Tongue Tied

Earlier this week, Elliot had a frenulotomy - or, he had his tongue tie corrected. His frenulum (the little vertical piece of skin under his tongue) was too short, or connected to close to the front of his tongue, so he wasn't able to get his tongue out far enough to nurse properly.

(See?)

He made a clicking sound when he nursed, and had a lot of trouble staying latched (I was constantly having to get him repositioned). Plus, his pediatrician was concerned he wasn't gaining enough weight, and even though I'm pretty sure he's on his own little curve, I wondered if improper nursing was a factor.

Here he is, waiting for surgery to start. Think he's nervous?

He had no idea what was coming...

He woke up all smiles for Mama =)

 

(Our last glance at his tongue tie.)

The surgery took literally less than a minute. I held him on my lap while a nurse helped keep his head straight and the doctor kind of clamped his tongue in place so she could snip his frenulum back a bit. It bled a little and they got most of it under control with a few gauze pads. As soon as they were done, he started to calm down - seems he was more upset about being held in place than his little snip-snip.

He nursed right after it was over. Unfortunately, I did not see the immediate reversal I had been hoping for - he still pops on and off constantly while nursing - but hopefully he's not too old to he relearn how to place his tongue and will do a little better in time. Regardless, at least now I know we won't have to worry about speech delays in the future as a result of the tongue tie.

Here's my sweet boy after the surgery was over and Mama had just changed his stinky diaper on the doctor's office floor. I'm pretty sure he was OK. ;)