The great breastfeeding entry, as promised
So breastfeeding has been an adventure so far, as I expected. I knew going into this that it could be interesting, since I had so much trouble with my supply last time. I decided to be proactive this time and went in for a lactation consultation at about 36 weeks. They recommended a few different things to try, including a tincture that is supposed to help with supply, so I have been using that since birth. No idea if it helps or not, but I am willing to keep trying it.
So, I knew pretty much right away with Addy that we were going to have some problems with this breastfeeding thing, because her latch was terrible from the very beginning. She had a very shallow, painful latch from the very first time. I never had any pain with Ally, so this was a new experience for me. We had a lactation consultant come for a home visit a few days after birth, and I was really glad we decided to since I was having issues. (And thankful that there is a school in the area for lactation consultants who do free visits...it is one actual consultant/teacher and 2 students, so as long as you don't mind that, it is great).
So the consultant tried to give me some advice about helping her latch on better, most of which I had already tried. It was a little bit frustrating, because no matter what we did then we couldn't get her to latch well. They recommended trying craniosacral (I think I spelled that right) therapy with my chiropractor, in case her jaw being tight was the problem. They also noticed that it seemed like she had a bit of a tongue tie, and also definitely had a lip tie (lip tie? doesn't sound right. anyway, the frenulum on her lip came all the way to the bottom of her gums up top). They said we could look into that too if we wanted, but we decided to try the other first at least.
Went in to my chiropractor a few days later (I also got a post pregnancy adjustment, yay!). She did the craniosacral, and Addy seemed to enjoy it. Really calming on her, which was nifty. Didn't really seem to help at all though, unfortunately. Had another lactation consultation at home a few days later. Tried more things to get her to latch better, still wasn't working. They gave us the name of a ear nose and throat doc who specializes in the tongue ties and stuff, so we made an appointment to see him.
He was super duper nice and helpful. He checked her out and said that she definitely had both problems that they had mentioned. He asked us a bunch of questions about how breastfeeding was going and her weight gain and stuff, and then recommended that we go ahead and get it fixed. He said if people come in with lip or tongue ties but are having no problems with breastfeeding or anything that he will tell them to go home, and that really reassured me cuz I was nervous about having a needless procedure done on her. It was really hard for me to let them take her back to the "laser room" to do something that I knew was going to be painful for her, but I knew it was for the best. I tried very hard not to cry for the like 5 minutes that she was gone.
She was of course bawling when she got back, but I breastfed her right away and that calmed her down quickly, which was good for me, lol. Her latch actually seemed better right away...much stronger suck with less pain. It was kind of amazing to me. Over the next few days her painful latches got fewer and fewer, and now I hardly ever have any. It is awesome. Everyone has also noticed that her suck is stronger too, which is good for helping my milk supply. So all around everything is better, which is reassuring. I felt pretty guilty about doing it for a few days, since we still have to do little exercises every day to keep either wound from healing back in the way that it was, and she screams during it, but I know that we did the right thing. Based on what I can figure, I am guessing that the lip one was causing the shallow/painful latch, and the tongue one was causing the weak sucking. Makes me wonder if Ally has the tongue one too (apparently it can be genetic).
Anyway, things are much better now. No more pain, and she is gaining weight now (although we had a week where she didn't gain anything, which is part of why we pursued everything so fast). Hopefully we can avoid all of the problems we had with Ally by starting so early and being so proactive. Guess we will have to wait and see for sure. I hope so, because I really enjoy breastfeeding...so nifty and bonding and good for mom and baby.
Seriously dear friends, I want more updates on your lives!!
So, I knew pretty much right away with Addy that we were going to have some problems with this breastfeeding thing, because her latch was terrible from the very beginning. She had a very shallow, painful latch from the very first time. I never had any pain with Ally, so this was a new experience for me. We had a lactation consultant come for a home visit a few days after birth, and I was really glad we decided to since I was having issues. (And thankful that there is a school in the area for lactation consultants who do free visits...it is one actual consultant/teacher and 2 students, so as long as you don't mind that, it is great).
So the consultant tried to give me some advice about helping her latch on better, most of which I had already tried. It was a little bit frustrating, because no matter what we did then we couldn't get her to latch well. They recommended trying craniosacral (I think I spelled that right) therapy with my chiropractor, in case her jaw being tight was the problem. They also noticed that it seemed like she had a bit of a tongue tie, and also definitely had a lip tie (lip tie? doesn't sound right. anyway, the frenulum on her lip came all the way to the bottom of her gums up top). They said we could look into that too if we wanted, but we decided to try the other first at least.
Went in to my chiropractor a few days later (I also got a post pregnancy adjustment, yay!). She did the craniosacral, and Addy seemed to enjoy it. Really calming on her, which was nifty. Didn't really seem to help at all though, unfortunately. Had another lactation consultation at home a few days later. Tried more things to get her to latch better, still wasn't working. They gave us the name of a ear nose and throat doc who specializes in the tongue ties and stuff, so we made an appointment to see him.
He was super duper nice and helpful. He checked her out and said that she definitely had both problems that they had mentioned. He asked us a bunch of questions about how breastfeeding was going and her weight gain and stuff, and then recommended that we go ahead and get it fixed. He said if people come in with lip or tongue ties but are having no problems with breastfeeding or anything that he will tell them to go home, and that really reassured me cuz I was nervous about having a needless procedure done on her. It was really hard for me to let them take her back to the "laser room" to do something that I knew was going to be painful for her, but I knew it was for the best. I tried very hard not to cry for the like 5 minutes that she was gone.
She was of course bawling when she got back, but I breastfed her right away and that calmed her down quickly, which was good for me, lol. Her latch actually seemed better right away...much stronger suck with less pain. It was kind of amazing to me. Over the next few days her painful latches got fewer and fewer, and now I hardly ever have any. It is awesome. Everyone has also noticed that her suck is stronger too, which is good for helping my milk supply. So all around everything is better, which is reassuring. I felt pretty guilty about doing it for a few days, since we still have to do little exercises every day to keep either wound from healing back in the way that it was, and she screams during it, but I know that we did the right thing. Based on what I can figure, I am guessing that the lip one was causing the shallow/painful latch, and the tongue one was causing the weak sucking. Makes me wonder if Ally has the tongue one too (apparently it can be genetic).
Anyway, things are much better now. No more pain, and she is gaining weight now (although we had a week where she didn't gain anything, which is part of why we pursued everything so fast). Hopefully we can avoid all of the problems we had with Ally by starting so early and being so proactive. Guess we will have to wait and see for sure. I hope so, because I really enjoy breastfeeding...so nifty and bonding and good for mom and baby.
Seriously dear friends, I want more updates on your lives!!