Just a recap, Kaitlyn had a slight tongue-tie, where a thin bit of muscle was holding her tongue to the bottom of her mouth so she wasn’t able to move her tongue very freely, hence breastfeeding was difficult. She ate slowly and got tired easily even on the bottle. On the bottles, she was unable to eat more than 50mls each session. Baby’s her age should be eating between 100mls to 150mls each session. So she eats very often. On the breast, she could eat for an hour and still scream in hunger.
I went to a few different doctors and they all said it wasn’t a problem as she was still gaining weight. But it was a problem for us, as I was spending EIGHT HOURS a day trying to express enough milk for her to eat EACH DAY, not to mention the mountain of pump parts and bottles to wash constantly. Anyhow, I finally gave up with the public system and called a private dental clinic, and got her “operation” scheduled for Wednesday.
Yesterday, I went to my Obstetrician for my 6 weeks postpartum checkup. I mentioned to Dr. Cocks that the tongue-tie was making breastfeeding difficult and that I was so desperate that I was going to a private clinic. He asked me how much it was going to cost. When I said $650, he raised an eyebrow, then made a phone call. Apparently he knows the nurse that fixes tongue-ties in Westmead Public Hospital!!. So, he talked to the nurse, wrote us a referral and sent us down the road to see her RIGHT AWAY! Oh I was so happy!
We went to see the nurse and she was wonderful and understanding. She explained the procedure to us, which involves cutting the tongue-tie with a pair of sterile scissors very quickly. Kaitlyn was fast asleep when they started the ‘operation’. I had to walk out of the room because 1) I faint at the sight of blood and 2) I hated to see my baby hurt… Kaitlyn handled it very well! There was no screams of pain, just some cries of annoyance for being held down by nurses and fingers in her mouth. She was able to breastfeed right after and had stronger sucks. There wasn’t even much blood.
We had the “operation” at 11am, and now it’s 4am the next day. We still have NOT used the bottles at all. It’s all been breastfeeding so far. She no longer screams after eating and was quite content after 20 minutes on one side and was able to sleep for a couple of hours before asking for food again. There are still “clicking” sounds occassionally when she eats, and her latch is still not “perfect”. But I hope in the next couple of days, she would discover the full use of her newly freed tongue and able to eat even better.
I am worried that she may not be getting enough to eat, but she is wetting her nappies almost every nappy change and appears content after each feed. How many wet nappies a day is normal? I hope we will see a poo soon so I can rest easier knowing she is getting enough food.
It feels weird not using the pump LOL. But it’s a good thing, all of a sudden I seem to have so much more time, to well, sleep! I hope this is the beginning of breastfeeding being “easy”...
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