Zoe told The Star: "We're so happy we have Dylan - he is a lovely, content, chilled out baby and we're both over the moon at being parents.
"After all we've been through he is obviously meant to be, and he has been a fighter since day one."
Zoe, who at her heaviest weighed 34-and-a-half stone, said she had battled weight problems ever since she was a toddler.
She suffered bullying and low self-esteem, and truanted from school as she grew up.
Now the 34-year-old is determined Dylan will not go the same way and is working with dietician Nerissa Walker to ensure his weight is never an issue for him.
"I'm determined he won't go through the same problems I did," she said.
"Although it does look like he's going to follow his dad who is 6ft 4ins tall and straight up straight down! But that is something I feel really strongly about - I don't want him to suffer like I have or ever get to the point where he needs surgery to address it."
Things came to a head for Zoe two-and-a-half years ago when, after stopping a course of appetite-supressant medication, she piled back on the five stone she had lost.
The Northern General Hospital medical secretary said: "As soon as I came off it, the weight came back. I'd go and see the doctor and they'd ask me what I was eating - I think they just assumed I was gorging on food all day long.
"In reality I never ate breakfast and I'd often miss lunch. The problem started after I'd eaten my tea in the evening - once I'd had something to eat I would want something else and it went from there.
"I was at rock bottom and I couldn't carry on. To be honest, if I hadn't done something I wouldn't be here today."
Zoe underwent a sleeve gastrectomy at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital - a procedure that involves removing 80 per cent of the stomach. At first everything went to plan and Zoe dropped 11 stone over the next 12 months. But frustration and disappointment returned when, a year in, her weight plateaued at 23 stone.
"I was doing everything I could - swimming, gyming, even belly dancing - but it wouldn't shift. I got really down again and went back to the hospital and they agreed to the gastric band operation."
But during her pre-op assessment she and Vince were hit with the bombshell that they were expecting. The operation was postponed but tragedy struck when, at the 12 week scan, it was discovered the baby had no heartbeat.
Zoe said: "It was awful - I blamed myself. It just seemed everything in my life always came back to my weight. It ruled my life."
The gastric band operation was rescheduled for just three weeks later, meaning Zoe didn't need to undergo another assessment beforehand.
She took a pregnancy test to double check which came back negative, and the operation was a success.
But while recovering at home Zoe said she began to notice "tell-tale" signs that she was pregnant - and another test came back positive.
Since Dylan's birth the weight has continued to drop off, with Zoe losing three stone in just three weeks - although she is not complacent.
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