I have An Inflamed Gallbladder with Gall Stones. & am 29 weeks Pregnant

I have An Inflamed Gallbladder with Gall Stones. I talked to a surgeon On Monday his suggestion is that I have surgery to have a Cholecystectomy (I.e. have my gallbladder removed) as soon as possible, since I have had 4 Gallbladder Attacks(1) in 2 weeks, even one Gall bladder attack is usually cause for removal.
The surgeon said I need to quote “decide what my priorities are”
But I'm afraid the surgery will put my baby in danger. There is a risk of miscarriage or pre-term labor. This carries with it a 20% our baby would not make it, and only a 20% of baby not having any health or mental issues related to premature birth.(4)
He said it was possible but unlikely that if I eat an extremely restricted diet. I may be able to put the surgery off till a later point but advised against it.
Waiting also has risks for baby as well my gall bladder could likely become infected and this necessitates emergency surgery which is even more dangerous for baby. Even if the surgery went off without a hitch research shows that general anesthesia holds its own risks for baby's cognitive development.
The surgeon said Labor would cause undue stress and possibly a reopening of the surgery incision, making my recovery from the surgery longer and more difficult as well as making labor its self harder on me.
Another thing to consider is that if I have the surgery while I'm still pregnant I would have to have an open surgery(2) while if I was able to wait till after they could do a keyhole surgery(3).
I'm looking for some advice, What should I do?

1) Gall Bladder Attack, severe chest pain on the right side lasting from 1-4 hours (This is horrifically painful I have heard women says its worse than labor, I broke my arm when I was a child and it made that feel like a paper cut) and vomiting.

2) A traditional open Cholecystectomy which is a major abdominal surgery in which the surgeon removes the gallbladder through a 4-7 inch incision. Patients usually remain in the hospital for 4 days and require several additional weeks to recover at home.

3) A Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (Keyhole Surgery) involves the surgeon operating through 3 tiny incisions each often no bigger than 1/5 inch. The operation surgeon watches the image on a television monitor. The advantages of keyhole surgery are less discomfort, quicker recovery and a much better cosmetic result.

4) Of babies born Prematurely,
20% have no problems, show no signed of problems related to premature birth.
21% have no disabilities, but have other health issues, such as asthma, milestone delays, etc.
34% have Mild problems such as wearing glasses, low cognitive scores and lesser problems with hearing and vision.
25% have severe disabilities, Such as inability to walk caused be cerebral palsy, very low cognitive ability, blindness or deafness, and/or IQ in the special needs range.
By RayAnn 14 years ago :: Parenting
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