john's tongue tie

the first indication that something was wrong was the intense pain i felt when he nursed. i had to breathe through each nursing session like a long contraction that was focused in my breast. my lips became really chapped because evidently when i am in pain i lick my lips like a crack-head.
the first night in the hospital he had trouble latching on. the next morning i requested a visit from the lactation consultant. she told me "when he's 24 hours he'll figure it out."
"ok"
well- he figured it out. it just was painful.
i remembered something margaret told me when she sat me down during henry's pregnancy. she showed me, using kolbe, how to breastfeed. i remember her pulling back kolbe's lower lip and revealing his pink little tongue working away. she said, "when you pull back the lower lip, you should see tongue."
so in the hospital i pulled back 24+ hour old john's lower lip. no tongue. i let him suck on my pinky. i could easily feel the ridges of both his upper gums(normal) and the ridges of his lower gums(not normal and the cause of all the pain).
the next day- thanksgiving- i asked to see the lactation consultant again. she came in and with a gloved hand assessed his suck.
"he's got a good suck."
that's it?
so i questioned my pain tolerance. maybe i'm a wuss? and i'll toughen up eventually?
we came home and i continued breathing through each nursing session. it was nearly unbearable. i knew that nursing was easier than this.
the next sign that things weren't right was my low milk supply. now- it wasn't low low, mind you. but it wasn't typical for me. my supply in the first three weeks is likened to the BP oil spill in the gulf of mexico. i wet the bed. nursing pads are a joke. i use cloth diapers. it sprays out. if the baby sleeps too long it's painfully obvious. i was worried. if my milk supply was this low- then what would happen when the "glory days" ended. these first few weeks of free flowing milk would end and then where would my supply be?
so i started chatting up my ican friends. what could this be? someone on ican recently had a baby with tongue tie and it sounded very similar.
so i started researching tongue tie. looking at pictures. reading blogs.
it sounded like he had posterior tongue tie.
i had a fellow icaner, friend, and lactation consultant come over the sunday after he was born. i showed her a picture of his cry- his tongue curled up on the edges and the tip stayed down- and she said "yep- that's posterior tongue tie".
she weighed him before and after a nursing session. he was getting the milk. but the pain it caused was so strong that a tongue clip was warranted.
i called monday morning and made an appointment with the pediatric ENT on the next day.
at the appointment the nurse numbed under his tongue with a swab of gel. i brought him into the proceedure room and the doctor held up his tongue with a forked tool while snipping the tight frenulum with a little pair of scissors. he dabbed the blood away with some gauze and i was able to take him into a recovery room and nurse. he nursed a bit and there was a noticeable difference. it was still tough to tell because my nipples were still very beat up and sore. the doctor told us that he didn't treat labial frenulum tightness- that it would eventually stretch out. he also told us to sweep under the tongue once a day to prevent readherence.
the tongue clipping was on tuesday. the following thursday night/friday morning john had a terrible night. it took him between 45 minutes and an hour to latch each time. he seemed to regress to that first night in the hospital- where he would gape his mouth, come toward me, and then just move his jaw without sucking in at all. there was no suction and i was able to easily break free of him- it was just a matter of moving over or away. he wasn't throwing fits. he was very patient. i was frustrated to tears. in the dark hours i cried, worried that the surgery ruined him. he had forgotten how to nurse and what would we do now?
at ten in the morning i decided to time exactly how long it took for him to latch properly. it wasn't until 11:10, 70 minutes later, that he finally latched and was sucking and swallowing.
i got back on ican and was reading up. the other icaner with a tongue tied son went back to another ENT in the practice and got even more of the frenulum cut. i wondered if this is what we needed. she also got his labial tie clipped too. she said now he was able to flange his upper lip out so he was able to milk more of the breast. i watched john nurse. his upper lip stayed down so low and didn't flange out at all. i called the ENT. the doctor who could do these things for us wasn't free until after the new year! this is upsetting for a few different reasons.
1) were we to struggle with a poor latch until 2012?
2) he will be more than 6 weeks old and the surgery will require general anesthesia
3) our deductible is met so the entire cost is taken care of. 2012 would take that away.
i ended up calling a very renowned lactation consultant- anne grider. she listened to all of the information and then gave so much sound advice i had to scribble down notes to remember it all. since his chin is recessed i had to tinker with his position at latch. she said a hyperextended head would force his chin more towards the breast.
he still has trouble at times. when he's tired or when he's super hungry he forgets how to nurse and it takes some time. not as much as before but closer to 30 minutes to latch. now that i'm accustomed to the lessened amount of pain i realize that it is still a bit painful. i plan on calling the ENT every morning for an opening due to a cancelation. and if that fails i plan on sitting in the office with ALL the kids waiting to be seen without an appointment- just seeing if there is any time for us to squeeze in between appointments.
until then we will be patient with each other and be creative at looking for ways to make it work. he is gaining. he is happy. but i know that it can be easier and more enjoyable for us both.