Abdominal Surgery ahead, advice? Experience?

[BlackSheepPDX]

I have a 15cm abdominal cyst that will need to be removed. I also have a 28 pound 15 month old.  I'm trying to decide when to plan the surgery.  I have determined that anesthesia and pain meds can be used safely while breastfeeding (by choosing the right meds).  My concerns are about my recovery time and discomfort trying to nurse a 28 pound acrobat, and about possibly spending a night hospitalized before she is night weaned (if I choose to schedule soon).  I night weaned her big sister at 18 months, and will probably be on track for a similar plan with DD2.  

Does anyone have any experience or advice about this?  If there is a better forum to post this in, please feel free to point me there!  

Thank you!  

[katelove]

Not abdominal surgery but I recently had a tonsillectomy which required an overnight stay. My LO was 17 months.

I was back in my room by around 5pm-ish. DH brought her in not long after that and she had a short feed but was too distracted by the new environment to be that interested.

I had left some EBM for him as we thought it might help her settle overnight (she still feeds several times). She had a bit before she went to bed but wasn't keen overnight. She took longer than normal to go to sleep for DH and woke a few times overnight and took a while to resettle but, overall, did very well. She had her morning sleep (which I usually feed her down for) with my Dad who walked her in her pram until she fell asleep. Overall, much easier than any of us had expected but, as it was only one night, it wouldn't have been a disaster if everyone had had less sleep.

Once I was home she fed as normal.

I didn't have a tender abdominal wound to worry about of course. I'd suggest feeding lying on your side with a pillow between you and you LO. Or sitting up (if you can do that comfortably) with your LO resting on a pillow.

All the best for a speedy recovery.

[Megan73]

Your situation isn't too much different from the mom of a toddler having a C-section. You might ask tandem nursing moms how they've coped with being away from their toddlers then nursing their older child after a section.