Surgery and EBF baby

[JacksMommy07]

I'm having surgery next month (thyroid surgery). My DS will be almost 6 months old at the time. I will be having general anesthesia and having pain meds afterward. I will need to stay at the hospital overnight. My Dr. says I will need to pump and dump until I am off pain meds and to stock up on frozen breastmilk - expecting to at least pump/dump for days. Is this really necessary? I'm so scared I will loose my supply How frequently should I pump? I'd love to here from BTDT moms who are breastfeeding and had surgery. Thank you!

[butterfly_mommy]

That's crap. I had a c-section under general anesthetic and was on morphine for the first 12 hours and then Tylenol 3 with codeine for about 7 days or so as well as Advil (because I had a horrible spinal headache from the failed spinals they had tried before the general ). I certainly did not pump and dump or was expected to and DS was fine.

[by-the-lake]

I would ask your doc for a list of specific meds, then consult with a Certified Lactation consultant well BEFORE surgery. While I agree with butterfly_mommy for the most part, the difference between a csection and thyroid surgery is sometimes radioactive dyes are used on thyroid surgeries. If there is no radioactive dye, no need to pump and dump. And like butterfly_mommy said, the pain meds for after surgery are pretty standard and fine for breastfeeding. Just do your homework! Good luck!

[boobs4milk]

i had a tubal in dec and was told i could bf as soon as i felt like i could hold her. i made the mistake of letting dh do bottles every other feed for 2 days and my supply went south!

here's dr. hale's rec on surgery...
http://neonatal.ttuhsc.edu/discus/me...tml?1176468576

discuss your bf with your anesthesiologist, too!

[MrsH]

I had a laparoscopic surgery using general anesthesia, so while less invasive than yours I had similar concerns. I agree with the posters above, and would also recommend the kellymom page on surgery and bfing: http://www.kellymom.com/health/illness/index.html

For me it took about 5 hours after waking up in the recovery room to feel able to nurse my daughter, and our reunion was so sweet! I'll treasure that moment forever. She was just so incredibly satisfied as we both lay in bed together. Good luck with the surgery and bfing afterwards!