TONGUE TIED

FEELING TONGUE

TIED

Iam going to start by saying things happen for a reason. Blake was confirmed to have a slight tongue tie at his 5 day check but it didn’t seem to be bothering him, he didn’t drop a huge amount from his birth weight. He was gaining weight well and returned to his birth weight within 14 days, so we decided not to put him through having it done.

Blake then started to drop off the centile slightly for his weight at his 4 week check. We were reassured that this wasn’t necessarily anything to worry about. He was still gaining weight.

Fast forward to our next health visitor check up, Blake was now 6 weeks old. All the usual checks were done and he was progressing nicely from a developmental point of view. His weight logged in his red book to check which centile he was tracking. He had now dropped a full centile.

The health visitor was great, she reaffirmed what to watch out for and what we could do to help improve things. Between us we decided that a weigh in again in another couple of weeks would be the best course of action at this stage. Another weigh in was booked for 2 weeks time. Blake seemed to be feeding well and we had made our own changes to avoid spitting up to help build and maintain the weight gain, hopefully at a greater rate.

Another 2 weeks passed and with our fingers crossed; it was weigh in day again. We had further centile drop on the chart, it was at this point the Health Visitor recommended that we have the tongue tie procedure carried out as Blake had only gained around about 150g over the previous 2 weeks.

We started to question ourselves, why didn’t we just get it done in the early days? Why did we leave it? It’s our fault. All these thoughts go through your head, but just keep that opening sentence at the front of your thoughts ‘things happen for a reason’.

We agreed on getting the tongue tie division done. The Health Visitor explained that due to Blake now being 9 weeks old we could not have the procedure done here in Poole and that we would have to go to Southampton for an appointment but there was about a 6 week wait. We left it with the Health Visitor to book in.

Later that day I had been speaking to a friend and explained the situation, another friend of hers had recently used an independent midwife to sort out their little one’s tongue tie. She sent over the details. We didn’t hesitate, I dropped the midwife a message that afternoon. I remember it being a Friday afternoon so I wasn’t sure when we would hear back but I knew it would be over the next few days.

That night I was feeling really tired so I fed Blake and handed him over to Daddy so I could go and get my head down for a few hours before the next feed. Dave came to wake me for Blake’s next feed, I was using my phone to track feeding so I went to add it to the app I was using. I noticed a missed call. It had been the midwife. She left a lovely message saying I could ring up until late that evening so I rang her immediately.

I explained the situation, Erika was amazing, she was able to visit us at home on the Saturday (the next day). She talked through what would be involved and that it was a simple procedure.

I came off the phone excited in a weird way. I think it was the thought that she was going to fix our problems and I knew that after the procedure we would hopefully notice some improvements straight away. We just wanted the best for Blake and help him to feed the best he could.

Erika really was amazing, she came that Saturday afternoon. She asked a few questions to build up a picture. We then discussed that she would examine the tongue tie. We agreed to the procedure before the examination as it would be the least stressful way to do it and she would just do the division while she was examining.

She also put our minds at rest explaining that our little one would not feel it, as the frenulum (small fold of tissue that reaches from the floor of the mouth to the underside of the tongue) has no nerves.

Once the procedure was completed, Erika did one last check and then handed him straight back to me to feed.

Instant relief came over me as I cried happy tears while I fed him and could instantly feel the benefits.

Erika observed as I fed Blake and gave me tips and suggestions to help us improve further.

She provided us with a feeding plan to help get Blake back up the centile chart, and also recommended going to a chiropractor to improve things further, which we did.

Feeding has massively improved along with sleep too. Another happy mum and baby here. Our little one is starting to climb the centiles again and making excellent progress.

Had we got the division done in the early days we would never have met Erika and I’m not sure it would have been as positive as it was. The extra support that Erika provided for us with the feeding plan and generally around breastfeeding was invaluable and reassuring.

If you are considering getting a division done, don’t hesitate, go and get it done and we would highly recommend Erika.

Thank you Erika! Claire & Blake x