Ever since birth Caleb has had struggles nursing. He couldn't latch well so I am was a ton of severe pain all the time. Plus he often choked and gagged, lost milk all down his cheek, and made clicking and gulping sounds through out the feed. I also had a milk bleb which was making things worse too. Caleb was growing like a weed though so everyone, including several lactation consultants and two pediatricians and my OB just kept saying he was fine and that eventually the pain would subside so that was my mantra. Week after week I just kept telling myself that I could do this, and that as long as Caleb was growing this was just what mommies do.
With all the air Caleb was taking in dueapoor feeding he was experiencing lots of gas that made him cry all day long and eventually the doctors said he had colic (unconsolable crying for more than several hours a day). Ryan and I literally were taking 20 minutes shifts holding our screaming child. When gas drops didn't work we tried chiropractic care which helped slights but mainly it helped clear the gas that was there but when it accumulated again, the pain would come back too. Eventually we tried acid reflux drugs and that actually made a huge difference! We no longer cried all day and actually started getting some form of routine schedule going.
As for the milk bleb I actually developed over ten! Just google milk bleb if you are curious. I'll spare you any details at this time.
Eventually we got to the point that even though Caleb was exclusively nursing and I still had TONS of milk and could have probably nursed triplets so I spent lots of time working to control my output and not drown him. It took lots of research and lots of trial and error but eventually we got it controlled.
That bring us to this week. Each time I nursed Caleb this week I started realizing that although he was happy between feedings he still seemed just as miserable as me during feeds. He still got frustrated, choked and coughed, cried, screamed, and leaked milk. I was still in severe pain too! I had noticed earlier that Caleb's tongue looked tied but non of the professionals that were helping us had ever noticed so I just thought I was a crazy speech therapist that was over diagnosing her child. Then one day Ryan actually commented on it too so i started doing lots of research.
I determined that Caleb had a type three tongue tie. I'll try and post pictures of before and after soon. Essentially there is a small piece of "skin" that is attached to the middle of his tongue to the floor of his mouth causing his tongue to have limited movement. I talked to several other speech paths and did lots of medical studies and and most recommended clipping the tongue if continued breast feeding was desired.
With that we made an appointment for Caleb 2 month well check to discuss this plan. While we were there today, the pediatrician and I decided to try and do a minimal cut in the office with no sedation but that if that was not helpful enough then we would be referred to an ENT for surgery. The procedures was simple and easy and Caleb fell asleep right afterward, but we won't know the effects for awhile. I will try and keep you updated though.
In the meantime, please keep Caleb and I in your prayers. We pray for quick healing of the cut and decreased pain and less frustration for mom and baby. Thanks.
With that we made an appointment for Caleb 2 month well check to discuss this plan. While we were there today, the pediatrician and I decided to try and do a minimal cut in the office with no sedation but that if that was not helpful enough then we would be referred to an ENT for surgery. The procedures was simple and easy and Caleb fell asleep right afterward, but we won't know the effects for awhile. I will try and keep you updated though.
In the meantime, please keep Caleb and I in your prayers. We pray for quick healing of the cut and decreased pain and less frustration for mom and baby. Thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment