Hellobee Boards

My son had his first surgery for an undescended testicle at 14 months. I know that is a wildly different age than 6 months. This may be totally unhelpful, but I"m writing just in case it helps. I wanted all the information I could get about people's experiences.

But for what its worth, the pre-op stuff wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I suspect with a baby that young you should get a very early morning time. We woke our son up right before his fasting time started and gave him a bottle to really tank him up. Once we got to the hospital there was enough going on that he was pretty distracted.
I had a bit of a breakdown while we were waiting for him- the second time (it was a two part procedure for us) I did a much better job of keeping myself distracted. We got up and walked around every twenty minutes or so, and I didn't drink tons of hospital coffee like I did the first time- so I wasn't as big of a mess.
I sent my husband back when it was time for him to go under, because I knew I wouldn't be able to hold it together and that would frighten him. We were both able to be there when he woke up. I brought pouches (even though my son was eating table foods) in case he had a sore throat. He nursed for awhile when he was waking up (as soon as he stirred they let me hold him and nurse him immediately- so he didn't have trouble coming out of the anesthesia). Once he was alert he was starving and sucked down a bunch of the pouches. He was very sleepy and out of it for about 24 hours after waking up. I think he was also slightly nauseated the first time. His appetite was decreased for 4-5 days after the second surgery.

I can't speak to what recovery will be like for you. our son's first surgery was laparoscopic and recovery was very easy- he was honestly back to normal in 24 hours. The second one involved a couple small incisions, he was under longer, and it was a little more of a difficult surgery. He was also older (20 months). His recovery for that one took a little longer. After maybe 48 hours he was acting like himself in the morning but by the afternoon he was obviously sore and worn out. If I gave him ibuprofen he'd play too hard, so we kind of had to find a balance there. Again- this won't be an issue with an immobile baby!

I was so relieved when it was all over, and while I was waiting for it I just kept focusing on that- it will all be over soon. I'm in awe of parents with children who have chronic medical conditions- those two relatively simple surgeries felt like they took a decade off my life.

Not the same surgery or age, but we just had our pre-op for tubes and adenoids this morning for DS. According to our hospital/anesthesiologist, Young babies can have breast milk up to 4 hrs before surgery time, formula or milk 6 hours before and no solids after midnight. They try to get the littlest ones in first thing in the morning and usually they are cranky and off for the day the younger they are. I consistently read that coming out of the anesthesia is the worst part of these routine surgeries.

Hopefully someone else can chime in with specifics to your sons age and surgery!

@MaryM: DD underwent placement of a VP shunt in her brain at 4 months. I was scared to death, but now a year out looking back, I think it was much harder for me than it was for her.

As some posters above said, they do try and take the little ones earliest given the NPO status - trying to minimize that time without intake. We gave her a bottle at the last minute we could - which I think was an hour earlier than she usually would have taken it - but she woofed it down no problem and wasn't too too fussy right before surgery.

When they come out of surgery, they are pretty chill and a little groggy. I was happy that while she seemed a little quiet and sleepy, I knew for sure there were zero signs she was suffering. I think that was my big big worry. She drank a bottle right after surgery and had a pretty uneventful night. We just made sure to preemptively give Tylenol, even if she seemed fine.

As a physician having seen many kiddos post-op from circs and hypospadias repairs, as others have said, it looks TERRIBLE (swollen, red) but isn't actually as bad as it looks. As far as daycare, I'd assess their comfort level with something that looks bad but actually isn't.

This comment has been deleted by the original poster.

@SugarMaple , love hearing your age 4 update Made me tear up.

@MaryM: TOO funny, my mom is ALSO a nurse (labor and delivery) so she knows what's up. It was a hard pill for me to swallow because our son was STTN before surgery, but we had to accept the fact that this would probably throw him off and we'd have to slowly but surely get back on track. I, too, am extremely anxious about getting everything "right" in sleep, routines, etc. But if you can, take a deep breath and tell yourself ok sleep may go awry, but let's get him through this pain/recovery and take it one day at a time. As I mentioned, it took us 10 days to get sleep back to where it was. Night 2 my mom literally slept sitting up with him in her arms in a rocking chair the entire night. But we made it back.

RE caretakers, I would say at the end of the day it is still a single baby. My mom was with me day 2-5, and while it was amazing (I also feel safer/more secure when she is here, with her medical knowledge no less), a lot of it was her and I playing with the baby together and chatting. So being that you are strapped for PTO, I would spread out care (assuming DH and gma are comfortable being solo with baby) so he is home from school as long as possible.

One of the surgeons we consulted with said after-care is critical to successful outcome, so we wanted only our hands on our angel for as long as we could swing it. (That is just 1 docs opinion so take w grain of salt of course.)

@Marym:
My son was born with a very slight hypospadia (along with a high palate and tachycardia). They noticed the hypospadias in the hospital around the time they were going to attempt a circumcision but decided against the circumcision (even partial) to maintain the quality of flesh for a future procedure (* which he had at 6 mos old).

At 6 mos of age, my son had an early morning appointment at the Vanderbuilt children's hospital in Nashville. We were told no morning feedings of cereals, fruits/vegetables, or formula but he could "sip" water or breast milk if he was extremely thirsty. It was absolute H*LL, as my son is a hearty eater and hated sipping. It was also difficult to watch him get attached to an IV after changing him into a tiny surgical gown. He was allowed a pacifier and a small stuffed animal to take in with him. They lightly sedated him before my husband and I left him so he wouldn't cry. The surgery went very well. It took a bit for G to wake from the surgery "haze" and he was uncomfortable and a bit grouchy. I was told I should nurse him or feed him a bottle to get something in his stomach to counter some of the meds and because they were certain he was thirsty. He went through a bottle and a half of pumped breast milk. The hospital staff showed us his stent/catheter (* the tube in his urethra) which was stitched in and would remain for 2 weeks. They also showed us how to double-diaper for comfort which is cutting a hole for the penis to emerge in one diaper and placing a second diaper over the first to work as a cushion. The nurse stated that his testicles may be bruised and that he may cry when he urinates for a day but the medication for spasms, as well as, Tylenol, should calm the pain. We were advised no ride on toys, walkers, bouncers, teeter totters, swimming in pools, baby gymnastics, or play in which his member could be bumped. The doctor made one last check and told us that we were lucky my son had a very minor hypospadias and larger penis with extra tissue as the procedure could not have gone smoother .... To this, my husband beamed (Yes, he was both happy my son's procedure was an easy one and he was VERY happy to hear "HIS" son was on the larger side. It is a guy thing, right?).

Anyway, my son is 3 now. He urinates fine and is expected to have no further issues. He is an amazing kid and is my angel. I will keep you and your son in my thoughts. Please - Keep us updated on how it goes.