Frenectomy

(That's "tongue-clipping" to those of you who never had to deal with this and would have no reason to know what it's called.)

(Picture is unrelated but fairly recent and painfully sweet.)

(I resolve to stop talking in the parenthetical!)

One thing we've been thinking about since Elliot was born is whether or not we should have this done. The doctors said he was "a little bit" tongue-tied. This means that the little piece of skin that connects the tongue to the bottom of the mouth is longer than most kids. His wasn't too bad, but he couldn't stick his tongue out very far, and when he did it looked a bit like the top of a heart.

For some babies, it interferes with nursing. We saw a lactation consultant who recommended that we get the frenectomy done, though he was doing okay with eating. Other concerns about tongue-tie include possible speech impediments (though many kids with tongue-tie compensate in other ways and don't have anything noticeably different about their speech) and difficulty doing things like licking ice cream cones. Or French kissing. And you know with Obama making kindergartners learn everything about sex by the time they're five, he's going to need to be able to do that, well, any day now!

A lot of people take a wait-and-see approach. I don't think there's anything wrong with going that route because why subject your kid to a surgery (of the most minor kind, but still surgery) he doesn't need? Especially if he's nursing fine as evidenced by the below-the-mean-but-still-perfectly-fine weight gain?

We went back and forth on this and it wasn't made easier by the professionals we consulted. I guess it's quite controversial, though I never would have guessed beforehand. The lactation consultant said we should, his pediatrician said there was no reason to, the ear-nose-throat doctor said it was elective because Elliot's tongue-tie was a "5 out of 10" and he said he didn't know what he'd do if it were his own child.

So we read and read and talked and talked, and in my reading I came across a message board about tongue-tie that had a bunch of teenagers writing about having it. I saw so many comments about wanting to get the surgery, wishing they'd had it, feeling awkward on dates, getting teased...we knew, too, that if you're going to get it done, the earlier the better because they have more time to get used to the new movements, it can be done without general anaesthesia when they're babies, and if there are going to be any problems with a gap between the bottom front teeth, it's better to do it before they have those teeth.

For all those reasons, we decided to go ahead with it. He had it done today! My poor sweetie. The thing I hate about anything that's going to cause him pain (e.g., vaccinations) is that it's impossible to explain to him beforehand what's going to happen. So Brendan did me a great favor and left me at home for the morning.

Everything went really, really well. Elliot slept for most of the hour and a half drive to the place that does it, and he was fussy by the time they got there because he wasn't supposed to eat anything for two hours prior. They had to immobilize him in a sheet and Brendan had to leave the room--that part sounded awful. Brendan said he could hear him crying but that the whole thing took about two minutes. Then Brendan came back, Elliot went to town on his bottle, and he was cooing by the time they called me.

When they got back, Elliot seemed to be in great spirits and was busy experimenting with sticking his tongue out in ways he couldn't before. It was adorable.

I was planning on staying home and not sending him to daycare because I thought he'd be fussy and sore, but he seemed to be neither (they gave him Tylenol before sending him home) so we brought him in to play with his friends for a few hours.

All in all, I think everyone in the house is happy with the decision, though to be fair I have to acknowledge that by the time we can ask Elliot about this he won't be able to remember it.