Our sweet, sweet Rose

Sean and Kaylee are so good with their little sister.

Rose is baby number three and people who say that it just gets easier need to spend a few days at the Brown house. :) There have been so many ups and downs with our baby girl and Clint and I as parents have found ourselves struggling more than ever. After her first four weeks of life she started constantly screaming. We have sought out opinion after opinion, and although we welcomed every bit of information we could get, something has been missing. Her two month check-up was last Thursday and we learned that she gained only four ounces in 5 weeks. She simply was not getting enough to eat through breastfeeding. The pediatrician recommended that we supplement formula after each one of her feedings but I was simply not satisfied with this answer. After researching for days I sought out the help of a Lactation Consultant in our area. Sean and Kaylee breastfed and did great with it so I have been convinced that it was not a matter of my milk being bad. This morning the kids and I attended a La Leche League meeting and had Rose weighed before and after nursing. Then her gums, mouth, and tongue was checked to make sure she was properly sucking. That is when we noticed that Rose is slightly tongue tied. This happens when the tissue that attaches the tongue to the bottom of the mouth (lingual frenulum) is abnormally short. Some children with tongue-tie have trouble latching on to the mother's breast and sucking, because the tongue cannot move milk from the milk glands of the breast to the nipple. Bottle-fed babies usually do not have feeding problems, because it is easy to get milk from the nipple of a bottle. From what we have been told it is very easily fixed in the pediatricians office. A procedure to clip the lingual frenulum (frenotomy) is usually all that is needed to release the tongue. Rose has an appointment tomorrow afternoon where we will learn more about what needs to be done. Other than that things with her have been great. When she has had plenty to eat, a clean diaper on, and no gas bubbles she often smiles and coos. We have not yet been able to catch her smiling on film yet, but it has to happen soon. She is very active and extremely alert. She is taking more in as everyday passes and before we know it she will be all grown up. Today she weighed in at 9lbs. and 2oz, and she is over 22 inches long.