It turns out that Stella is tongue tied, otherwise known as Akyloglossia, and here's another twist: she gets it from me.
I went in to the office, and the nurse checked her mouth first thing when I explained the problem. She knew it right away. Derek and I had thought that her tongue looked a little funny, forked almost. We assumed it was a newborn thing, though, and not an actual problem. Well, the nurse asked if anyone in my family had ever had a lisp or had problems sucking.
As a child, I had problems saying my fs and the th sound. I still have a slight lisp with the s sound. My mom had told me that I couldn't suck as a baby, and I was bottle/formula-fed. I told the nurse about it, and she asked to see my tongue. She goes, "Yep. She gets it from you."
Sorry, Stella. I guess if we leave it untreated, she'll continue to have problems breastfeeding, my milk supply may go down (which is doing very well right now), and she'll likely have a speech impediment as a child. The nurse called the pediatrician, and we're going to try and go in to have it looked at in the next couple of days.
To fix the problem, we'll need to have that little piece of tissue snipped. I'm a little frustrated that it's an actual "problem." I had hoped I was simply holding her incorrectly or maybe it was how I was trying to get her to open her mouth. Evidently, she can't open her mouth very well at all.
I'm to continue using the nipple shield for now, and the nurse gave me another. They also want me to use a larger flange on my pump - I guess I hadn't been "fitted." Anyway, I'm glad we got it figured out, and I'll be glad to get it fixed.
She was very good in the car, and since it was my first outing alone with her, I was a little nervous. She did well, though! As always, we have to end with a fun picture :)
Here, she's sitting on my legs, propped up. She really likes being able to sit up and look around, as best she can. Derek and I both think she's a very alert baby. Of course, she looks a little sleepy in this picture:
Either way, she's adorable :D I'll update more on the Ankyloglossia issue...
