The day I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl, Ophelia, was the most profound day of my life. When I held that tiny little girl in my arms I sobbed and promised her that I would be the best mother I could. The night that followed was, by contrast, my first profound trial as a new mother. She screamed and screamed. She wouldn’t eat longer than a few minutes. She would fall asleep and then wake up with what I can only describe as the screech of a baby velociraptor – her tiny, perfect face twisted with pain. In the morning, a lactation consultant came to my room and said she had a poor latch…that my baby was starving. I cried. I was already failing as a mother. The lactation consultant gave me some pointers…complete with diagrams. She also told me it may take some time for her to learn and that I needed to supplement feed her.
Fast forward three months later, nursing was still frustrating. She would constantly latch on and fall off, get mad at me and cry until I gave up and gave her a bottle. Every. Single. Feeding. One day, I was on the floor with her playing and making silly noises when she gave me this big, beaming smile—that’s when I saw it. Her upper lip curled up and her gums blanched white. Her lip and gums were connected to each other with a thick piece of skin. I took a picture of it and sent it to my friend, who just happens to be a doula.
“Does this look like a lip-tie to you?”
“Yes. Has she been having a hard time nursing?” She replied
“YES.”
She told me that lip-ties can cause nursing problems, among other things and referred me to Jennilee Hill. Jenilee is a board certified nurse-practitioner who specializes in dermatology, but is also certified to do frenotomies — a procedure to correct lip and tongue ties. She also told me that babies with lip ties almost always have an accompanying tongue-tie. I made the appointment right away. I was impressed when Jennilee called me herself the next day to ask questions about Ophelia and answer any questions I had. She told me that when we came in, she would check for and confirm the lip-tie as well as a potential tongue-tie and that she could perform the procedure immediately once confirmed.
The next week, we went to the appointment. Jennilee was very professional and understanding. She quickly found and confirmed the lip-tie and also found a very tight tongue-tie. She told me that the lip blisters on her upper lip, poor feeding issues, inability to sleep well, excessive spitting up, reflux, and gassiness were all symptoms lip and tongue ties.
The Hard Part
We consented to do the procedure. It was, honestly, one of the hardest things I have had to do. Jennilee swaddled her tightly and rubbed a topical anesthetic on the affected areas in her mouth. Her assistant pulled back her lips and Jennilee used a pair of surgical scissors to clip the skin under her lip and tongue—releasing the ties. My Ophelia screamed and bled from her mouth. They encouraged me to nurse her to comfort her and help stop the bleeding. She was so worked up that she wouldn’t nurse for me. My sweet princess looked like baby Hannibal Lector. Her face was covered in blood, my breast was covered in blood; my poor husband sat in the corner with the blood draining from his face. I finally was able to get her calmed down enough to eat, which comforted her tremendously. It felt like hours, but the whole thing was over fairly quickly. She even gave us a few sweet little smiles.
Getting Educated
Jennilee gave us lip and tongue stretching exercises to do on her to prevent re-attachment and encouraged us to get educated about lip and tongue ties. I will refer to the website she gave us below. Lip and tongue ties, when left un-treated have several profound consequences for the child later in life, including tooth decay, teeth growing in crooked, trouble eating, digestion problems, speech impediments, migraines, and jaw pain. I was shocked to learn that ties are not checked for in the hospital. They are generally not looked for by your baby’s pediatrician, and in-fact, many pediatricians are not trained to find them and correct them.
Relief for Baby, Relief for Mama
I highly recommend you check your little ones for these pesky ties and if you suspect they are lip or tongue-tied, make an appointment with Jennilee Hill. I have noticed a huge difference in my little one since the procedure. She eats better, has a deeper latch, and sleeps a lot more. She went from waking up every hour or two to eat at night to sleeping in 6-hour stretches, only waking up once in the middle of the night to eat. Sweet mercy, that alone made this whole ordeal worth it. Thanks Jennilee for helping my princess eat and sleep better.
