Finn's 5 month update

Our journey to understand and soothe the source of Finn's discomfort is still pretty unclear. We had him officially evaluated by a Lactation Specialist this month.  She specializes in lip and tongue ties.  We learned Finn has a class 3 and type 3 lip and tongue tie.  It's so frustrating that we are just now getting this diagnosis.  We had 6 other doctors look at him since birth and all of them said 'no ties'. Anyways, we received an overwhelming amount of information on ties. The Lactation Consultant  advised us to have Finn's ties revised. I'm hesitant to do this. The aftercare is pretty intense, painful and prolonged.  It's hard to decide which route to go.  There is a chance that if we revise his ties, it may not solve any of his issues.  In that case we will have put him through the trauma for nothing. There are lots of people who have ties, un-revised and are fine. There's also a chance if we do revise, his tongue tie could reattach after revision.  It can attach stronger and in a worse position, causing worse issues.  As I've looked into revision I've seen many stories of babies 6 months and under having to undergo 2-4 revisions as the tie just keeps reattaching with a vengeance.  But what if we don't revise and his ties really are the root of his pain?  What if it causes him further pain to let them continue? I have no answers.  

We decided to see the Cranial Sacral Therapy (CST) Specialist and have her help us do some body work with Finn.  This was by recommendation of the Lactation Consultant and a large tongue tie support group online.  We wanted to have the CST Specialist help us form a second opinion.  If she thought Finn would benefit from a revision we would probably go forward with it.  The Lactation Consultant was adamant that revision was the way to go for Finn.  But when we met with the CST Specialist she said, no.  She said he did have ties, but that Finn had great range of motion and she felt that with some therapy he'd be able to loosen up and have relief.  She thinks revision would be unnecessary. I am glad that we might be able to continue on without putting Finn through a revision, but a little frustrated that the Lactation Consultant and the CST Specialist are giving conflicting advice.  They are two specialist that regularly work together and come highly recommended. Right now we are 3 weeks in with the CST and I'm not sure if I really see a difference in Finn's discomfort. 

To be fair, It has helped Finn loosen up.  His neck was so stiff he couldn't bend like he is in this picture a few weeks ago. It's help tummy time and neck strength as well.  We have new exercises we do with him everyday and the CST Specialist works him pretty well. We need to get him back into the chiropractor.  We want to try a new one this time.  We stopped the old chiropractor because it was so expensive, and far, and we couldn't see an obvious difference.  

 The problem I have, is no matter what specialist we see, they all declare that their specialty is absolutely the source of Finns discomfort.  Chiropractor said it was skeletal,  Gut Guy said it was a gut imbalance, Physical Therapist said it was muscular, and now the Lactation Specialist says it's ties and he needs surgery.  I feel like I have all this information coming and somehow I'm suppose to sift through it all and figure out what course is the best route to take. I mean, obviously I'm the Mom, but I feel like I'm not qualified to dictate what is causing the sadness. 

I'm so grateful though.  Although Finn's in pain more than a baby should be, he's not by any means at deaths door. He's growing and hitting milestones, albeit a bit on the slow side.  He still has a hard time holding his neck up and using his legs. 

So far we've gone through 2 Pediatricians, one of them a Gut Specialist. We went to a Chiropractor 3 times a week for a month and a half.  We seen a Lactation Consultant, and are taking Finn to the CST Specialist once a week. I've eliminated from my diet: dairy, chocolate, caffine, eggs, and nuts. I'm avoiding refined sugars and I went off gluten as well for a hot minute.  This was until I realized that when faced with the situation of only eating vegetables and meat or starving, I apparently would choose to starve.  I was constantly hangry, crashing, and  I didn't like the way it was affecting my parenting.  It makes me feel guilty and selfish that I haven't cut out gluten entirely.  I just feel like I can't take that on right now, and that makes me feel so guilty.  If I knew for sure it would help Finn I'd do it in a heartbeat, but I don't have much hope for it at this point.  

Finn and I are both taking digestive enzymes, probiotics, trying aloe juice, and saying all the prayers. I officially hit my breaking point and we reintroduced the reflux medication.  I really can't tell if it's helping or not.  Damon feels it is, I feel like Finn still has a lot of bad days and hard spells.  I just can't figure him out. 

Finn needs me more than the other babies did. He constantly wants to be held, bounced, walked, boobed, cuddled, and soothed. I think part of that is his personality though.  He definitely has something that bugs him, but I think he also just has a higher need for all those snuggles.    

When we go out, if Finn is done with being out, he is done! He screams. Since he doesn't take a bink, and is a little more high maintenance to comfort, he ends up screaming a lot.  Finn wants both of your hands,  all eyes, and thoughts on him in order to be soothed.  Also, you must jump around, while bouncing, and walking him.  So, either Finn cries while I hurry to finish shopping, or I dance around like a crazy and we are thoroughly unproductive and stuck in the middle of Costco.  These 'Finn meltdowns' cause a lot of  judgmental stares from other shoppers.  Because it seems as if I'm ignoring my screaming baby. I'm really just trying to hurry as fast as possible since I know he wont accept anything but 100% of my attention for the next hour.  And while Costco does have some steller samples, I refuse to move in for the day when all we needed was a quick trip for some bulk toilet paper. Finn can wait, and I'm leaning to just get used to the stares. 

Finn had double ear infections this month as well. He's our first to ever have an ear infection. We decided to treat it naturally, under the care of our pediatrician.  Since Finn had already battled thrush and candida issues, we didn't want to stick him on an antibiotic and throw his system out of whack again. 

Speaking of thrush, it FINALLY cleared up this month!!! Happy dance!

When I get Finn up from naps he always giggles when he first sees me.  It's so stinking cute. 

Finn loves to scratch things. Fabrics, skin, eyeballs, his face, your face, it's all fair game. 

We broke Finn of his swaddle this month. A comfort measure we were all sad to see go. He was starting to roll, so it had to go.  He has just attempted rolling tummy to back.  He hates his tummy.

Griffin loves to suck on fabric. We lay the corner of his swaddle blanket on top of his fist so he can wrap it around his chubby little fingers and suck on it. He is still refusing binks.  We've tried several styles. He refuses. We've given up. It's such a bummer. I'm starting to think he really just wants to indulge in the sadness rather than be soothed. 

Finn drools on everything. Ever. Always. And forever.  We commonly go through 3 outfits a day and or 3 drool bibs.  Throw in a blow out diaper and we're through a weeks worth of laundry in a day.  For once my excessive clothing purchases are not keeping up with demand. 

Little guy is starting to tolerate his car seat better, which has been great. It's so nice to be out past 4 pm as a family without Finn screaming. However, speaking of Finn screaming... in almost all our home videos there's a little fussy Finn going on in the background. Always. Poor guy. He's going to grow up, watch our home videos and think we didn't love him. I promise we hold and cuddle and rock him 98% of the day.  It doesn't always stop the fuss train. 

Finn LOVES Indie.  He always has smiles and eyes for her.  Indie takes such good care of Finn. Unprompted she will run to him when he's sad and unattended because I'm taking care of something else.  She sings him songs, talks to him, reads him books, dangles toys. She's such a sweetie, and Finn knows it.  I love their relationship.  

Stella is pretty indifferent to Finn, unless Indie is being praised for loving on him, then stella's all about following where the praise is being pass out.

We are working on correcting Finn's flat head, so he sleeps with a head shaping pillow. Once he starts rooming back to tummy that will have to go. 

We really do adore our Finny boy.  He is so sweet, challenging, snuggy, squishy and talkative.  This post turned into more of a therapy session for me than a celebration of Finn. But Finn boy, we do celebrate you. We love you. We love your happy, and your sad. Your smell, your twinkle eyes, your giggles, your newfound grasping skills.  We love that you are in our family, you are so important and beautiful. Here's to 5 months! 

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