All tied up

Yesterday we went to an ear, nose and throat specialist, otherwise known as an otolaryngologist(I cut and paste with the best of them), to get Drew's tongue clipped. Well, technically not his tongue. His lingual frenulum, the tissue under the tongue which functions as a stabilizer. Anyone who has read Jill's blog recently might remember her own tongue-tied tale. (Jill you must update us on treatment and progress. I insist!)

Well, you'd think I might have picked up on this earlier. I've heard numerous stories from both friends and strangers about this simple little problem which is easily remedied. As much as it troubles me to do so, I must give my husband the credit. Ok, it's not really troubling but he does have a way of pointing out strange irregularities and fixating on them so that when Drew was only days old and he pointed out his odd looking tongue I readily dismissed it.

Again, in my own constant defense, it really isn't all that odd looking and in fact, looks the same now that it's fixed. I did monitor it some but really didn't worry after I saw him stick out his tongue when he was only a few weeks old.

In recent weeks though, with breastfeeding becoming more and more of an ordeal and Drew's weight staying low, I gave it some more thought and began to notice that he was unable to stick his tongue out beyond his lower gum line. It all made sense and so I took him in to my doctor where she confirmed that yes, indeed he did have a slightly shortened or tight frenulum. Why don't doctors automatically check for this? Grrrrrrrrrrr....

So....yesterday. I was presented with the distinct pleasure of dragging both Ethan and Drew to this specialist for the procedure. The worst part was waiting in the crowded waiting area for over an hour (although Drew may disagree). We then went in to meet and be questioned by an ancient sage with cruel looking instruments at his disposal. Actually the doctor was quite good although he did ask that I leave the room for the procedure which I thought was a little old school (the hysterical mother who faints at the sight of blood or suffering). Ethan and I were dismissed back to the waiting room where, before long, we heard Drew's screams.

Poor thing...he seemed to recover quickly though. Time will tell if it makes much of a difference. I dearly do hope.