I love a nurse who can grab my entire breast and shove it into Emmett’s mouth. The way they do it makes it seem so easy. But on my own, it’s been a bit of a challenge. The technique of holding the boob in my hand and using it to guide E-man on, then using the other arm to prop him up gets quite tiring. This has been the routine for the past 11 days of breast-feeding. However, things are finally starting to get easier.
Neither of my babies had any trouble initially latching, despite the natural community’s warnings about the drugs from labor. Following the C-section, both he and Fia immediately latched on. And mind you, I had more drugs in me than a Mexican cartel.
Emmett’s issue was that he kept slipping down onto the nipple, which starts to kill after awhile. A very on-the-ball nurse in the hospital discovered what she thought was contributing to the problem. He had a frenulum. It’s underneath and attached to the tongue and can keep the tongue from getting on the boob properly. His wasn’t bad, but we called in the lactation nurse and after some troubleshooting, she too concurred: His tongue was getting tired and he was slipping down.
The day we left the hospital I begged and pleaded, despite it being a Sunday, for an ENT to come in and snip it. I didn’t want any more time to pass and for him to get fussy on the boob.
The procedure took all of 5 seconds. No anesthesia. Very little crying. The guy comes in, snips it and puts him on me to nurse. I think it was a game changer. Ever since, Emmett has latched on better and hasn’t slipped down nearly as much. My boobs thank him for that.
His Tongue is Free! Hooray!
I had never heard of a frenulum. I’m glad someone discovered it and we sniped it in the bud, so to speak.
And, speaking of snipping…here’s our decision on circumcision.
