Congratulations! And Oh By The Way....

"She has a tight frenulum" 

My husband and I exchanged quizzical looks. "A tight what now?" The lactation consultant went on to explain that our dewy eyed brand new baby girl had a tight frenulum- that thing connecting your tongue to the bottom of your mouth. In old school terms, she was "tongue tied". Okay... so what does that mean for our daughter? It meant she might have some trouble nursing since she couldn't fully extend her tongue out of her mouth. It was suggested we possibly see an ENT about having it clipped. "Clipped!" Our baby was less than a day old. A bit much to mull over in the moment. 

So... we took her home and attempted to settle in as a family. Nursing wasn't the easiest thing, but she managed with some assistance (depressing the nipple for easier access). This was all well and good until she was 4 days old. Cue the most terrifying moment of my life- and my husbands' (so far). It had been a while since Bug nursed and when I went to feed her I was so incredibly engorged there was NO WAY she could latch. Our newborn daughter was screaming bloody murder, turning red with starvation and frustration and my knockers were too swollen with milk for her disadvantaged mouth to manage. Curse you, frenulum!!! Well, we panicked, we screamed, we wept. I wanted to rush her to the hospital, my husband was a mess but at least smart enough to know that was a stupid idea. All I knew as I rocked my wailing baby girl was I had to get some of that milk out so the engorgement would diminish. My husband called a lactation consultant and she gave us the go ahead to pump out some milk so the baby could latch. He hurriedly assembled the pump which we weren't even certain we'd ever use. Thank the good Lord, it worked and she was able to latch. It was then and there we decided- the frenulum was getting clipped. 

We made an appointment with our pediatrician and the procedure was swift but I wouldn't say painless. Bug screamed BUT, she has reacted worse to shots than she did the clipping. So I would say it isn't as bad as getting shots so don't stress too much over that. She was less than two weeks old when she had her frenulum clipped. As soon as the nurses were clear, I offered Bug some boob (which they recommend to help with healing and comfort). She latched right away, no problem. From then on, she didn't have a problem latching. 

You may question whether it's worth it. I guess it's a matter of preference. I know of another child who was born with a tight frenulum and it caused some speech issues so at the age of two she needed a clipping and at that age it's a lot more problematic.  

Bottom line: I wouldn't change what we did and if we ever have another child and the frenulum is an issue, we'll have it done in the hospital. (That used to be the standard operating procedure back in the day anyway!)