Adara had minor surgery at the very beginning of the month. As she started getting more teeth (she has 8 now!) breastfeeding was (again) turning into the most horrible thing ever and I could see something wasn't quite right. There was a gap forming between her top two teeth and the skin attaching her lip to her gums was growing in between the gap. I was already going to ask her doctor about tongue tie at her 9 month appointment because I noticed that when she relaxed her tongue the tip of it had a heart shape (see pic).
When I googled about the gap in her teeth it tuned out that was a classic sign of lip tie as well.
When I wrote asking about it on the mommy facebook group I belong to everyone recommended I get it fixed immediately due to the many complications that are associated with it: feeding problems, speech impediments, and dental issues. Luckily, we have a specialist right near Portland who is one of the few doctors in the country that does the surgery with a laser to reduce scarring (he also does it without putting the baby under anesthesia)! I called ASAP and got the earliest appointment.
When he saw Adara's mouth he said her lip tie was up there with the thickest he has seen. He also asked about my breastfeeding story and all of a sudden everything made sense. All I could do was cry. Nine months of painful and bloody feedings when there was a simple fix that could have taken place on day #1 if someone would have looked in my baby's mouth. So, now I want to spread the news to EVERYONE who has a baby, might have a baby, might know somebody who has a baby. If breastfeeding is hurting and you see a lactation specialist who does not look in your baby's mouth fire her immediately and call me. Seriously. Other symptoms to watch for include the following: failure to thrive (slow weight gain), long feedings, lots of spit up, low milk supply, painful breastfeeding including bloody nipples, heart-shaped tip of tongue, unable to lift tongue up very high, inability to stick tongue outside of mouth very far, etc. (Adara had all of these, poor baby girl). Also, don't turn to your pediatrician....they will be useless unless (most likely).
If you think something is wrong then it probably is because mother's intuition is usually spot on. In fact, even though I was madder than a hornet about the situation I also felt a sense of relief and validation. For 9 long months I thought there was something wrong with me: my body wasn't working right, I wasn't drinking enough water, I was too stressed, I wasn't eating the right foods, etc. etc. etc. Ultimately, it made me feel like a failure as a mom. I can't tell you how many nights I cried myself to sleep worrying about how I was going to feed my baby. Breastfeeding was a definite priority of mine and I wasn't going to let anyone take it away from me. I would pump all hours of the night to make enough milk, curl my toes through the pain, and walk around like a sleep-deprived zombie. When I told the specialist my story he had heard it all before and he really understood because his wife went through the same exact thing with their daughter. I was recommended to the best lactation specialist in Portland following the surgery and my breastfeeding relationship has forever changed. Now, I'm pretty sure I could breastfeed Adara until she is at least 45-years-old. Before, you might remember I was taking it day by day..... what a drastic change.
The surgery itself lasted about 5 minutes. We handed Adara to the doctor, he took her away, we could hear her screaming bloody murder, I cried, he came back and told me to breastfeed. Her mouth was all bloody but she latched on and everything was changed. It seriously happened that fast. The worst part of the whole ordeal was the three weeks of stretches that followed. 4-6 times a day we had to stretch the healing wounds and reopen them so the skin would not grow back. It was torture for all of us. I was scared Adara would never forgive us but as the days went on and things started to feel better it became kind of a game. And she even smiled through the stretches a few times. Now Adara is talking more than ever, the gap in her teeth closed a little, she's nursing better, and drinking out of a sippy cup better, and making all sorts of new sounds with her tongue. It's amazing!
When I googled about the gap in her teeth it tuned out that was a classic sign of lip tie as well.
When I wrote asking about it on the mommy facebook group I belong to everyone recommended I get it fixed immediately due to the many complications that are associated with it: feeding problems, speech impediments, and dental issues. Luckily, we have a specialist right near Portland who is one of the few doctors in the country that does the surgery with a laser to reduce scarring (he also does it without putting the baby under anesthesia)! I called ASAP and got the earliest appointment.
When he saw Adara's mouth he said her lip tie was up there with the thickest he has seen. He also asked about my breastfeeding story and all of a sudden everything made sense. All I could do was cry. Nine months of painful and bloody feedings when there was a simple fix that could have taken place on day #1 if someone would have looked in my baby's mouth. So, now I want to spread the news to EVERYONE who has a baby, might have a baby, might know somebody who has a baby. If breastfeeding is hurting and you see a lactation specialist who does not look in your baby's mouth fire her immediately and call me. Seriously. Other symptoms to watch for include the following: failure to thrive (slow weight gain), long feedings, lots of spit up, low milk supply, painful breastfeeding including bloody nipples, heart-shaped tip of tongue, unable to lift tongue up very high, inability to stick tongue outside of mouth very far, etc. (Adara had all of these, poor baby girl). Also, don't turn to your pediatrician....they will be useless unless (most likely).
If you think something is wrong then it probably is because mother's intuition is usually spot on. In fact, even though I was madder than a hornet about the situation I also felt a sense of relief and validation. For 9 long months I thought there was something wrong with me: my body wasn't working right, I wasn't drinking enough water, I was too stressed, I wasn't eating the right foods, etc. etc. etc. Ultimately, it made me feel like a failure as a mom. I can't tell you how many nights I cried myself to sleep worrying about how I was going to feed my baby. Breastfeeding was a definite priority of mine and I wasn't going to let anyone take it away from me. I would pump all hours of the night to make enough milk, curl my toes through the pain, and walk around like a sleep-deprived zombie. When I told the specialist my story he had heard it all before and he really understood because his wife went through the same exact thing with their daughter. I was recommended to the best lactation specialist in Portland following the surgery and my breastfeeding relationship has forever changed. Now, I'm pretty sure I could breastfeed Adara until she is at least 45-years-old. Before, you might remember I was taking it day by day..... what a drastic change.
The surgery itself lasted about 5 minutes. We handed Adara to the doctor, he took her away, we could hear her screaming bloody murder, I cried, he came back and told me to breastfeed. Her mouth was all bloody but she latched on and everything was changed. It seriously happened that fast. The worst part of the whole ordeal was the three weeks of stretches that followed. 4-6 times a day we had to stretch the healing wounds and reopen them so the skin would not grow back. It was torture for all of us. I was scared Adara would never forgive us but as the days went on and things started to feel better it became kind of a game. And she even smiled through the stretches a few times. Now Adara is talking more than ever, the gap in her teeth closed a little, she's nursing better, and drinking out of a sippy cup better, and making all sorts of new sounds with her tongue. It's amazing!
