Tongue Tied

    I used to think when someone said you were tongue tied that you stumbled over your words, but now the term "tongue tied" has a whole new meaning to me.  A few weeks ago I went to a meeting with a lactation consultant and she mentioned that Camber's tongue looked a little tight (that he couldn't really lift it or stick it out) and that might have been why we were having so many problems breastfeeding.  I happened to be at a baby and mama group the next week where one of the moms mentioned having to go to Bettendorf to get her daughter's tongue tie revised.  She offered to invite me to a support group on Facebook where I could look for information and see if I thought Camber fell into that category as well.  We went to an ENT (ear, nose, throat) Doctor and he clipped the frenulum that connects  his tongue to the bottom of his mouth.  I asked about doing stretching exercises which was brushed off as if the clipping would totally fix the problem.  I should have trusted my instincts (we should have done stretches).  It improved for about three days and then reattached.  I went back to the ENT to ask about a lip tie as well (Camber can't flange his upper lip-again causing breastfeeding issues).  The ENT said that wouldn't impact breastfeeding, but would clip it if I wanted him to.  Come to find out, this ENT wanted to put him under general anesthesia to do this procedure.  I was NOT ok with doing this to my 5 week old if it wasn't truly necessary.

   I went home and posted pictures of Camber's lip and tongue on the support group on Facebook and had responses within seconds.  I found that dentist in Bettendorf, Mindy Hochesang that used a laser for tongue and lip ties and did not need to put him "under" to do the procedure.  She offered to give up her lunch hour for us to come and have this done.  She sent me tons of resources through email and answered a ton of questions for me.  On Wednesday, February 12th we hopped in the car and drove the three hours to Bettendorf for her to laser Camber's lip and tongue ties. The actual procedure took just a few minutes and we were back in the car less than an hour later.  Camber slept the whole way there and back.  When we got home he nursed really well.
 
   I was not prepared for the next few days.  All I had read said they might be a little fussy but some extra nursing and they should be fine.  Camber was not.  He was very sore because of the extra work they had to do on his tongue to revise the tongue tie.  His tongue was swollen and sore.  After lots of nursing, love, snuggles, and a little teething gel we made it through the next five days (barely!)  There were a lot of tears (I am not sure who cried more Camber or Mama).

   He is now doing amazing: finally nursing successfully, gaining a good amount of weight, and sleeping because his belly is finally full!

   We may have to go back to have his tongue revised again, because his was such a severe posterior tongue tie and reattachment can occur despite our best efforts at the stretching exercises.  Overall I have been over-the-moon impressed with the dentist from Bettendorf.  She texted or called me everyday since the procedure to ask how he was doing and told me to text her day or night if I needed something!  I have never had a medical professional offer that kind of support! She is AMAZING!  

   I am disappointed that the Des Moines metro doesn't support tongue and lip ties more. I think this is a huge problem and people just don't know about it. I think this issue causes countless breastfeeding issues and people just give up breastfeeding because they don't know what else to do.  Trust me, I was ready to give it up many times in the last few weeks, but I am so glad we pushed through.  Looking back, we were really in the right place at the right time to hear about this amazing dentist and other supports.

    After getting home we needed to see a lactation consultant that knew a lot about tongue and lip ties and a chiropractor that specializes in craniosacral therapy in babies with tongue and lip ties.  Trying to find those were difficult, but we found LeAnn an amazing lactation consultant who has given us so many tips to make breastfeeding successful.  Tammy, Camber's new chiropractor, has really helped with his jaw and ultimately his tongue.

   I hope that this is something that more medical professionals can start supporting so that new moms don't feel discouraged while breastfeeding.  I have definitely learned to trust my "mama instincts" and push what I know is right!

   Our little man has been through more than is fair for his short 6 weeks of life, but we know that he is stronger because of it.  He is such a little fighter (and so stinking cute).

Starting to stick that tongue out! He couldn't do that before!

Push-ups!

Look at those eyes!