This Post Might Make You Squeamish

On Wednesday evening, Jayson and I took Laine to do something we'd been both simultaneously dreading and looking forward to. Laine was born "tongue tied." This means that her frenulum (the skin that attaches your tongue to the bottom of your mouth) was extended all the way out to the end of her tongue. The doctor first noticed it at the hospital, and Laine's pediatrician noticed at her first appointment, but unless she was having trouble nursing they didn't think it was necessary to take care of it. After asking a few different times and then hearing from both a lactation consultant and speech pathologist that it might generate speech problems later on, we hemmed and hawed for months before deciding to get it snipped. I wanted to make sure that any potential problem wouldn't even have the chance to become an issue.

Laine at three months--

the tip of her tongue is pulled back in.

We met with Dr. O'Hara in Seattle, who was recommended by many. She was great with Laine but it was interesting to hear how she was much older than most babies who get this procedure done. Even the receptionist was chuckling that most baby smiles she sees are from newborns with gas! Laine was given ibuprofen and swaddled down, and Jayson helped to hold her chin as the doctor made a few simple snips. I'll be honest and say that Laine certainly didn't enjoy it. There was some struggle and loud crying, but as soon as the doctor was done, we gave Laine a bottle and she calmed down. She had big tears running down her face, but the worst was over. There was no additional fussing and she ate her yams and went to bed at her normal time--even slept through the night as usual. What a strong and resilient little girl we have!

The doctor even gave Laine her first lollipop--she thought it would be good to get Laine's tongue moving right away, so we dangled it at the edge of her lip to get her to lick it. The only thing was, with one taste of that artificial grape flavor, Laine was hooked. She wanted the whole lollipop in her mouth! We ended up giving her just a few licks before tossing it. Who needs a sugar addicted seven month old?!