Boobs, Boobs, Boobs, Annie's Boobs

Boy, I feel like all i do is talk about my boobs lately. . . .

I saw the lactation consultant this morning. Breastfeeding has been going moderately well. (Matilda is eating tons and gaining weight.) Unfortunately, the nipple soreness is not getting much better. I waited four weeks to see the LC, because a) I saw three of them in the hospital and all three said her latch looked "perfect" and that the soreness would go away in two weeks and b) every one of my breastfeeding friends said that it took them 2 weeks to 6 weeks to have the soreness go away completely.

However, at four weeks + a few days, I am not feeling like there has been tons of improvement. My nipples still seems red, swollen, bruised, and blistered with no end in sight. So, I bit the bullet and made an appointment (at $90 dollars/hr - not covered by my insurance company, those asses). I saw Sandey, whom I also saw when having breastfeeding difficulties with Rollie. She is GREAT. She evaulated our latch and position once again, and again, said that it looked like I was "doing everything right." It appears that it's Matilda's fault that breastfeeding is not the enjoyable experience that everyone is promising it will be.

It turns out that Matilda has a "tight suck," which, unlike a "strong suck," is not a positive thing. She came out of me with the little blister on her upper lip, meaning she had been in the womb sucking her fingers, and learned to suck those small fingers, and so tries to suck like that on my nipple. Her latch appears correct. She flanges both lips correctly, and opens her mouth wide enough, although she did say that Matilda's mouth is pretty small. But, evidently, she sucks with the gum and front part of her mouth, rather than with her jaw. You can't tell this by looking at her when she is on the breast. She also has a "high upper palate," which means that she pushes the nipple up with her tongue or gums and it gets a "beveled" look after a feeding. (It looks like a ski slope or a geometric shape - hard to explain, but trust me, it hurts.)

So, to make a long story short, Sandey recommends that Matilda receive occupational therapy evaluation and then therapy to correct her suck. Basically, the Occupational Therapist will evaluate her suck, then recommend some exercises for me to do three times a day to improve her jaw motion. They want her to suck like she is chewing gum. All in all, it was a great consultation, because she validated that I was indeed doing things correctly, and it wasn't me, or anything I had done wrong. It is just the nature of Matilda's suck that is causing problems.

Then came the fun part. Call the pediatrician's office to get them to write a prescription for occupational therapy (which I am sure they will question), then get them to fax it to Sandey. Call the insurance company to find out how many visits are covered. Insurance company informs me that the Occupation Therapist needs to call them and get them to fax a pre-certification form to them, then explain why the therapy is necessary, then fax it back to the insurance company, who then reviews it and decides whether or not to authorize it. Blah, blah, blah.

So, now i am waiting to hear back from Sandey about the Occupational Therapist. It is 4 pm on Friday. Doubt I will hear a thing today. [Sigh.]

The fun part of my appointment was having Matilda weighed. They weigh her at the beginning of the appointment, after feeding from one breast, and then after feeding from the second breast. She was 7 lbs, 6 oz at birth, then went down to 7 lbs, 3 oz at discharge from the hospital. At her 2 week followup appointment, she was 8 lbs even. And now, at almost 5 weeks, she weighed 9 lbs, 13 oz! I was so proud of my ability to feed her! Turns out that she took 5.5 oz during the feeding, bringing her ending weight up to 10 lbs, 2.5 oz when we were done!

Way to go, Annie's boobs!