Itty Bitty

This is my itty-bitty. At her two-month check-up she weighed only 8 pounds 9 ounces, landing her in the 4th percentile among other babies her age. Our pediatrician was a bit concerned and scheduled us to come back in for a weight check after three weeks. So two weeks ago we went back in and she was 8 pounds 15 ounces having gained only 6 ounces over 3 weeks. Not enough. Granted the Girl spent most of her first year in the 10th percentile, so J and I just figured that scrawny little babies are our specialty...wait make that scrawny babies with big heads (Baby Sister's is in the 50th percentile and the Girl's was in the 90th percentile) - bobblehead babies. Anyhow, the pediatrician referred us to lactation services and the lady working with us there pretty quickly attributed Baby Sister's poor weight gain to a tight frenulum (the piece of tissue that attaches the tongue to the floor of the mouth), or in other words being tongue-tied. I never knew that being tongue-tied was an actual anatomical condition, I always just thought it was an adjective to describe someone who is at a loss for words. Having a tight frenulum (hers extends almost to the very tip of her tongue) means that she doesn't have normal range of motion with her tongue and so she isn't able to nurse as effectively as if she were not tongue-tied. The lactation consultant's recommendation was for us to get Baby Sister's frenulum clipped. In the meantime she has had us on a rigorous schedule where I am either nursing or pumping every 1 1/2 hours with the pumped milk being used as a supplement. Today was the big day, the day we were scheduled to get her frenulum clipped. Our pediatrician reassured me that it was a simple procedure that would cause little to no pain and that Baby Sister's cries would probably more likely be a result of having her mouth held open than being in actual pain. In a matter of seconds it was over and despite a little bit of blood and some crying she was fine. We have another appointment with the lactation consultant at the end of the week. Hopefully in the upcoming weeks itty-bitty will be transformed into chunky-monkey. And the highly regimented schedule of the past week has really been effective as Baby Sister weighed in at 9 pounds 12 ounces today!