My Little Sweetpea was born in July. I was so confused right after her birth when she couldn't seem to nurse. With her being my first one, I had no idea how nursing was supposed to feel, but I was pretty sure there was supposed to be some sucking going on, or at least the ability to get my nipple in her mouth, somehow. One of the OB nurses tried to encourage her to suck with a squirt of sugar water and showed me how to use a nipple shield. We kept trying and I just decided she MUST be getting something, right? Just for peace of mind, an IBCLC on staff with the hospital came by to observe us nursing. She couldn't really tell what was going on, but said she thought Baby would probably get it figured out soon.
Our first night home, I was up almost every single hour with my screaming baby. I finally decided "alright, I'll just sit here and nurse until she is totally satisfied." For two hours, we sat on the couch and she struggled with my breast. Finally she fell asleep. I was so discouraged. I knew nursing could be hard to learn and that new babies needed to eat frequently, but I couldn't tell that she was getting anything out of me. Sure enough, after a little sleep, she was screaming again.
The next day, we took her to the pediatrucian's office, where we were informed that she had lost - in two days - 12% of her tiny birthweight. My baby was starving at my breast! I was heartbroken, and broke into tears in front of the nurses. They brought her a bottle of preemie formula and she downed a lot, and finally fell into a happy sleep. We continued into the lactation office. Weeks and weeks followed of weights feeds, pumping every three hours around the clock, finger feeding, and finally switching over to bottles with pumped milk. My life revolved around feeding my baby, with almost no time for anything else.
Our excellent IBCLC had early on brought up that our baby might have a tongue tie, with her super high palate, clicking at the bottle, inability to latch, and the lipstick shape she left my nipples in after a nipple-shield-covered chomping session. At first my husband and I balked at the idea of any kind of surgery in our tiny daughter's mouth. After a few more weeks and research, though, and learning that it usually wasn't too painful, we were ready to consider it. Two doctors in town poked around in our daughter's mouth, said there could be a tie, but that they couldn't help us because at five weeks old, she was "too old" and would have to be put under general anesthesia (both of which points I now know to be nonsense!). During this time, our health insurance from my job, which I had quit to stay home with her, ran out. We decided to bite the bullet, fly thousands of miles to Portland, and pay out of pocket to have Dr. Ghaheri do the revision (he confirmed in an email that she had a PTT and probably a ULT as well. We were always impressed with how quickly he got back to us!). Our experience at his office was wonderful. He explained things thoroughly to us, was gentle with our baby, and the whole procedure, including taking her to the laser room, swaddling, and goggling her, took three minutes or so. She hardly cried, and I was able to nurse her instantly. What a different feeling it was. She was in some pain later that afternoon for about a day, which was hard. We used baby Tylenol, which helped.
Half a week of good nursing followed. A weighted feed at my IBCLC's office showed her transferring a lot! Then, as her mouth healed and soreness set in, she became resistant to nursing. She wanted nothing to do with my breast. She nursed for a little bit in the bathtub with me, but I could tell it was stressing her out. On my IBCLC's guidance, I kept offering the breast in a low-pressure way, trying to keep it a "happy place." Two weeks went by. I was close to giving up. I read on Dr. Ghaheri's blog about how the healing process takes place over about a 21 day period, and about how the area under the tongue will get firm and sore after 5-7 days, then loosen back up around day 21 post-revision. This encouraged me that things might get better shortly. We did our stretches around the clock - they were hard!
About three weeks after her revision, we tried an SNS feeder, and got her to latch momentarily. The next day, while lying down at home with the SNS feeder again, she finally latched for real. And then she didn't need the SNS feeder. Gradually, she got used to latching and nursing, and within a week or so and after some weighed feeds that confirmed she was transferring 4 oz., we had given up the pump and bottles and started exclusively nursing.
My husband and I got our lives back. I sanitized the pump and put it in storage. And my baby got to eat in her mommy's embrace. She LOVES nursing - though now, let's be honest, she would also love to get her mitts on whatever's on our plates. Last night, we let her spend some time squishing and smearing avocado on her face.
I am so grateful for how things worked out for us, and for the dedicated medical team we had on our side. I bring up tongue tie whenever I feel it might make a difference in someone else's life, and am committed to sharing with other moms. Please, if you're having a hard time with this, don't give up! It can get so much better. And don't waste your time and money, and most importantly, don't risk your baby's well being going to a doctor unless you're positive they understand tongue tie!
~ Emily Gebel
No comments:
Post a Comment