Kris' Tongue

Warning: This post talks about breastfeeding. I am going to use words like "nipple" and "breast". If you can't handle it, I suggest you come back later :) Also, it is really long. So you may have to come back later to finish reading it.

"Look Mom! I can stick my tongue out now!"

 Charissa is my Lactation Consultant. We met at a program called Celebrate Recovery. I work in the nursery, and Charissa has an adorable 2 year old that I watch. When we first met, it was a casual, "Yeah, she had a dirty diaper that I changed about 10 minutes ago". Then it migrated to me asking about her cloth diapers, because I had become infatuated with them. Then I learned she was an LC at the hospital I would be delivering at, and I think this is what brought us really close together. I asked her a million questions about breastfeeding, and she had so much knowledge on the subject! She had total faith that I would be able to breastfeed no problem. I truly think that God brought us together before I had Kris so that she could help me so much. Now, I don't know what I would do without her or her family. We have quickly become amazing friends. She is a huge part of this story, and I owe every bit of breastfeeding success to her.


Before Kris was even in my belly, I knew I wanted to breastfeed. I soaked up all the information I could about it. I learned that a big help in successful breastfeeding early in a baby's life is to have an unmedicated birth. I did a lot of research on the effects of epidurals, and other pain killers, and ultimately decided that if at all possible, I would have an unmedicated birth. It was a great decision, and I would do it again for many reasons.

Minutes after Kris was born I was able to breastfeed her. It was an amazing moment. She latched right on without any issues, and it felt amazing. I can't explain the feeling I had. I was the only person who could provide for my daughter in this way. She was looking up at me with those beautiful blue eyes and I was so thankful for this moment God had given me. Without this moment, I don't know that I would have been able to continue breastfeeding through all of the hard days to come.

Kris did great through the first night, but the next day things started getting different. She wouldn't easily take the breast, and when she did she would immediately back off of it and scream. I thought maybe I wasn't producing colostrum. This continued through the day. When Charissa came to see if I needed help, I shook it off. I told her she did great at first, we just needed practice. I don't know why I told her this. I knew that there was a problem, I guess I just didn't want to admit it. I am not normally a proud person, but I think it was pride that didn't let her help me.

That night was awful. Kris screamed constantly and every time we tried to nurse, she did this frantic head shake thing. She wouldn't even try to latch on. I would force my nipple into her mouth and she would try for a second to suck and then pull it out and scream some more.

I texted Charissa the next morning and asked if she would help with the latch. I thought maybe that was the only problem.

When Charissa came in the next morning we were trying everything to get Kris to eat. When she would latch, she would make this loud clicking sound with her tongue. This sound happened the first time she nursed also, but I thought it was normal. Apparently it is not. She wouldn't feed for very long and came off the breast screaming again. Charissa spent hours in my room trying to make it work. We tried a nipple shield, and she wouldn't even suck on that. It was a nightmare.

Charissa suggested I try pumping. I pumped for a long time and was only able to get a couple drops of colostrum out. So it seemed there were two issues, I didn't really have a supply, and Kris couldn't latch. After unsuccessfully trying for so long, Kris was a mess. She was so upset from all the shots and monitoring that day, she wasn't even trying to latch anymore. We laid skin to skin for a couple of hours while she slept.

I cried a lot. I knew Kris wasn't eating, but did not want to give her formula. At this point though, what other option did I have? The baby had to eat! Charissa encouraged me to keep trying and we would get this figured out.

When we got home, Charissa suggested I pump and feed Kris with a syringe. My supply came in kind of late. I think Charissa was worried that it wouldn't come in at all, but she never told me that. We would try at the breast for a while, and then syringe feed her, and then try the breast again. Charissa was at our house nearly everyday trying to help us get her fed. 

Charissa told us about this Craniosacral therapy that we could try. A woman would come to our house and give a little baby massage. So we called the woman. At this point we were willing to try anything-even if it did sound a little hokey. The woman came, and Charissa joined us to see how it all worked. After the woman massaged Kris a bit, she was screaming so we tried to nurse her. It was already a huge improvement. She latched on and tried really hard to nurse. She was still clicking pretty bad, but she was latched on. After she calmed down some, the woman, Nikki, massaged her some more. After she was done, Kris nursed really well for one session, and then digressed again. She wouldn't latch anymore, and there was no way she would be getting enough nutrition if we only gave her the breast, so back to the syringe we went.

I can't remember if it was the day after Nikki, came over or two days later, but Charissa sent me a text to have me call her. I called her and she very excitedly told me she thinks Kris is tongue tied. The reason we couldn't detect it sooner is because it was posterior. She told me a bunch of the symptoms to watch for, and it described Kris perfectly-tires easily at the breast, loud clicking, and acting frantic (among other things). She had already made us an appointment with an amazing ORL to have it checked out and possibly clipped. If the tongue tie was bad enough, it sometimes required a general anesthesia and a stitch. Though this was scary to me, I was so excited to finally know what the problem was. If tongue tie goes undiagnosed, it can lead to speech and eating problems later in life.

So on November 1st, Charissa, Greg and I went to the ORL, and she was right, Kris was tongue tied. The doctor said it was pretty tight. Greg held her while he cut it and she bled for a bit and I tried to nurse her. Sometimes baby will latch right on with no problems after the procedure is done, so I had high expectations.

She didn't latch right on though. When she finally did latch, it was better, but it wasn't this miraculous thing I was expecting. I left with not very high hopes.

When we got home, Charissa stayed for a bit to see if we could try nursing again. Still nothing was really working. She suggested we try the nipple shield again and then all of a sudden it worked. Kris was latching on great. When she sucked she was still clicking, but I was finally nursing my baby! I was really nursing her. The proof was in the milk dribbling down her chin.

Recovery was a little rough. She was still definitely in pain. We could tell the tongue was hurting her the first couple of days because she was still refusing to move it most of the time. She would try the nipple and then scream. So we were still syringe feeding her, but giving her the breast as much as we could. 

She drooled while she was sleeping because it hurt :(

Fast forward to now. We are still using the nipple shield, and I worry that we will never be able to wean her from it. She still won't take the nipple at all. She is still clicking a lot. She is a much happier baby now that she is getting nutrition though. She has started to smile and coo. It is so fun to hear those sweet sounds coming from her.

Look at those bright blue eyes. She looks so happy!

We are so thankful for Charissa and for all that she did for us. She spent so much time with us. If it weren't for her, we would definitely have formula fed Kris, which, as it turns out probably wouldn't have worked either. She couldn't suck at all, not just from the nipple, but a bottle probably wouldn't have worked either. I am so thankful that God puts people in our lives at the right moments. He knew how giving Charissa would be of her time. It was so awesome to constantly have an on call Lactation Consultant. She never once got frustrated, and worked so hard to help Kris get better.

I wanted to write a detailed story about everything that I remember from one of the happiest days of my life so I don't forget anything. Be prepared for a lengthy, scatter brained post. This is mostly for my benefit, and so that I can share it with Kris when she is older.

October 21st, 2012

At 6a.m. I woke up with a very painful contraction. I knew immediately that today was the day I would meet my little girl. I waited 2 more contractions before waking up my husband. I wanted to make sure that it wasn't just a fluke. When I woke Greg up he very excitedly started to get the bags in the car while I tried everything to make the contractions more comfortable. When I started to time them, they were 4-7 minutes apart.

At 9:30 a.m. we decided to go to the hospital. Contractions were getting much stronger. We loaded up in the car and headed east on the interstate towards OU Children's hospital. The car ride was incredibly uncomfortable. The car seat was behind the passenger seat, so I couldn't lean my seat back. I remember hating so much that I was so scrunched up. I felt like if I was able to stretch out more the contractions would hurt less.

When we arrived at the hospital we headed to Women's Triage. We had made this trip a week prior on a false alarm, so we knew the drill. This time was different though. I couldn't walk or talk through contractions. We had to stop several times on the way to check in. Greg was an amazing support. He kept asking what he could do for me and held me through each contraction.

When we got to the check in counter they got us back to a room very quickly and checked me. I was dilated to a 3! I know that isn't a big indicator of anything, but just three days prior I was only at a 1. I labored in the triage room for quite a while because the hospital was incredibly busy. I found out later that there had been 94 births in 72 hours. My daughter will share her birthday with a lot of other people!

My mother quickly joined us in the triage room, followed not long after by my sister. The room was a very small hospital room with a bed, a couple chairs, and monitors. I wanted to labor in a tub, but knew that I couldn't do that until we got into the Labor and Delivery room. While I waited, I sat in a round chair next to the bed. I leaned over with each contraction as Greg rubbed my back.

My sister meeting Kris

The room I was in was hot! They said something about the air not working in half of the rooms. My mother got a fan from the nurse, and that was a lifesaver. There is nothing like being hot while in labor. Mum was an amazing support and I am so thankful I had her in the room with me. My sister mostly sat back and offered little suggestions like "get her a paper towel" after I had thrown up. At one point, before mum got the fan, she was using a bag to try to fan me off.

My mum meeting Kris

They had a hard time finding a vein to put the IV in me. They had to dig once they got the needle in, and even then had to poke me twice, but right after that, the nurse came to check me, It had only been 2 hours and I was already at a 5! I got super excited because those contractions were actually doing something!

Shortly after that next check, we were moved to the labor and delivery room. This room was huge, and had lots of seating, so I am sure my mum and sister were much more comfortable. As they were getting me hooked up to be monitored, the nurse noticed that there weren't any mobile monitoring devices like I was expecting. I really wanted to be mobile during labor, but being hooked up to these machines left me a very small space to be able to move in. I did get an exercise ball that I sat on the majority of the labor though.

Once I got into Labor and Delivery, my contractions seemed to be a lot worse. They didn't seem to stop. I was incredibly disheartened when the nurse checked me, and I was still at a 5. I broke down. It felt like those contractions that I had been having were doing absolutely nothing for me.

My daddy meeting Kris

The next time I was checked, I was at a 7. I was finally on the homestretch! Contractions were getting more painful now, and even closer together. They were overlapping. I kept saying that it wasn't fair that I couldn't even have a breath before the pain started again. The doctor broke my water and it was even worse. I was laboring on the bed at this point. I looked at Greg and in a very serious voice said "I can't do this anymore-just get the knife." I was of course joking. I had come this far, there is no way I would give up yet.

My husband (Greg) and Kris

I had my mother on one side of me, and Greg on the other. I would try to stay concentrated through contractions. I would stare at a mark on the wall and concentrate on it really hard. I used a verse several times through the entire labor, I kept saying "I can do anything through He who gives me strength". I was so thankful that God was giving me strength to have this baby. I was so thankful to be having this baby-but my goodness! That pain was unimaginable.

When the doctor came in to see if I could push, I was told we would try it. She said to tuck my chin in and push as hard as I can with each contraction. I could feel the baby moving down. Greg had one of my legs, and the nurse had the other. Greg was so encouraging. His smile was so big when the doctor told me that she could see my baby's head. At this point I looked at the doctor and said, "Let's do this!" I remember the doctor laughing, but I meant business! A couple contractions later Greg exclaimed that he could see the head so I asked the doctor if I could feel it. She let me, and it was amazing. That was my baby girl! Not long after, my precious angel was placed on my tummy while nurses tried to suction her out.

She wasn't crying.

Through my happy tears I all of a sudden felt terror. Kris was quickly taken away from me to a spot in the room where I couldn't see her. Greg was standing with the nurses that were all huddled around her. I waited desperately for a sound from my baby. What seemed like forever was probably only a couple of minutes. I did finally get to hear Kris cry. It was the most amazing sound ever.

They brought her back to me and wiped her off as I held my perfect baby girl. She was beautiful. I held her tight and was so in awe of how amazing she was.

Greg took this photo right after they put Kris on me after getting her to breathe.

I didn't even realize he had a camera!  

Labor was nearly exactly 12 hours long. That is really short for a first time mom, and honestly, it seemed like 6 hours total to me-maybe because I had good company. She was born at 6:04 on October 21, 2012. She was exactly one week late. Kris weighed a whopping 9 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20.5 inches tall. That was exactly the weight and height of my little brother at birth.

My little brother Shawn. He was quite smitten.

I was told later that she came out with an arm over her head. That girl knows how to make an entrance :)

I am so thankful that I don't feel robbed of my birthing experience. Everything was great. My main things that I did not want were an epidural and pitocin. I didn't want pitocin because I didn't think I could have it without an epidural. I have heard that pitocin makes labor even worse! I didn't need pitocin, and therefore was able to have my unmedicated childbirth. It was an amazing experience that I will definitely do again. I was able to walk around immediately after I got cleaned up.

 Greg's sister, mother, and Greg for our first photo with them.

Though Kris was a breastfeeding champ immediately after having her, we soon found out that she wasn't able to breastfeed. In a following post, I will share the story of how we are finally able to breastfeed Kris thanks to an amazing friend.