Today we went to Ft. Worth to see Dr. Cole about Isaiah's lip tie. After looking him over, asking a lot of questions, and explaining all of the issues that it can cause, he said it boiled down to 2 questions:
1. "Is he gaining enough weight?"
2. "Are you experiencing any discomfort while nursing?"
The answer to the first question was yes. He's been gaining weight well ever since he got his tongue clipped. However, the answer to question #2 was yes as well. I've still been having a lot of soreness while nursing.
Essentially, it boils down to if the lip tie is causing symptoms in either mom or baby. If the baby has a lip-tie, but there are no symptoms in either the baby or the mom, then it doesn't need to be clipped. However, if the baby or the mother are symptomatic, then it should be clipped to help with the nursing difficulties. However, just as I have stated before, he explained that a baby can be symptomatic even if they aren't breastfeeding. They can have just as hard of a time with a bottle as well - if not more so (like Balian did).
*side-note - I really liked Dr. Cole. He isn't a pediatric dentist, but rather a holistic dentist. You could tell right off that he is a believer, because of his incredible Joy. Very positive and very good about explaining everything. He wanted to make sure that I knew the ins and outs of the symptoms, why the symptoms were there (how it all worked), the procedure, and what to expect (or not expect) after the procedure and healing process.
After our consultation, Dr. Cole put a swab of stuff to numb a bit on the lip tie site. A couple minutes later, I swaddled Isaiah in his swaddle blanket and laid him down on the dental chair. We all put on our "special" glasses to protect our eyes - yes, even Isaiah - and while I kinda held Isaiah still, Dr. Cole used the laser to cut Isaiah's lip tie.
The procedure itself probably took about a minute or 2 total. Isaiah cried a good amount, but only because they had to hold his upper lip up to cut the tie, which covered his nose and he couldn't breathe as well - or so he thought. As soon as the procedure was done, he stopped crying, even before I picked him up. They put some Aloe on the site to aid in the healing process, then left me to nurse him.
I immediately noticed a difference. First, he was able to get SO much more of the nipple in his mouth - so he got a deeper latch. His lip was able to flange up, like it's supposed to, and I could hardly see any of the areola - because Isaiah's mouth was covering it all! His suction felt much stronger, and as soon as I had a let-down he started choking. This totally makes sense. He was able to stimulate the areola much more, and his suck could be more efficient due to a better latch - so my flow was a lot faster than what he was used to! And that goes into the next thing - a shorter feeding! It took him about 20 minutes to eat vs. the 30-45 minutes it has been taking.
I did notice a bit of discomfort on the areola while nursing - probably because Isaiah hasn't been stimulating that part of the areola up to this point. So my nipples have been "toughened up" in the spot his mouth is usually stimulating, but because he's getting a deeper latch I'll have to kinda "re-toughen up" on the areola where he will be stimulating now. Other than that, it felt much better.
At his second feeding, he did the same thing. He actually drained the first breast in about 10 minutes, then only ate for about 5 minutes on the second side. I don't think he has ever actually drained a breast before. I usually switch sides before he does (at about the 15 minute point.) So I was amazed. I kept offering it to him again, but nope - he was done.
So, we set up a follow-up appointment, and they sent me home with instructions to stretch the lip out good with every feeding, give Tylenol if necessary, and they gave me some Aloe to put on the site a couple times a day until it healed.
Let the healing begin....
