EPing journey / lip tied

Brenden is 10 months old now (holy cow) and I am nearing the end of my EPing journey. When Ben and I made the decision to EP, my long term goal was one year. One year of EPing with a freezer stash to get us thru cold and flu season. But when you are a stressed out and over tired new mom, one year seems like forever, so I went with mini-goals, and focused on 3 months at a time, When I made it 3 months, we tried for 6 and then for 9 and so on.

When Brenden was born, we had troubles breastfeeding. He had a difficult latch and also was very impatient with things, he would get frustrated when the milk wouldn't come quick enough. We had several meetings with the lactation people at the hospital, who said that he may have a tongue tie, so we went to our primary care doctor who referred us to an ENT doctor. He examined Brenden and said there was nothing structurally wrong with his mouth. I even had my chiropractor examine him since he shared his wife's struggles with breastfeeding. But after nothing, we went back to our primary care and she did a neuro evaluation, but again, he passed. Every test and doctor said there was nothing wrong with him.

In talking with the lactation people, they wanted us to go to Boston to get a second opinion, she really felt that he was tongue tied, and that it was presenting weird. But with the new mom over tiredness, and having already spent the first 2 weeks of his life in doctor's offices, I just couldn't anymore. So after talking over with Ben, we decided to EP.

Fast forward 10 months, we went back to the same ENT doctor for a chronic ear infection and while at the appointment, I had him check Brenden's lip for possibly being lip tied. And sure enough he agreed with me that he had one. Due to his age and how thick the tie was, in order for the doctor to correct it, Brenden would have to be put under. He suggested seeing a pediatric dentist in Massachusetts, who uses a laser to correct lip ties.

That is where Dr. Kaplan and Kid Care Dental comes in. I called an got an appointment that week. His office is nearly a 2 hour ride one way for me, but it was worth it. Dr. Kaplan has a great office, the staff are super friendly, and made this momma feel at ease. Dr. Kaplan took one look at Brenden's mouth and said, yes, he's got a significant lip tie, oh and he's got a posterior tongue tie as well. Separate, both can inhibit successful breastfeeding, but together can make it very difficult.

Dr. Kaplan said there wasn't a need to correct the tongue tie, but the lip tie was worth correcting, and best yet, he could do it right in the office, right now. Which is great, as it would save us from another trip down there. So after a quick chat with Ben about things, we opted to go ahead with the procedure.

I will say that the site looks nasty, I can't wait for it to heal over, and Brenden is not a fan of the post op care. We have to stretch out top lip as to prevent the site from adhering and having to go through this all over again. But I can already see improvement in his top lip, it doesn't seem as tight as it once was and when he takes his bottles, he's got a perfect seal.

I don't have any grand visions of getting Brenden to nurse, although it would be nice, he's 10 months old, he knows where to get his milk from, and it's not from my boob.

Dr. Kaplan did say that it was a shame that we didn't see him sooner, that if it had been caught sooner, that Brenden may have been able to be breastfed.

I was mad at first, here we tried to do everything right, and we saw plenty of doctors and we were told that everything looked normal. It was only after I thought I found something and asked did it get noticed. But then I reflected that no matter what we accomplished what we wanted, to give Brenden breastmilk - it may not have been the method we wanted, but the end result was achieved. In addition to deciding to EP, I've learned a lot more about pumping/breastfeeding/etc, which has enabled me to help others. But most of all, I've been able to donate my oversupply to several other babies. I've made friendships over EPing. We've fought thru clogs and MOTN pump sessions while everyone else is sleeping and more.

I will just chalk this up to knowledge and learning. Because when baby #2 comes in a few years, if there are any problems, I am going to keep after them.

I will post the before and after picture here for those who want to see it. It's a little graphic, but I think it serves a purpose. Brenden's lip tie was pretty "meaty" The doctor likened it to a sort of cleft palate, just with normal skin appearance on the outside. He also pointed out that it was mostly baby fat that he removed. His tie went from the roof of the lip and almost connected to the roof of his mouth. The gap in his teeth should close, but will most certainly be closed when his permanent teeth come in.

So where have I been?

Well, as I am sure you know if you know me at all (either online or in person) I just had a cute baby 3 weeks ago! And wow... life sure is crazy and hectic trying to adjust to life with a newborn. I knew it was going to be crazy, I just didn't think it would be THIS crazy!

The road has been bumpy, we've run into several issues with getting breast feeding established, and we still continue to do so. We've tried many different tricks and tips to get him to be successful at the breast, but he continues to have trouble. We've met with with lactation consultants, we go to a weekly support group, we've met with the pediatrician, an ear, nose and throat doctor and a chiropractor. I've also sought out my friends/family recommendations as well as reading some online community boards.

We've had to transition to bottles and a pacifier a lot sooner than we anticipated, but Baby L is thriving. He's eating and gaining weight like a champ. Our situation is what is called as exclusively pumping. He's still getting breast milk, I just have to pump it out for him and bottle feed it to him. The situation has it's pluses and minuses, Ben can help with the feedings which no only gives him time with baby L, but also gives me a break from having to do all the feedings. However, the situation means being almost "married" to the pump. Which some women have a hard time wrapping their head around. For me it doesn't seem to be a problem. For me, the bigger problem is that I felt like a huge failure as a mother when I couldn't succeed at breastfeeding. I know now, that I'm doing all I can for my child and he's thriving because of it.

I would say that being successful at pumping means having some good tools at my disposal. My Medela freestyle pump is a necessity. This is a game changer for me, being able to still move around while pumping is huge. And being able to pump anywhere. My concern with this is the hands free device for this, it didn't work for me, it was very cumbersome to attach - especially for me being a large chested woman.

That is where my Pump Ease hands free bra came into play. This bra was much easier to use and accommodates my plus sized boobs perfectly. I actually liked it so much, I ordered another one so that I can have two - JUST in case. Having to pump without it is terrible. I can't say enough good things about this product. It is a MUST for any woman who plans on pumping.

 

I also reached out to the community, I remembered that awhile back Roni had done a post on storing/freezing breast milk and since that is going to be something I need to do, I sought out her post on it so I could develop a system. I LOVE her idea, it's genius, I am honestly surprised that the baby companies haven't come out with something like it.

So things didn't go according to plan... I didn't get the birth I wanted, I didn't get the breast feeding experience I wanted. I've realized that I can only hope things will go according to plan, but I learned to be flexible and adjust.

I saw this on Medela's facebook page this morning, how true! And how I wanted to be part of that 32%.

We are getting out and about and enjoying being a family of 3! This past weekend we met up with some of my college friends and went through a corn maze! It was so much fun and we really had a great time. Baby L slept through the whole thing, and we paid dearly that night when he was up most of the night. Which sparked us to put this shirt on him....

This coming weekend, Baby L is getting baptized. It'll be a great opportunity for some friends and family to meet Baby L. My brother and my sister in law are coming up from North Carolina, as well as some other friends who haven't met him yet.

It's been great having some company. It's nice that our friends love us so much and are so excited for us. But we've also been limiting our company, not knowing what our schedule would be, we didn't want to overwhelm ourselves with a revolving door of company. So we try to space it out, it has worked for the most part. Also it's been partly selfish reasons, Baby L is only so little for so long, and Ben and I want to enjoy him and our time together. Ben also only has a month off from work, I have 3 months. So I wanted Ben to do and enjoy his son while he could, before he had to go back to work. It's scary to think that this is the last week before Ben goes back to work and Baby L and I are on our own (for the most part).

So that is why I haven't been blogging, or even reading blogs - I don't even want to look at my google reader... I've been enjoying my family. And it's been lovely.

And today I start a new weight loss challenge. I want to lose this baby weight and never see 370 on the scale again!

Time to get back in the saddle.