kaden: tongue-tied no more!

When Kaden was about 2 or 3 weeks old, I noticed his little tongue seemed kinda short.  As in, he couldn't stick his tongue out very far.  Which, obviously, made for some messy feeding times. 
Add that to the fact that he probably spit up half of everything he ate, I was seriously worried he wasn't getting enough to eat!

Which is ridiculous considering he was in the 70th percentile for weight since birth!
But you know, as parents you always worry about this and that...so when I asked our pediatrician, she referred us to the ENT doc to check it out.
And, sure enough, she said he looked pretty tongue-tied.

While babies born with their frenulum in tact are often corrected (as in, cut) as newborns with little to no fuss...Kaden was, by that time, already too old and squirmy to simply snip it in the ENT office.

We were told he would have to undergo general anesthesia in order to ensure he not move during the procedure.  Which entailed a whole laundry list of concerns and problems, not the least of which was that he would have to fast without food for 8 hours prior to the surgery.  

And seeing as Kaden wasn't sleeping through the night quite yet (at 3 weeks old) we opted to wait until he was older to go through with the procedure.

Fast-forward 15 months and here we are.

I've been dreading this day...but knew that it had to be done eventually.  

Better sooner, rather than later when it can interfere with his speech, right?

So, on the morning of April 30th, we headed into Kaiser at 6AM to prep for his surgery.

I still have a hard time calling it "surgery" when it's literally a 10 minute procedure...but still, seeing as he had to go under general anesthesia it is definitely considered a BIG deal. (to me, anyway.)

Here we are.  Waiting.

 The awesome get-up I had to wear so I could go into the OR with my baby while he was falling asleep.

Less than an hour later, they called me back to tell me the surgery was finished and that all went well.

As soon as I rounded the corner, I saw that he was up and crying...with arms outstretched for me.

 

 His first bottle in about 10 hours.

He was such a trooper!

And downed that bottle pretty fast!

A close up I took with my phone.  

 After his bottle, he started to notice the IV in his hand.

Surprisingly, it didn't seem to be too painful...just curious as to what it is doing on his hand, I think.

And...since he's been a tad fussier since the procedure, I haven't taken a picture of his tongue...but I have peeked at it and notice a considerable difference.  

I'm just so glad it's all over and done with!

And hopefully, he will have no problems when he starts talking.  :)