Toddlers tips and ideas

Hi,
I have a 1-1/2yo girl (Brea) and 10yo son (Jack) and am going in for a total hysterectomy July 1st.
I'm 39, it is for preventative measures (ovarian and breast) as my mom died when she was 44.
Any tips for caring for toddlers?
I'm lucky my son and hubby will be home for 2 weeks but am the sort of person that thinks they are invincible..ha ha
I know I can't pick her up for a few weeks so any advice/tips would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Dee

I had my husband home with my for about ten days, and then my mother in law stayed with us for three weeks. It meant that the whole first four weeks I wasn't responsible for the most of direct child care. (She left yesterday). Any time I was left alone with my three year old, I accidentally did something a little too vigorous. So the more help in the house you can get, the safer you will be. The instinct to be normal is hard to overcome. I grabbed and lifted my little guy one day at about two weeks out and nearly screamed. It was just automatic, he ran over and I pulled him up into my lap. If there is someone else to be there to handle meals, bed, bath etc you will be a lot safer. If there isn't, then get everything down on floor level. Don't try to do anything up on the bed or changing table for example. Have food that is ready to eat, plan to watch a lot of movies, get her to nap with you in the bed. Do a sponge bath or wait for your hubby to be home. No getting her into the crib! You just won't be able to lift her at all! Good luck!

Edited Because I re read your op and see your son is ten years old not ten months old of course lol. He will be a huge help!

My surgery is scheduled for next week and I am freaking out about this. I have a 10 y/o, 6 y/o, and 16 month old twins. I am waiting for my short term disability to be approved, if it is we will have our nanny here 4 days a week like usual. If not, I can't afford to pay her so I am stressing. I am hoping between my mom, mil, and sil, I will have things covered. My husband is an essential employee at work and can't miss a lot of time. I am terrified that I will be alone with the twins and something happening. My older girls I am not worried too much about. I am open to all tips and hints on dealing with toddlers postop!

Make a clear and written out schedule of what their needs are from when they wake up, so that your helpers will just walk in and be able to deal with meal times, getting to school, what to pack in back packs, which are special days like gym day etc. if you feel like I did you will be pretty out of it the first week or two and not really able to tune in and help. If you have to do things for the kids keep it very, very simple! Get a weeks worth of clothes ready at once when you have someone there to do it, for example, ditto for meals. Give in to the tv and food that might not be up to usual standards. It will all get back to normal soon enough

Have someone check bookbags or whatnot for notes from school. Mine are 8th and 12th grade so they knew what to do.

I also let their teachers know, if needed, to call husband or grandparents during the recovery time...not me as usual.

I'm having a complete hysterectomy june 5th and as of right now i have noone to help me with my two kids (6&3) school will be out by the time i have surgery and my fiance works 2nd shift so he is gone from 3 to 11 and he only has two days of vacation time left and we cant afford for him to get any more time off (unpaid) any advice out there for me to help make it easier in case i cant find anyone to stay...oh and the bedrooms and bathrooms are on the second floor so this should be interestiing

If I hadn't had my husband here full time it would have been unmanageable. The main thing is the fact that you will be easily fatigued. Try to pull in as much help as you can. Friends, family, neighbors, whatever is available to come and keep the kids occupied. My lifting restriction was no more than 5lbs for 8 weeks. I can't even push our stroller or get my son in and out of the car. If I am home I am home with the kids, period. If they fall I can't pick them up i have to go to them and check them but I can't really help. If they were to hurt themselves I couldn't get them adequate help without possibly hurting myself or simply calling 911, with a 2.5 year old boy wedging himself in places and climbing things I would be phoning an ambulance every ten minutes just to get him out from under the bed or off the shelves because I definitely can't move fast enough right now to catch him before he acts. I had more than just a hysterectomy though and I have to worry about mesh and suspended things. If your lifting restrictions are not as strict it's really just the fatigue that will weigh you down. If your older child is good at occupying the younger one than you should have things under control. Just make sure you have the time you need to rest.

thankyou soooo much everyone for your replies

my hubbys suggested we put her in a toddler bed (she is 18 months) so when i am home by myself i don't have to pick her up/out of the cot.
i'll do up some lists for son's school, bills etc.
hubby will handle the cooking (nice being married to a chef!) and i am already stocking up on frozen soups from his kitchen!
my dad and brother live over an hour away but i might get the family daycare lady to pick up the little one for playgroup each week.
great ideas ladies, thankyou so much