by Amy Shyshnyak
My birth story starts out as many do. I had a dream of having a little girl, and that dream was coming true. We took a Bradley class, prepared as best as we could, saved money so I could stay home with her, and visited the WBWC for all of our prenatal visits. My pregnancy went great. I was healthy, and aside from aching feet and incredible heartburn, I really felt like it was an easy pregnancy.
Christmas rolled around, and all of my family was in town, hoping I would go into labor while they were still here. Two days after everyone left the time finally came. December 30, 2010 was the night. I began to have contractions about 10 pm, and I crawled into bed next to my husband Max. We talked about how this could be the last night it would be just the two of us in that bed. It made me kind of sad, but it also made me excited because we had been waiting for so long!
Things began heating up rather quickly. The contractions were coming fast and furious, and I was so confused. I was thinking to myself, “This can’t be the real thing! It is happening way too fast!” At 1 am, we called Leigh Ann. She told me to take a hot bath, take a Benadryl, crawl into bed, and try to get some sleep. I crawled into the tub and couldn’t stand it. The contractions were coming so hard and fast I just wanted to be in my bed. At 2:30 my husband, who had paid close attention in our birthing class, recognized I was reaching time to push. He called the WBWC and told Leigh Ann we were on our way! She couldn’t believe it!
Off we went. I had 2 more contractions before I could reach the car. We live 35 minutes from the birth center, and I began to wonder if we were going to make it. We were so glad it was the middle of the night, because I-40 was completely empty. Max went 100 mph all the way down I-40 with his flashers on. I just kept yelling that I wanted to push, and I think it made him drive faster. We made it to the birth center in less than 20 minutes!
Forty-five minutes after we arrived at the Birth Center, Ellie joined our family. It was such a relief to have her in my arms. My first thought was, “We did it! We did it!”
During the physical assessment, Allison noticed that Ellie had a connected frenulum all the way to the tip of her tongue, also known as tongue tie. I had no idea what that meant. Max then told me that he was tongue-tied, as were as his brother and father. Little did I know what the next 3 months had in store for us.
Ellie was unable to latch properly. When she was able to latch the best way she knew how, she could not transfer milk well. Many kids who are tongue-tied are never able to nurse. She was sucking for 45 minutes to an hour and getting almost nothing. She was so hungry those first few days, and all she did was cry every time I took her off the breast. We had no idea what was going on. She lost over 10% of her body weight those first few days. When Kim came on day 3 for our home visit, she gave us donor milk. She showed us how to feed her through a syringe using our pinky finger. Ellie was so happy to finally get some milk! I began pumping and taking supplements to try and make enough to keep her satisfied. I was pumping after each feeding and then supplementing her with what I pumped. This went on for almost 2 months. I was totally exhausted, but I wanted to nurse so much.
After multiple trips to see Dr. Hedgepeth, our chiropractor, and a Speech Therapist, Ellie finally began transferring more milk. Dr. Hedgepeth was able to do adjustments on certain spots around Ellie’s jaw, neck, and head muscles to help enable her to suck more efficiently. She worked with her soft palate and sometimes her back. Our Speech Therapist taught us exercises to do at home, which also helped Ellie’s suckle. She explained the different bottle types. She showed us we needed the simplest type and kept us on low flow nipples so Ellie would work harder to get the milk out of the bottles. This in turn strengthened her suckle. It took a lot of patience and time, but in the end it all helped. I am so glad I didn’t give up, because now she is 10 months old and eats like a champ. I am off all supplements and plan to nurse until she is ready to wean. It has been such a comfort for her, and I have enjoyed it so much. I am thankful for all of the help from Ellie, our LC, Nancy, and the continued encouragement from Leigh Ann and Kate. Although Ellie never has latched like other kids, she gets what she needs and is so happy and healthy. Now when I grab my pink Boppy pillow and say, “Do you want mommy’s milk?,” she smiles and laughs and starts crawling all over me. I love it!
It was a long road but worthwhile indeed.