Misdiagnosis and Update after Dental Appointment

If we rewind to almost a year ago I had just given birth naturally/drug-free to a beautiful healthy baby girl. Who wouldn't latch. We worked with the lactation consultant and tried all kinds of things to get her to latch and suck. Unlike some babies with latching difficulties, she didn't cry or pull away. She just kind of nuzzled up against me and was content to do just that. In talking with my step-mom about it, she immediately asked if she had a tongue tie. Tongue tie, I remembered vaguley from nursing school. So I asked the LC and she took a cursory look into Rylee's mouth for a second or two with her pen light. "Nope, that's not the problem." I really liked her, felt confident in her judgement, and assumed that something else was the issue. We used a nipple shield and eventually weaned off of that after two months.

It always nagged at me that she had had such big latching issues. I felt like I should be able to pin point a reason. To complicate matters, Rylee will occasionaly regress in her nursing expertise and we'll go through a week of so of weird, uncomfortable latches.  I always blew it off as she was teething, or *insert other million reasons*. And then one day last month, I was reading a mommy blogger who talked about finally getting her 15 month old diagnosed with a class IV lip tie and a posterior tongue tie. They were on their way to get both clipped. I looked at the picture of his lip tie and thought "huh, that looks like Rylee's gum." I had thought that the line of tissue would be hidden once her teeth came in. I had assumed it was normal. Apparently it's not

http://www.mommypotamus.com/a-step-by-step-guide-to-diagnosing-tonguelip-ties/
Great article on tongue ties and lip ties! Rylee's looks like the picture on the far right.

I started reading more and more on lip and tongue ties, my heart sinking by the moment. Could this be the cause of her latching issues in the beginning, the long, endless nursing sessions, sleepless nights, her sporadic latching issues now, and her possible slowed weight gain? Is she having issues eating solid foods because of a possible tongue tie?  More and more of what I read described parents' stories of being blown off by their pediatricians, having to advocate for their children's health, seek second and third opinions, fly long distances for procedures, and cranio-sacral therapy sessions. 

Right now due to some health insurance issues, I don't have a pediatrician that I trust. I'm waiting to switch plans so I can see a pedi that is a family member's friend, but it could be April before the insurance changes and then I have to wait to get an appointment. Rylee does have a dentist appointment tomorrow(I know, silly, she has all of six teeth) and I'm going to bring it up. But it's not a pediatric dentist and it is a random assigned by the insurance dental clinic, so I'm not going to hold my breath that they'll take me seriously or think it's an issue. 

It's been at least a week since I started looking into all of this, so I've had a little time to think about things and cool my stress level down. I'm still upset we've gone 11 months and not once at any doctor's appointment did anyone even look or mention the lip tie. I'm upset that I dismissed tongue tie because ONE person told me no. I'm upset that checking for tongue tie is not a normal part of a newborn exam along with checking for cleft palette, obvious chromosomal disorders, and spina bifida. I'm worried about Rylee and the possibility that this is going to take a long time to get over. I am hopeful for the future, especially for any subsequent babies that have any problems nursing. The first things I will do is check their tongues and lips. If I ever get to be a nurse midwife, I'm going to be sure that checking every baby is implemented into standard practice! 

I do want to say that I am very grateful that Rylee did figure out how to breastfeed and that she is figuring out how to eat solid food finally. In my research I've read about a lot of families that have had a much worse time of things than we have.

In the mean time, if you have a baby who struggles with nursing or you have any of these symptoms in the absence of an obvious answer, consider tongue or lip tie.

This was a great article here at Mommypotamus. This one talks about maxillary labial frenulum tie. This is an abstract of an article entitled "Diagnosing and understanding the maxillary lip-tie (superior labial, the maxillary labial frenum) as it relates to breastfeeding." Mommypotamus also has a great one that has been helpful to me How To Spot Tongue/Lip Ties & Get FREE Expert Advice. Dr. Kotlow's website has some articles too here.

If the dentist is any help tomorrow, I'll report back.


*I'm reporting back... the dentist appointment was a waste of time. Before the dentist examined her, I explained that I was concerned about her frenum extending around her gum line onto her hard palette and was also concerned that she might have a posterior tongue tie.

She looked at Rylee's upper lip, teeth, noted no cavities, brushed her teeth, and then the exam was over. At no time did she examine her tongue or under her tongue. I'm going to quote her here as much as I remember(the appointment was about two hours ago).

Dentist: "I see where you're talking about on her upper gum. That's called the 'frenum.' Her's is a little taller and bigger than other children her age. And it does appear to extend down to the hard palette. But you don't need to worry. That's normal and she'll 'grow' into it as her jaw gets bigger and her teeth come in."

Me: "Well what about her tongue?"

Dentist: Blank stare

Me: "Were you able to look?" Knowing full well that she didn't even try.

Dentist: "Well if there is one it's going to be small, like the top one. Nothing to worry about, and besides it's not like you can do anything at this point about it. The maxillary tie, if it does become a problem, would be corrected way down the line, like 12 or 13 years old."

At this point I gave up trying to talk about it further with her. She was patronizing (at least she was nice about it?), not a good listener, and unhelpful. So I wasted about an hour and half of my day. Onto the next option.

This is what Dr. Kotlow, a board certified specialist in pediatric dentistry and specialist in tongue ties, has to say about maxillary lip-ties. Diagnosing and Understanding the Maxillary Lip-tie as it Relates to Breastfeeding. Unfortunately, it looks like he's no longer able to look at emailed pictures, since the volume of people contacting him for help got to overwhelming.

Baby Blankets and More!

Last week, I found myself at JoAnne's to get some fabric to do a "1" onesie for Rylee's upcoming first birthday. There was a flannel sale, for $2.99/yard, so inevitably I left with a couple additional yards of fabric(that I had no plans for).  I absolutely loved this print that  I found for her! I think it's called "folk heirloom" or something like that. Anyway, I made a blanket with the leftover fabric after making the onesie.

I went back for more but they were out, sad day!

I've done a couple appliqued onesies, but this was the first blanket I've attempted. I have to say that it looks cute! Here's a pretty good tutorial: Easy Double Sided Baby Blanket Tutorial. I skipped the middle batting because I thought it would be just warm enough for her with the two layers of flannel. What should have been a really easy project took me all day! But the second one I made for a friend was a lot quicker. I apparently have difficulty cutting straight lines! Arg! If you have difficulty like I did, read this tutorial on cutting fabric here and save yourself some grief.

The nursery colors for my friend's sweet baby girl are coral and aqua.

For anyone interested, here's a good Baby Onesie Applique Tutorial. I used a zig zag stitch instead of a blanket stitch around the applique. If you have boys, here's a Tie Applique Pattern. I've done a couple girl onesies based on this little shirt off Etsy. Baby Necklace Onesie.

Here's Rylee's

 A little rick rak, ribbon, and some coordinating fabric and wahla! You just save yourself $15! The only obnoxious thing is handsewing the little fabric circles(because I'm not skilled enough with my machine to do it).

That is all for my limited sewing wisdom. Maybe somebody learned something! Or was just impressed with the magic of soft, cuddly baby blankets! 

Valentine's Day 2014

Valentine's Day is decidedly way more fun with this little sweetheart!

Ryan surprised us with a rose for each of his girls.

Some chocolate covered strawberries for me. There are no pictures because I ate them...immediately. 

And I win the "Best Wife of the Year Award" for making this for Ryan.

Look a little closer...closer...yep, that's right. It's a bacon bouquet. If you too
want to be awesome and make such a romantic gift for the man in your life, go here.

I didn't make anything fancy for dinner. Just this delicious Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter that we really like and some homemade brownies with cherries shaped into a heart ("awww"). 

I just love spending time with my two Ry's!

Florida Fun!

Rylee and I got to go to Florida again to see my family. It was a wonderful trip!

At stake conference we got to meet Elder Nelson and two other
General Authorities of the church!

Travis and I pretended we were Katniss Everdeen.

I did some jogging.

I shot a shotgun and didn't scream when it went off.

Travis and I hacked through the jungle to clear some trees on the side of the driveway.

Nope, Rylee didn't shrink, she's just with the Giant.

Rylee adores Uncle Travis!

We went to Merna and Daytona Beach with Dad. It was super cold and windy.

Rylee met her great-grandparents.

We facetimed a sad daddy.

Made our traditional Saturday Home Depot trip with Dad.

Went to the Orlando Temple with Delaney on a youth temple trip.

And Rylee helped me do some unpacking.

We had a fabulous trip and can't wait to go back!

Elder Lanham's Homecoming!!!

My little brother is finally home! 

It was so much fun to see him meet Rylee for the first time!

It was a busy week with a lot of family!

Our niece Belle, who was shy initially with Travis onWednesday, warmed up by the next day.

Cousin time!!!

Cassie was apparently exhausted from all the excitement, as she fell asleep on Rylee's car seat.

Both the girlies are asleep.

We had our family Christmas.

And another Christmas with my grandparents, cousins, and aunt and uncle.

Rylee spent some quality time on her Abue's lap.

And she enjoyed family jam session with her aunt and uncle.

It was a great week!

Adventures Around Houston

New Year's Day we went to see the San Jacinto Monument, the Battleship Texas, and wandered around the Kemah Boardwalk on the bay.

Every good Texan should make a pilgrimage to see the birth place of Texas at least once.

We didn't tour the battleship, mainly because we didn't want to pay the $12 a person, but it was pretty neat to see. They're celebrating the centineal this year! That's one old ship!

The boardwalk was ok, kind of small and touristy. We escaped without paying a single dime! 

Yesterday, we went and checked out the Houston Zoo. The best part was that because we are members with Bank of America and it was the first weekend of the month, our visit was free!

Notice Sophie the giraffe photo bombing the picture with the real giraffe? Can you spot the barn owl?

Rylee was unimpressed with the petting zoo, especially because she has her own private one at her grandparent's house in Florida(we're going back at the end of the month).

That kimono dragon was BIG! Rylee appeared to be a little concerned that it was so close to her!

The zoo was really nice, and most of the exhibits let you get really close to the animals(glass walls instead of far off pits). There was a giraffe feeding pavilion that you could pay $6 and feed them lettuce, but there was a line and we're cheap.

My favorite was getting to see the elephants in their barn(the staff was cleaning their habitat area, so they had then back in the barn with a glass wall while they got fed snacks and had their feet washed off).

But the absolute best part of the day was seeing a chimp wearing a blanket. Because it was windy, he looked like he was wearing a hooded cloak billowing in the wind. So we decided he looked like a Jedi.

Ryan got some watercolor time in. Rylee and I listened to the giraffe keeper talk while Ryan painted the giraffes. Later, he did the pond outside the zoo. Rylee and I went and rode the train around the park while we waited.

We had a great week and a fun weekend, despite Rylee being sick. She was a real little trooper at the zoo and seemed to enjoy taking in all the new sights.

Happy New Year!

Our 2013 in review:

I gave birth to a beautiful, happy, and healthy baby girl!

We celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary.

Ryan left the firm he hated working for and started for a new firm that he loves.

We moved from San Antonio to Houston.

Rylee flew on her first plane to Florida.

Ryan turned 30.

It was an amazing year with huge life changing moments. Here's to 2014!