11/26/2023
This isn’t the most flattering photo, but being newly postpartum, I didn’t care. My son Hugo cluster-fed for the first six weeks of his life. That means I slept in 30-90 minute increments a few times per day, and I was leaking milk constantly, hence the burp cloth sticking out of my nursing tank. When we went to my son’s one month checkup, he’d gained four pounds from eating so much. The pediatrician said “keep doing what you’re doing!” and I immediately broke down in tears. I knew there had to be a better way, and this couldn’t be normal.
Now that I can look back four years later, I know my son exhibited many red flags in regard to tongue ties. I didn’t know any better at the time though, and if I’d had a village of support, this could’ve been addressed earlier and made my whole postpartum experience completely different. Had I worked with another person (like a postpartum doula) who could tell me what a normal feed looks and sounds like, I could’ve been referred to a lactation consultant, a tongue tie specialist, and so on.
