Why Didn't I Listen: UPDATE

On Tuesday my husband and I brought baby Paige to a pediatric Ear, Nose, Throat (ENT) specialist re: her tongue tie situation. The outcome was good and bad. The good? The doctor was awesome, honest and knowledgeable. The bad? Paige needs to have corrective surgery ASAP before there are any lasting effects to her jaw and mouth structure from not having it taken care of when she was first born. The doctor told us that there was no way Paige could have breast-fed with her tongue so constricted - that all she could have ever done was gnaw on the nipple (yup - that's pretty much what was going on... I can attest to that!). Also, he said she can't touch her tongue to the roof of her mouth or stick it out past her gum line (without moving her jaw awkwardly), so she would definitely have a major speech impediment. We were able to schedule the surgery for Monday at the local Children's Hospital. She will go under general anesthesia for 4-5 minutes, and the tongue will be corrected using a laser. They said I can go in the operating room until they put her under, and then I have to leave while they do the procedure. The doctor said that when she wakes up, she'll probably be a little fussy and confused, but that she'll quickly be back to normal within 24 hours.

I'm still dealing with a lot of anger and guilt regarding this whole thing... it would have been a simple office procedure had it been handled within the first two months. I had to bring Paige to the pediatrician on Wednesday for a rash under her neck (ends up it was a yeast infection - bizarre, I know - but yeast develops anywhere it's moist and hot.. her chubby chin and neck combined with constant drooling created the perfect environment.) Since it was an unscheduled visit and I haven't officially transferred her records to the new pediatrician, I had to go to the old one (yes, the one that said it was barbaric to fix my daughter's tongue). I met with a different doctor who was very nice. I figured I would give it one more shot with them, and asked what he thought about her tongue. He glanced inside her mouth and said, "Looks good to me! I would never recommend clipping the tongue unless it is very severe." Interesting... what exactly classifies as severe?! Not being able to touch the roof of your mouth or stick out your tongue isn't SEVERE?! At least he didn't call me a barbarian. But he did try to imply that Paige had the rash on her neck for weeks and I hadn't brought her in. He kept saying, "So she's had this for about three weeks?" I corrected him about 3 times, "NO! It was 48 hours max - and it JUST got this bad about 30 minutes ago when she woke up from her nap." I am SOOOOO donezo with them.

I'll let you know how the surgery goes on Monday. Please keep little Paigey Kakes in your thoughts and prayers!

PS: The picture I used isn't Paige (obviously because of the teeth : )  ), but that is exactly what hers looks like