Surviving Surgery with a Baby

So many times through this ordeal I've kicked myself for not thinking of something sooner. Here lovely readers is the best survival guide I can muster.

Ask Questions-Never ever assume a doctor is thinking of your baby even if she's sitting in your lap. Even if they don't know anything about babies or breast feeding there are docs like my primary care that will look up things for you without complaint. My Ortho referred me to the lactation department at the hospital and then didn't want to hear what they said. I had the drug info faxed over in triplicate. Ask, ask, ask. Ask until you're blue the face. Refuse to stop asking until you have an answer. Make them repeat themselves until it makes sense even if you feel stupid or pushy because your baby is worth it.

Get Organized-Really, really organized. If someone comes over to help you be able to direct them in a clear and concise way to anything in the nursery. I organized her clothes, restocked diapers, etc but I regret not labeling drawers. Make sure sippy cups have lids, etc. It's one thing to dig through the 3 possible locations it might be yourself and completely another to make a kind hearted friend paw through all your kitchen drawers. Also, you may discover upon inventory that none of them have their lids any longer. (where do they go?)

Line Up Help-Two Words: Cleaning Lady. Best money I ever spent. Get her started before the surgery so the routine's established. Don't be afraid to ask for help from professionals (lactation consultants, cleaning lady, hospital staff, etc) as well as family and friends.

Eat-I lost a ton of weight. Hospital food is garbage plan accordingly. I was beyond lucky to have friends who dropped off dinners for the first two weeks. But I fell down on procuring snacks to keep handy during recovery. Snacks you can get yourself are key.

Stand Up For Yourself-With your doctor as well as the "helpy helpers." Be honest with them and yourself don't deny hep you clearly need, but if someone thinks help you're not comfortable is critical to your recovery let them know. A ton of people offered to babysit Riley for me, but for me it was important to me to have her with me so we could keep breastfeeding, but more so for my sanity. Post-op depression is a beast and I won't say Riley is the vaccine against it, but she sure kept it from doing much damage. Everyone's going to have an opinion make sure yours is heard. Most people want to do "what's best for you" not all of them will like it when you disagree, but recovering from surgery is hard enough without having to deal with extra stress. It was a totally valid point that weaning Riley and sending her with some formula bottles to babysitters may have been easier, but I'd never get better that way and I knew it.

Make it Work-It took me over a month to realize I could set up the baby gate up around my seat on the couch, duh! Just like when they tell you to make yourself a little nest when you bring your baby home from the hospital so you can nurse comfortably and heal quickly. Pick your spot grab diapers, sippy cup, puffs, etc and get comfy. You made need duplicates to make this work. Formula moms I have no clue how you'd make this work, sorry. I can pretty much plant myself on the couch all day with occasional trips to the bathroom thanks to lactating.

Hope this helps!