What is Going on with my Baby??

Even before Ian’s birth, I knew that I was definitely going to breastfeed, just as I did with Isaac.  However, initially it was not as easy this time around.  He was having problems latching correctly and even though I was now an experienced mama, I still requested the assistance of the hospital lactation consultant because they are the professionals, not me lol.  I did not know what I was doing wrong, and instead of it being an enjoyable bonding experience with my little one, it was becoming increasingly painful.  I knew something was amiss because I could hear him making this clicking sound while breastfeeding and he would frequently break latch to re-latch. 

At first I thought, let me just ignore it because I have not breastfed for a year now, so maybe we both just need to get the hang of things.  I would make sure his lips were flanged out, that he had a good grip, he was gaining weight instead of losing and he was pooping quite regularly.  Oh, yes that reminds me!  Another area of concern for us was that even though Ian was pooping, he was not peeing regularly and at first, it really concerned us.  Our nurses would keep track of the number of soiled diapers and whatnot and when we reported that we still did not have a pee diaper, we started to receive some extra attention.  I remember we would change his diapers like please let there be pee.  Day 3 came around, our nurse came in to check on us and to get a record of number of feedings and soiled diapers and we told her still no pee.  That is when we started to panic.  After the nurse left, my hubby and I were talking and trying to figure out what was going on with our little guy.  Then without warning, my hubby stood up and started digging in the trash like a lunatic.  I was looking like what the heck is he doing up in that nasty trash???  Then he exclaims, “Yes!!”  He presented a dirty diaper full of pee (we saw that blue line on the diaper indicating it was wet from pee)!  Turns out he changed Ian’s diaper on the 2^nd night, but was so tired that he forgot there was pee.  You do not even know how happy we were to have that pee diaper. We immediately showed our nurse.  Let me tell you, as a parent, when your baby does not seem like he is peeing, this will worry you, in fact, anything will worry you, so seeing that pee diaper felt like we won a million bucks!  I remember we were cheering, laughing and high fiving like the nerds we are lol! 

Ok, sorry to digress, back to breastfeeding!  I know some women experience dry, chapped, bleeding nipples, but I never experienced that with Isaac.  I remember he had the whole thing down from the very first latch.  I thought, ok, maybe this is what is going to happen to me this time with Ian, I am going to have some bleeding nipples.  I simply could not accept that though, because instead of enjoying the bonding time with Ian, I started to dread when he would latch.  I tried breastfeeding him in different positions, re-latching him, even the lactation consultant tried everything and told me to just keep at it and if I was still having problems to contact them.  Well, even though I was in pain, I toughed it out and breastfed my baby. 

It was not until we took Ian for his first pediatrician appointment the day after discharge from the hospital that we got some answers.  We made an appointment with another pediatrician filling in for our usual guy (He was on vacay) and I really feel like God made it happen that way.  She examined Ian and asked how breastfeeding was going.  I let her know that it was painful this time around and I was not sure why.  She immediately went into action upon hearing this and discovered that Ian had a clipped tongue.  We were like say what?  I do not know about you, but we never heard of this term and all these panic alarms started going off in our heads.  She told us that it was nothing to worry about and one of her kids used to have a clipped tongue.  They had it taken care of when he was a newborn by an ENT doctor in the area.  She gave us the referral and we were able to get Ian to see the ENT doctor the very same day. 

The ENT confirmed what our pediatrician told us and said that she could take care of his clipped tongue immediately in office if we were up for it.  At first I was like ehh, do I want my baby going through another procedure (he was circumcised in the hospital), maybe I should just tough it out and we can struggle together to figure out what will work best breastfeeding wise?  The ENT comforted us, assuring us that she had done this procedure many times on newborns and that it was very simple and baby would be good to go very soon after.  We decided to go for it!

To prep baby for the procedure, they gave Ian a little bit of sugar water because apparently, that induces endorphins in newborns, acting like a painkiller for them, but naturally.  Then they made the tiniest slice under this tongue. It barely bled and he cried for maybe 5 seconds.  I could not bear to watch it done, but you know his dad was all up in it giving me the play-by-play lol!  We were instructed that he would be able to breastfeed normally after that. 

I waited until we got home to feed Ian and just like that, the pain from breastfeeding started fading away!  He had more mobility of his tongue and was able to latch correctly for feeding.  That procedure made all the difference!!  I was still sore from the previous times he breastfed, but I could tell that it was no longer going to be a struggle for either of us.  That $900 we paid out of pocket was well worth it! 

We learned that if you can sense something is wrong or keeps bothering you about your baby, do not ignore it.  It is always best to address any of your parental concerns, no matter how small they may seem.  Each child is different and we have definitely been learning that through experience! 

Next time I will discuss why we had to slow our roll this time around when it came to feeding Ian solids.