teresa

i think your experience is normal for a breastfed baby.  my daughter had
surgery at 6 months too, and we also fought the battle over when she
could last nurse and after i provided them with reference, they agreed
to 3 hours.  i have found that it's easier to fight the battle a few
days before the surgery, and recommend this to all parents.  after the
surgery they wanted her to take a bottle of water before nursing. i had
brought in the sippy nipple that she would sometimes get ebm from when i
was at work, but she wasn't interested in the water only wanted to
nurse, so i followed my instincts and drank down 2 /3s of the bottle
myself and then showed it to the nurse who was happy and then i nursed
my baby.  when she had her next surgery at 18 months, i was even more
assertive and knowledgable about this sort of thing, and i refused to do
the water but we went right to nursing when she expressed interest.  the
nurses in the recovery room said they had never seen a baby recover so
easily and quickly.  by the time she had surgery at 3 years and again at
five, i was an old pro and things were easier.  this is one of the
articles i want to write, a sorta how to for parents who's children are
about to have surgery or invasive medical procedures....

joylyn

Teresa Vinisky wrote:

>Just wanted to share what mothers are experiencing daily!
>Yesterday, my son was due to have surgery at supposedly one of the best
>Children's Hospitals out there. My son (a twin) is exlusively bf at 6 months.
>He was supposed to arrive at 7 am. I was told her couldn't have bm after 2:30
>am. From 2:30-6:30 he could have water, applejuice and pedialyte. Well, he
>had never had applejuice, I didn't think it was a great to start him on that.
>And, I knew he could have bm up until 3 hours before surgery. So, the last
>time he nursed was almost 5 am. When I told them, of course it ended up in a
>"We'll have to delay surgery" discussion. I explained that 3 hours is the
>standard and that he'd had surgery there before after a 3 hour fast. I talked
>to the anesthesiologist who was less than thrilled. But, she agreed, since it
>had been over 4 hours till surgery time.(He went in at 9:20 am). They told me
>he'd be getting a bottle of Pedialyte after surgery to be sure he could keep
>it down and wouldn't throw up, choke, and so forth. I again told them he'd
>never have a bottle and I don't want him to have anything else, that he would
>nurse when he came out of surgery. I told everyone I passed the same thing. I
>kept hearing that he will vomit...I told them that I would nurse him a little
>at a time and he'd be fine. Well, after surgery he woke up rather abruptly
>and was really disoriented. He couldn't nurse well and was fussy and crying.
>They gave him 1/2 dose of morphine, he napped for 45 minutes. After that, he
>woke up fine. He nursed and stayed latched for 1 1/2 hours while he slept
>again. They gave me discharge instructions saying that if he vomited I should
>stop, go back to water a small amount at a time for a while and wait. That
>he'd probably be nauseous and his throat would be sore. HE may not want to
>eat. WEll, he nurses and nursed and nursed. NEver threw up. Never got
>nauseous. He woke up smiling at me this AM. He has been fine all day. Never
>acted like he was having any discomfort at all. He's been amazing. The powers
>of breastmilk. <grin>
>Anyway, I'm going to write the hospital a letter in my spare time including
>references on  appropriate  fasting times. I've collected some good
>references, and some practices from other hospitals. Does anyone know of
>anything else that would make a big impact?
>Teresa In PA
>
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