I am curious if any mothers had the surgery while caring for small children. I have a pretty rambunctious two-year-old daughter. I don't have much family nearby to help and my husband can only take a couple days off work. Am I totally wrong thinking I'll be okay to care for her by day 3 or 4 post-op?

Any insight is much appreciated. Hope everybody is enjoying the weekend. <3

I am in the same boat:) i have a 1 yr old, 2 1/2 yr old, and 11yr old. I flew family in to help for the first 2 weeks. I am post op day 10 today. I have stayed home alone with them for about 2 hrs so far and its hard. Only because i am not allowed to lift them, and its hard getting up and down from the floor .i felt horrible the first week. Just niw starting to feel somewhat nirmal. Chasing kids definitely makes me more sore, i had no idea that so many things require the use of your belly muscles! I am a nurse with direct patient care, so will be off 6 weeks due to lifting restrictions. Dr said after 3 weeks, I can lift the babies, which are 23 &27 pounds .

I'm not married and dont have kids. I had the surgery in Jan. I was very tired the first week and till the 4th week I needed mid day naps for atleast 2-3 hrs. I dont do much physical activity at home or office, still I needed naps. So I had to take a 5 weeks off from work. But the 5th week was better - I was back to normal and did not need to take naps in the afternoon. Once I started going to office regularly, my energy levels were back to normal.

When I had surgery I had an 18 month old, a 3 years old and 9 year old. My husband too the first week off completly and then the second week he went to work with they went down for naps. My 9 year old was home before they got up and he helped with lifting the 18 month old out of her crib. I changed diapers on the floor and we did a lot of reading books for a couple of weeks...I had to constantly remind them not to climb on me but it wasnt so bad...we got through it. I napped when they did. Hope things go smoothly for you.

I was exhausted the first 5 days- thankfully I had my mom dad and brother as 24 hour nurses. My mom kept reminding me it would get better after 5 days- I was literally living by those words, it'll get better each day. I felt fatigue the first month and now at 7 weeks I feel 90% back to normal.

Maybe have a close friend or neighbor be with you after your husband returns to work? You will be exhausted and need to heal properly. No lifting more that 5-10lbs or bending, no housework, just rest, fluids and walk the first 5 days. I wish you the best, GL

I also have a very busy two year old, my husband went back to work the day after I got out of the hospital, so it was just the two of us. We took it easy, changed diapers and got dressed on the floor, drew pictures and read stories and if I was very tired I put the television on for her and I would lie on the couch! For afternoon naps, she thought she was in heaven, napping with mommy in mommy's bed! At night my husband was home so he could do the heavy lifting needed for bath time and put her in her crib for the night and in the mornings before he left for work, he would bring her to me in my bed for an early morning cuddle!

I was sleeved on 20 Feb 2012 and resumed full mommy duties about 1,5 weeks post-op.

I have 2yo twins & a 4yo. My situation may be a little bit different because I had a 3 for 1 surgery...sleeve, gallbladder & severe hiatal hernia, well it was supposed to be 3 at one time but my surgeon got sick during my gall bladder surgery & closed me up then did the other 2 surgeries the next morning!! So weird. Anyway I was told that the anesthesia stays in your system for a while & causes fatigue so it may be because I had it twice 12 hrs apart, but I was EXHAUSTED for 2 wks. My husband took 3 weeks off & God bless him, I did nothing for 2 weeks. I slept a ton. A couple days I slept 20 hours!!! I still had to take afternoon naps for another 2 wks but by 4 wks I felt normal-ish again. I did impress upon them the importance of being super gentle with me....I showed them my insisons to drive the point home which worked really well

It will be a challenge but nap when they nap & get a friend or family to make meals for your family & you will definitely need someone else to bathe them!! In your situation i'd say planning is everything!! Do laundry in advance, buy a giant box of pre-made pb&j sandwiches & plan with your husband. You can do it!!!!

I have two year old twin boys who wear me down when I'm 100% ! My mom and husband have been life savers this first week. I also have been taking a daily nap just to make it through the day! We took an hour long trip to the grocery store and it wore me down. Good luck to you.

Not a mom but I'm still pretty weak and tired in my 3rd week post-op. After a few hours of office work, I'm just exhausted. Obviously (as you can see from the varied responses), every person responds to the surgery differently. But if I were you, I would arrange for some full-time help for at least the first week after surgery, if not longer.

I was just sleeved a few days ago and I have an active 3 yr old. My husband is taking off work for a few days but he has to go to school tomorrow so it will be just me and my son. I am super tired most of the day and need to take a couple of naps too. It's better if you have help 100% of the time but life does not always make that possible. Just do what you can and try to keep things low key for the little ones!

I was sleeved 5 days ago and the hubby just left out of town for work (which is common he works out of town 100%). I have 4 at home 9,7,5 and 3 with no family help. I also homeschool them so they are all with me all day. This is an even crazier week since myself and my daughter are in a wedding Sat (10days post op). So I'm running errands to finish up about that plus taking kids to classes and planning my sisters shower 500 miles away. I think I'm tired but I just haven't had the chance to feel it yet. I think Sunday when the wedding has passed I'll probably sleep all day lol. And I keep telling myself this was the most convienent time to schedule the surgery because I only get busier from here on out. Lol

It's funny how the stories go. I'm not a mom, but my energy level only improved 2 days after surgery. My mom actually had to tell me to slow down. I had surgery in the middle of the week and was back to work the following Monday. Although I did not pick up on anything over 10lbs, so I'm sure that will be difficult when you have small children depending on you.