:-( My 7-week old has to have a GA on thursday - dreading starving her first

[cyanarasamba]

She will be going into theatre for a short proceedure at 1:30pm and I've been told not to feed her after 9:30am.

Aside from my anxiety about what these investigations might find, I am breaking my heart about her wanting to feed and having to deny her. She is exclusively breast fed and seems to be going through a growth spurt at the moment - feels like I am feeding her almost constantly.

The registrar on the phone said the nurses on the ward would have some experience of dealing with this but not sure what he meant? Any ideas anyone of how to get through this? She doesn't have a dummy. Would they put her on a drip do you think?

no they won't put her on a drip as although she will be hungry she won't be dehydrated.

Take in her pram & take her for a long walk for as long as you can, let her sleep through if you can.
N

I seem to remember reading somewhere that guidelines are different for breastmilk, because it's digested so quickly.

You could try phoning the Breastfeeding Network helpline as they are usually very informative with this type of issue. The number is 0300 100 0210.

I also found this for you on the La Leche League website:
www.llli.org/FAQ/anesthesia.html

It might also be worth posting in the breast-and-bottle-feeding section (or putting a shout out on there) as there are a few BF experts who post there more than here and might be able to help :)

it doesn't take 4 hours to digest breastmilk does it? Can you ask if she can have a feed later than that if it is BM?

Agree with Bertie, you should call LLL.

Oh, four hours, that doesn't seem as bad. For some reason I was thinking the surgery was at 9.30 and you weren't to feed for 8 hours! Still I appreciate 4 hours is a long time when you have a demand fed newborn.

Could you ask if it would be okay to give her some cooled boiled water in a bottle perhaps?Give her a feed at 9.30 and try to get her to sleep after that, then offer cooled boiled water if she wakes?