nanila | Frenulotomy

(Tiny post-pregnancy joy: Shaving my legs for the first time in months. Tiny post-pregnancy sadness: Having to put incredibly sexy surgical compression stockings over my nice smooth legs for another four weeks. Yes yes, it's better than deep vein thrombosis. But still, my vanity: it hurts.)

Keiki was born tongue-tied. We didn't realise how bad it was until we went to our hospital appointment on Monday. The midwife examined him and told us he had both posterior and anterior ties, resulting in a 90% tongue tie. So we agreed to have it snipped.

It has to be said that his mum shed more tears over the procedure than he did. Since he was born British, perhaps a stiff upper lip at eleven days old was to be expected. As soon as it was done, he latched deeply straightaway, fed for ten minutes, then promptly passed out. We've had no complications since and his feeding technique has improved.

The next day, the health visitor came and examined him. I basked in the discovery that he had gained 220 grams on his birth weight. Don't laugh. This is the only measure of achievement I have at the moment.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Date: 2015-01-02 12:36 pm (UTC)

From:

rmc28

no subject

fed for ten minutes, then promptly passed out

Awww :-) I love when they do that.

Date: 2015-01-03 08:03 pm (UTC)

nanila

I love the way his head falls back and he makes slow, weird movements with his mouth. Humuhumu did it, too - I'd forgotten how much fun it is to watch.

Date: 2015-01-02 01:07 pm (UTC)

cosmolinguist

I'm glad he's doing better. And I think these things are always harder on the moms, at least that's always been true with mine. :)

Date: 2015-01-03 08:05 pm (UTC)

Thank you. He seems to be getting on fine, so I'm glad it's been done and he won't remember it. Apparently tongue-tie that severe can cause speech problems later.

Date: 2015-01-02 01:27 pm (UTC)

ironed_orchid

I'm glad they spotted it early.

Date: 2015-01-03 08:06 pm (UTC)

Me too. It would be more difficult later on, when he might remember the procedure. Tongue-tie that severe can cause problems with speech.

Date: 2015-01-02 01:56 pm (UTC)

nou

Toby had tongue tie too. Just a warning that sometimes it does need to be snipped more than once. He had it done twice — I can't remember how long there was between the snips, but my mail archives say the second one was when he was 5 weeks 6 days.

Date: 2015-01-03 08:07 pm (UTC)

Yes, apparently re-attachment is the biggest risk. We've been told to stick our tongues out at him to get him to imitate us. The toddler is loving that advice!

Date: 2015-01-03 10:27 pm (UTC)

Oh, I'm glad they warned you — we had no idea the first snip wouldn't fix it for good.

We were recommended tongue massage, but the sticking-tongues-out sounds much more fun :)

Date: 2015-01-02 04:17 pm (UTC)

sfred

So glad that feeding's easier and he's gaining weight :-)

Thank you! Yes, me too. It's more pleasant feeding him now that he can latch deeply, too.

Date: 2015-01-02 04:31 pm (UTC)

kate

Oh, man, that sucks with the tongue-tied. My sister's youngest was like that, and all of hers had latching problems, so it's brilliant that yours latched right away after the procedure! And no one is laughing - that is a pretty brilliant measure of achievement. <3333

Date: 2015-01-03 08:09 pm (UTC)

Latching is difficult enough to get right without a tongue-tie. It's so painful when they don't latch correctly, and it can be difficult to break the seal on a latch that hurts. My sympathies to your sister.

And thank you! ♥