I'm a week ( well, 8 days) post surgery. I've been having to lift my 3 yr old in and out of her car seat a couple times a day. My husband would help but he's receiving chemo right now and is very week. She weighs 27 lbs. Is the "no lifting 20lbs for 2 weeks after surgery" rule there because so the incisions don't open up? Or is it more the healing in the inside where the stitches were placed on the stomach and the stitches used for the port?

I just hope I didn't mess anything up because of me having to lift my daughter.

You really need to find someone, anyone, who can help you for a little while. You shouldn't be lifting more than 10 lbs. and yes, you can cause yourself physical problems by lifting because it puts stress on the stiched and healing areas and they can come apart.

Odds are you'll be ok just be careful you don't want to tug at the incision sites and rip the sutures causing a hernia. I went back to work one week post op and was lifting animals. I think the max I lifted until like 3 weeks post of was 22lb or something. So I did not go crazy and start picking up 70 lb animals right away, but I did pick lighter ones up and had no problem