Update on Oliver

When Oliver was born, I noticed right away that he sort of "clicked" when he was nursing, and I could feel that it was because he was sort of losing suction on each suck. I thought it would get better on it's own, but so far it hasn't. We also noticed right away that Oliver was very "snorty." He'd snort a lot just being held, and a lot more when he was laying on his back. I figured it was just newborn narrow nasal passages. A few weeks ago, we called Jodi, an IBCLC lactation consultant who I owe my entire nursing relationship with Annabelle to. She came over and checked out Oliver and me, and after all of that, determined that Oliver has a posterior tongue tie, and an upper lip tie, and a rather high hard palate. She also noted though, that he has good mobility with his tongue and lip, and since he was gaining weight well and I wasn't in pain, it was a tough decision about whether or not we should have either lasered. My gut said not to. But, Oliver's snorting seemed to be the same, not any better, and it really started to scare me. I'd watch him sleep, and could see his little chest move like he was trying to take a breath, but he couldn't. After a few seconds, he'd snort really loudly and take a big breath--almost like he finally pulled hard enough to get his tongue out of the way to take a breath. We started doing chiropractic, but haven't seen much (any?) improvement yet.

So, we decided to make an appointment in Peoria with a doctor there to get Oliver's tongue revised. But, just to be sure, I made an appointment with an ENT doctor at Christie Clinic, to make sure there weren't any other structural issues going on that I was unaware of. The ENT doctor said a tongue tie wasn't an issue with the nursing or breathing, but that Oliver has a retracted jaw, as well as a very long, high palate. Those two together weren't working well for him to retain suction while nursing, and also his tongue gets pulled back into his throat more due to his jaw, which is probably causing the snorting/breathing stuff. That doctor referred us to see a pediatric ENT. We have an appointment at Children's in Chicago this Saturday.

After that, we called another IBCLC in town for another opinion about his tongue tie, since the ENT doctor said it wasn't an issue. Theresa came over and said basically everything that Jodi said, but also agreed that we probably should be seen by a peds specialist. 

Neither one of us wanted to do the revision, so we called and canceled the appointment in Peoria. Jason is really over the whole thing and pretty much thinks Oliver will grow out of it and we should just relax. (Really he means that *I* should just relax, but he'd never say that to my face ;) ). Neither one of us really wants to go up to Chicago, either, since Oliver doesn't like the car. Sooo, we called to make one more appointment in town here, with a Carle ENT doc for another opinion there. We got an appt with a PA on Friday, which I wasn't thrilled about. I really wanted to see a doctor, but oh well. Then today, Lisa, the nurse manager over there, called me. She said she was reviewing the schedule and saw that a newborn was coming in for 'breathing issues," and she got concerned so she called me. After explaining everything to her, she said we should definitely be seen by a doctor, not a PA (thank you!), and that she wasn't sure if ENT was the right department. After speaking to a doctor there, she called me back and said that I should not be seen in ENT, but probably should be seen by a cleft lip/palate doctor/surgeon. She called to that department, and they confirmed that yes, they could help Oliver. So, now we have an appointment tomorrow morning with a cleft palate surgeon (not for surgery! just a consultation/appotointment). 

Jason and I are really really praying that they say he will just grow out of it and there's nothing to worry about. Would you please be praying that with us? We don't want to do anything to Oliver that would make him uncomfortable, but we do want to make sure that he is healthy and safe. 

I am feeling very hopeful and optimistic about our appointment tomorrow Here's hoping it goes well!