I Have a two year old, and I'm a single mom. I also do not have any family in state to be able to help me post op. my question is, how were you able to balance being a parent and being fresh out of surgery? Any tips?

I'm not single but have a 3 and 5 year old. Everyone is different after surgery but for me, I needed about 3 days home to sleep and not have to care for anyone but me. By the morning of the 5th day, I took my 3 year old to the farmers market. I stopped taking anything for pain other than tylenol and was alert enough although I needed naps when my 3 year old did for about a week.

I'm not single but have a 3 and 5 year old. Everyone is different after surgery but for me' date=' I needed about 3 days home to sleep and not have to care for anyone but me. By the morning of the 5th day, I took my 3 year old to the farmers market. I stopped taking anything for pain other than tylenol and was alert enough although I needed naps when my 3 year old did for about a week.[/quote']

Thanks! Great info

Who's going to watch your baby when u have surgery?

I was sleeved July 17th and I have a 31 month old and an 11 month old. My 31 month old is extremly active, so it was difficult the first few days. They tell u that u can't lift anything over 20 pounds.. so I couldn't lift them. My 31 month old is Potty trained, so wasn't a big issue, but I needed to lift the 11 month old to change his pamper. I'm lucky b.c he can already walk so it wasn't too bad.

I have an overnight daycare I can take him to for the surgery, I only have to be there for 23 hours.

I'm a single mom of a 4 year old and going to grad school nowhere near family. I have a very good friend here who was planning on helping by watching my son while i was gone for 5 days, but then his parents found out and now they've all chimed in to help me out. I would honestly ask some friends to help... If you can tell some friends you might be surprised on who might take him for a weekend while you recover. All else fails hire a babysitter for the first 48 (for after hours if your son is in daycare) and just have some one there for the first 2 or 3 days which are typically the hardest.

Never easy, but always manageable!

I am a single mom and I have a 5 yr old. It has been hard I'm not gonna lie. I haven't been able to rest and he is always wanting to go play outside in the hot weather and he doesn't understand that I can't. I try to keep him occupied in the house. He has a leapfrog explorer and a ds that I try to keep him occupied with.

Thanks everyone! I think the most I'm worried about is having to lift him to put him in his car seat and stuff; guess I have to be creative. I'll definitely see if I can have a friend help me out for a few days.

Everyone is different. I'm not single, but I'm a military spouse. Read: I might as well be single sometimes!

I came home and had two days to rest before my husband went on a three week trip. When I had surgery my twins were 2.5 years old. I had a few days where I was just worn out all the time and tired but I managed. And I didn't have any help, so grocery runs, cleaning the house and toting the kids around were all on me. It wasn't easy (it never is!) but I managed just fine, and I'm sure that you'll do fine.

Make a few dinners for the kids in advance and freeze them, unless you've got simple eaters that you can whip something up for in a hurry. Do a big grocery run before your surgery so you don't need one right after you get home. Have everything you need post op ready for you - your meds, your shakes, your broth and all that.

And just be prepared for it to be challenging at some points. It just is. But you can get through it. I won't lie, even if it had been sheer hell for me post op (and it definitely wasn't) I'd still consider it a good trade from where I stand now.

Best of luck!

~Cheri

Oh! And DO set a timer to feed the kids. Honestly, my hunger was GONE so some nights I'd forget to feed them dinner until they whined they were hungry. Oops!

Everyone is different. I'm not single' date=' but I'm a military spouse. Read: I might as well be single sometimes!

I came home and had two days to rest before my husband went on a three week trip. When I had surgery my twins were 2.5 years old. I had a few days where I was just worn out all the time and tired but I managed. And I didn't have any help, so grocery runs, cleaning the house and toting the kids around were all on me. It wasn't easy (it never is!) but I managed just fine, and I'm sure that you'll do fine.

Make a few dinners for the kids in advance and freeze them, unless you've got simple eaters that you can whip something up for in a hurry. Do a big grocery run before your surgery so you don't need one right after you get home. Have everything you need post op ready for you - your meds, your shakes, your broth and all that.

And just be prepared for it to be challenging at some points. It just is. But you can get through it. I won't lie, even if it had been sheer hell for me post op (and it definitely wasn't) I'd still consider it a good trade from where I stand now.

Best of luck!

~Cheri

Oh! And DO set a timer to feed the kids. Honestly, my hunger was GONE so some nights I'd forget to feed them dinner until they whined they were hungry. Oops![/quote']

Thanks Cheri!

This was really helpful, I never thought of preparing the food in advanced for my son; great idea!