While we were in the hospital recovering from Brit's big arrival my doula came for a visit. She gave some amazing encouragement & calmed me in my drugged state, then she held Brit & gave him a thorough once over & announced that he had a severe lip & tongue tie.
As I began breastfeeding I experienced toe-curling pain & had to use a nipple shield for an effective latch, Brit was also a lazy eater & would tire easily. We mentioned all of this plus the doula's lip & tongue tie suspicions to the hospital pediatrician, she checked Brit's mouth quickly & denied any issues & stated that the feeding difficulties were due to his prematurity.
We went home & nursing continued to be a nightmare, I constantly cried out of pain, frustration, & fatigue. The only positive was that my milk supply was plentiful, but we didn't know what else to do so I began exclusively pumping & then bottle feeding the expressed milk, it seemed to work moderately well for the baby, but my goal was to simply breastfeed. My sister-in-law was a fantastic encourager & resource as my personal lactation consultant, I called her constantly with each day's frustrations.
On the day that my mom left & Chris returned to work our doula came over for a visit, she again checked Brit's mouth & was adamant that her previous diagnosis was correct & that he had a severe case. She recommended a couple of doctors to treat the ties, I called Dr.Cole & we were booked for the following day.
Dr.Cole performed a quick exam, confirming a lip & tongue tie & stated the tongue was about 80% tied-no wonder nursing was a nightmare. He then performed the frenectomy with a laser, Brit was upset mostly by being restrained by Chris & having lights in his eyes. Otherwise, he tolerated the procedure well as I stood crying in the corner, no mama should watch her 10 day old baby experience a surgical procedure.
We were given medication & exercises to help him heal properly, then were escorted to the nursing lounge where I nursed my son for the first time without excruciating pain. We loved seeing him finally be able to stick out his cute little tongue.
In the time since the frenectomy Brit has been breastfed exclusively. We still have to use the nipple shield & nursing has been far from easy: he only nurses off of one side, he doesn't drain the breast completely, has a hard time with the initial latch, he thinks the breast is where he should pass out, & I constantly fight engorgement. Soon I will have to return to work, Brit will have to take breast milk from a bottle while at school & only breastfeed at night. I wish we were old pro's at breastfeeding before he & I have to spend the day apart, I don't want the daily separation to hinder our progress.
We went for a weight check this week & our boy has grown to be 7lbs at 6 weeks of age. His doctor isn't thrilled with his weight at this time, wants him to have gained more. She verified that he has a good latch but it's just one more worry that we have.
Thankfully, Brit seems to enjoy nursing despite all the work it takes, he screams & growls until he latches & then quickly becomes deeply relaxed. I think he & I both prefer to breastfeed, as evidence by this sweet smirky smile:
We went home & nursing continued to be a nightmare, I constantly cried out of pain, frustration, & fatigue. The only positive was that my milk supply was plentiful, but we didn't know what else to do so I began exclusively pumping & then bottle feeding the expressed milk, it seemed to work moderately well for the baby, but my goal was to simply breastfeed. My sister-in-law was a fantastic encourager & resource as my personal lactation consultant, I called her constantly with each day's frustrations.
On the day that my mom left & Chris returned to work our doula came over for a visit, she again checked Brit's mouth & was adamant that her previous diagnosis was correct & that he had a severe case. She recommended a couple of doctors to treat the ties, I called Dr.Cole & we were booked for the following day.
Dr.Cole performed a quick exam, confirming a lip & tongue tie & stated the tongue was about 80% tied-no wonder nursing was a nightmare. He then performed the frenectomy with a laser, Brit was upset mostly by being restrained by Chris & having lights in his eyes. Otherwise, he tolerated the procedure well as I stood crying in the corner, no mama should watch her 10 day old baby experience a surgical procedure.
We were given medication & exercises to help him heal properly, then were escorted to the nursing lounge where I nursed my son for the first time without excruciating pain. We loved seeing him finally be able to stick out his cute little tongue.
In the time since the frenectomy Brit has been breastfed exclusively. We still have to use the nipple shield & nursing has been far from easy: he only nurses off of one side, he doesn't drain the breast completely, has a hard time with the initial latch, he thinks the breast is where he should pass out, & I constantly fight engorgement. Soon I will have to return to work, Brit will have to take breast milk from a bottle while at school & only breastfeed at night. I wish we were old pro's at breastfeeding before he & I have to spend the day apart, I don't want the daily separation to hinder our progress.
We went for a weight check this week & our boy has grown to be 7lbs at 6 weeks of age. His doctor isn't thrilled with his weight at this time, wants him to have gained more. She verified that he has a good latch but it's just one more worry that we have.
Thankfully, Brit seems to enjoy nursing despite all the work it takes, he screams & growls until he latches & then quickly becomes deeply relaxed. I think he & I both prefer to breastfeed, as evidence by this sweet smirky smile:
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