Newborn Life with Cohan
Cohan was born May 16, 2022. This made him and his brother 21.5 months apart, along with 7 year old sister. We were just a week away from summer vacation. Hagan was so excited to have another baby brother, however, with Kalum, we were unsure how’d he handle the transition. He’s been the baby and a big mama's boy. Although he would say brother and give my belly kisses - I was worried about how’d he’d handle a new baby at home.
After delivery with Cohan, we got home about 1am and immediately got the necessary sleep we needed to recover from the 26 hours of labor (really the week long including prodromal labor). That afternoon, the kids returned home and real life hit instantly. Kalum wasn't too pleased the first few days. Although he would give brother kisses, he refused naps and bedtime was a fight. He no longer wanted me to tuck him into bed. He threw tantrums when I was feeding Cohan and not giving him the one-on-one time. The attention was no longer solely on him throughout the day.
Kalum just days after Cohan’s arrival. Not all of motherhood is fun and pretty. We experience all of the emotions in this household
After a few days of bedrest,
I felt the need to put Cohan in his crib for naps just so I could spend some time with Kalum while sister was in school. However, days go by and cluster feeding kicks in every 30 minutes to one hour…. All day! I cried as my connection with Cohan felt absent. I loved him with all my heart, but I did not feel like we were bonding or getting that mommy-baby connection like I did with Kalum. I was missing out on the peaceful contact naps, all I wanted to do was put him down and hope for at least 30 minutes of me time.
At Cohan's two week appointment, he still was not back at his birth weight.
I was devastated, exhausted and knew at that point, we had to get evaluated for tongue and lip tie. The formation of the lip blister was a big clue on having a lip tie despite trying to flange his lip out with every feeding. I hear it all the time from moms in the office, nursing/feedings are going good - but then hear about weight gain issues, constipation and gassiness, fussiness/colic, not sleeping, latching on and off or simply just hearing clicking during a feed. These are all signs of something else going on. In our case, cluster feeding for several days, the lip blister and not gaining weight by his two week were all signs of needing further evaluation despite all the chiropractic adjustments myself or Dr. Mary Beth could give. Immediately, I got on the schedule with Enclave Dental with Dr. Preetha Thomas for tie evaluation. Dr. Thomas has helped dozens of patients with laser tie revisions and knew I could trust her with my precious little boy.
Day 22 - we had our appointment at Enclave. Cohan had just gotten back to birth weight at his day 21 weight check by our midwife. Heading to his appointment, I was nervous, anxious and dreading seeing my baby in pain. I’ve helped dozens of patients pre and post-tie revisions. As a provider, I knew exactly what would be said, what would be done, how long it will take, and the importance of the stretches post-revision. I still was not prepared to put my littlest baby through that or have to do the follow-ups. Mamas - I get it now. I TRULY understand the heartache this does to you. However, although I understand even more, I wouldn't not do it. When your baby is struggling (even if it seems minimal), it can and will be life changing for not only your baby, but for yourself and your family.
Sure enough, Cohan had a lip tie, and a severe tongue tie. We decided to just fix both right away and proceeded with the procedure after the evaluation. I’m forever grateful my husband was there with me to assist during the procedure as he helped hold Cohan as he was swaddled. Dr. Thomas had her assistant recorded a video of the stretches being done for our reference which were to be done every 2-3 hours until our one-week follow up appointment. We were taken to the nursing room for Cohan to eat. It was extremely important for him to latch and start relearning the proper suck-swallow motions. Instantly, he latched easier, ate for a solid 10 minutes without relatching. I cried, we cried together, but it was done!
Lip tie prior to revision
Tongue tie prior to revision
Post-revision, we headed straight to Dr. Mary Beth’s office down the road to get adjusted. This mama was not in the right mindset to adjust her own baby. We headed home and proceeded with our stretches every 2-3 hours, which happened to be the time between feeds now. No more cluster feeding!!! This also meant mama was getting sleep. Daddy was getting sleep. Baby was getting sleep! Things were finally taking a positive turn.
Three days post-revision, we had another weight check with our midwife. Cohan had gained 10 oz!!! This was such a relief. No supplementing, no cluster feedings, finally just eating more efficiently and effectively gaining weight! Not only was he gaining weight, the longer stretches of time allowed me to start feeling more normal, get showered and sleep. Each morning after his feed, Cohan began getting happier and staying up to interact which helped my mama heart A LOT.
Cohan is now 3 months old.
Every day gets better. Some days are harder than others. Motherhood will forever change you. Your life experiences will never be exactly the same as another mother. However, I hope to empower and encourage anyone reading this to utilize the resources we have. If you are local to Wise County, feel free to reach out and I can help you find who you need. If you aren’t, I’ll use my resources to find someone near you!
