Lifting my baby

Hello again! I just found out (no suprise there!) that I won't be able to lift my baby for 6 weeks. I have help in my home for 3 weeks so I am looking for any ideas on what to do for the last three. I am at a loss as how I'm going to put him in his car seat (I have to drive my oldest to school) or how to lay him in his bed for a nap. My 4 year old can get him out (or drag is a more apt description) but if anyone has any ideas I would sure appreciate it. Thank you all for the love and support you have already shown. Oh, I am scheduled for a TVH on 3/18. Thanks again

Hi-

Just a note to say that lifting the baby is one of my biggest worries also. My daughter is 10 months old so we are really encouraging her to learn how to walk--hopefully she'll get there by my surgery date. I am also worried that my ability to breastfeed might be affected. Have you learned anything about that?
Good luck!
Shannon

My littlest one is 12 months and can already walk--thank goodness! I don't have a clue about breastfeeding-do you know of a lactation consultant that you could call? Are you having general or epidural for the procedure? I'm just speaking as someone who breastfed all of mine and I would definitely discuss using an epidural as a form of pain control. That way--after you find out if the meds are passed on to the baby--you can pump in the hospital and not have your milk supply diminished. I wish I could be of more help. Good luck with your surgery and I hope things work out with breastfeeding your baby. I know that was one of my favorite times of day--finally getting a break and a great excuse for doing so! Anyway, talk to your doctor and see what he has to say. Thank you for your support and again--good luck to you.

This is a tough one!

YOU can not put him in the carseat or the bed, even if you feel "up to it"

Will he willingly climb into those places without help and without falling? You can't have him falling on you as you must not catch him. You can't be pulling him or dragging him, either. Would he sleep on a blanket or sleeping bag on the floor?

Do you have any neighbors, friends, church members, community service groups, or others who could come to help with these things you need done. They would only need to be there for a brief time perhaps. Anyone who could take and pick up the school child?

I don't see any way around your getting some kind of help with this. Sorry. Wish I could be more help.

I think I have come up with a solution thanks to you....my neighbor is willing to come over and lay him down and put him in his car seat. Ironically, I went for my pre-op today and my doc told me that I could lift him the minute I walked in the door from the hospital as long as I lifted him properly (which he then demonstrated.) Trust me, that is one tidbit of advice I do not plan to follow. Upset me though, wondering if I should trust this man to perform the surgery. Anyway, many thanks.

There is a lady on the chat team that did breast feed after surgery. I will ask her to pop in and help you out.

{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}

kaatie

Howdy! I'm here! hehe

Okay couple things.

1) don't look TOO harshly on the dr for trying to help on the picking up thing... he might just have been trying to help you figure out a way to do it if you don't have any way of getting help (like I didn't) because he KNOWS that if you don't have any help- it's not something you can just NOT do. KWIM? I'm curious how he told you to lift the baby (how old is the baby? I couldn't find it in your posts... maybe I missed it) though.. my dr never gave me any suggestions on HOW to do it. LOL

2) Please talk to your dr and/or a lactation consultant about continuing to breastfeed. All I can tell you is that is is DEFINITELY possible if you have a hysterectomy with ovaries not removed. I know this because I had my hyst last July when my baby was 13mo old and she's still breastfeeding to this day.... almost 21mo old. So it is possible. As for if it is possible without ovaries- I am not sure about that. That is something I would definitely discuss with the dr and lactation consultant. Maybe it is possible to continue lactating with hormones taking over for the ovaries? I'm not sure.

3) I had no help after the first few days with 7yr old, 3.5yr old, and 13mo old. Obviously the BEST choice is not going to be having to lift the baby/etc with no help- but I didn't have a choice in the matter. I did lift her (much to the chagrin of the pillow police) and luckily I still healed fine and rather quickly. I just only did so when I HAD to... ya know? My 7yr old couldn't be trusted to pick her up and hold her/walk with her at the time LOL Sad but true.

4) I'm sooo glad you are going to get help for a few weeks and the neighbor is willing to help also. But please don't worry too much about lifting the baby if you HAVE to here and there. It would be better if you didn't have to- but I'm just saying it is possible to still heal well even if you have to pick the baby up a time or two- just take it very easy and only do so if you have no other choice. If you feel pain when lifting- stop immediately. Another thing I tried is instead of like lifting the baby to nurse- I'd sit down on the floor where she was or something to nurse her (she was not walking well yet exactly at 13mo old)- or lie down next to her also. I'd change her diaper on the floor also- just get diaper/wipes and sit down there with her and change her. I had a TVH though- if do not have a TVH sitting like that (and trying to get up afterwards) might not be comfortable. I know I couldn't have done that after I had my c-sections!!

I'm wishing you lots of good luck and prayers on a quick recovery after surgery and feel free to email me or chat with me in chat if you have any other questions or want to discuss anything. I'll try to help as much as I can!

Oh I also wanted to touch a bit on this subject:

	Quote:
Are you having general or epidural for the procedure? I'm just speaking as someone who breastfed all of mine and I would definitely discuss using an epidural as a form of pain control. That way--after you find out if the meds are passed on to the baby--you can pump in the hospital and not have your milk supply diminished.

Be sure to definitely talk to your dr AND lactation consultant about this because it seems that some drs are obviously not aware of what pain meds are fine to take while nursing (which is the same as while pumping to feed to baby later also).
The reason I say this is I have read many places (not just this site) where drs have said you have to "pump and dump" when you have a surgery that requires anesthesia and sometimes pain meds afterwards. This is not true. I don't want you to take my word for it though- so ask dr AND if he says no- ask another dr and lactation consultant as well. The reason I say this is that dr's are not required to take hardly ANY courses on breastfeeding and things related to breastfeeding (I think it's an hour they go over this in med school? Atleast that is what I hear)- therefore even if you believe your dr to be the know all about everything else- they might not be so knowledgeable about breastfeeding and meds you can take while bfing/etc. Ya know what I mean?

I had an epidural for 2c-sections and one vaginal delivery and pain meds afterwards on all and on all nursed from the get go a NEWBORN (minutes old) each time- babies were fine ofcourse. And what my dr said about the anesthesia with the hyst and pain meds afterwards REALLY made a lot of sense. He said if you (meaning in general- not just myself) can have general anesthesia(emergency c-section) and/or epidural (non-er c-section or vaginal birth) and have pain meds afterwards (2 c-sections I was on morphine drip afterwards -same with the hyst) and yet breastfeed a NEWBORN only minutes old and it not harm them in any way other than maybe make SOME babies a little on the sleepy side- it's definitely not going to harm an OLDER baby (ie: not a newborn just minutes old.. which I would take to mean any age over a newborn- in my case she as 13mo old) to have a hyst with the same types of anesthesia and same pain meds afterwards to nurse THAT older baby. Get what I'm saying? The myths that you must pump and dump after using anesthesia and/or pain meds are still circulating though.... yet it's just fine to nurse a newborn only minutes old (ie: much tinier, weaker, etc than an older baby) after having anesthesia and pain meds with a c-section? That doesn't make sense now does it?

But don't take my word for it. I just wanted to throw that information out there so that anyone thinking that if they have a hyst they'll have to pump and dump or discontinue breastfeeding for awhile will ASK their dr and if the dr says you must pump and dump- ask them WHY. Ask them what is different about the surgery anesthesia and/or pain meds than when having a baby (especially c-section) and why a newborn can be nursed after that yet you can't nurse an older baby after the hyst. If he says it's different meds or anesthesia... ask to change those to resemble meds used during c-section or research for more info on this yourself or ask for a 2nd dr's opinion.