Clark's Oral Surgery

Clark was born on a Saturday, and by Tuesday morning we were already at Dr. Stacy Cole's office in Fort Worth for his oral surgery.  Just like Claire, he had an posterior tongue tie and upper lip tie.  Dr. Cole and his staff went and trained under Dr. Kotlow in New York where we took Claire 2 years ago for her surgery.  We were thrilled to only have to drive an hour to his office and not have to fly all to way to New York for a procedure that literally takes less than one minute! 

He performs this surgery using a laser on about 2-4 babies a day.  They begin by holding the baby in this position.  This is the ONLY position that you can truly test for the posterior tongue tie and upper lie tie correctly.

He quickly determined that Clark had a pretty substantial upper lip tie and posterior tongue tie without a doubt.

  

They then wrap the baby in a swaddle to keep them still for the laser surgery.

They lay them on the chair and the team preps him for surgery by making sure he is snug in is swaddle and several people are there to hold him still.

Next they put on special glasses to protect his eyes from the laser.  Poor little guy...although I think he looked adorable in those glasses!  I called it his Clark Kent look!

Brave little baby just before surgery...look at that bottom lip...breaks my heart but I knew it would be so better in just a matter of seconds if not moments....

Lots of hands involved for a very tiny little mouth...

They use the laser to cut the skin under the upper lip and under the tongue.  Because Clark was so young his nerves had not formed here yet, so the doctor said that he would not feel pain, but would be upset by so many people messing with his mouth.  That was very comforting to know.  

In less than one minute his surgery was done and I nursed him right away and could tell an immediate difference.  He had a much deeper latch and it no longer hurt with incredible pain like it did before.  He was able fill his tummy and I have done away with pumping now!!  Clark was such a trooper and didn't cry at all after his surgery.  What a brave little guy!  Having had this surgery also means he is less at risk for dental decay and speech delays that are common with the condition he had.  We are so grateful for Dr. Cole and his staff!  They did a wonderful job and Dr. Cole even called us that evening to check up on Clark and see how he was doing!